CVE-2026-16394
Mozilla Firefox ≤ 153.0.0
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2026-16394 is a critical-severity Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Drive-by Compromise (T1189); ranked at the 17th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) and SC-18 (Mobile Code) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-46232
Vulnerability Data
Mitigation bypass in the DOM: Security component. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 153 and Thunderbird 153.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Mitigation bypass in browser DOM security component directly enables client-side exploitation (T1203) and drive-by compromise (T1189) via protection mechanism failure (CWE-693).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly restricts and validates mobile code (scripts) execution in the DOM, addressing the root cause of the security-component bypass.
Enforces information-flow rules between origins and contexts inside the DOM, preventing the exact class of mitigation bypass described.
Applies memory and process protections that raise the bar against exploitation of DOM security-component flaws.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Enforcing authentication directly implements a core protection mechanism whose absence or misuse is the CWE.
Defining and enforcing access authorizations is a protection mechanism; proper use prevents the CWE.
Cryptographic and integrity controls are protection mechanisms whose correct deployment mitigates the CWE.
Encryption and integrity protections for transit are explicit protection mechanisms.
Logical network protections are protection mechanisms whose failure matches the CWE.
Hardened configuration baselines ensure protection mechanisms are correctly applied and maintained.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Systematic verification that security mechanisms operate according to defined standards reduces the likelihood that protection mechanisms are bypassed or disabled.
Hardening devices, disabling vulnerable protocols, and maintaining accurate network diagrams reduce the likelihood that a protection mechanism is misconfigured or left in a weak state.
Requiring defined escalation paths, crisis activation criteria, and coordination procedures strengthens the overall protection mechanism so that a single control failure is less likely to leave the organization exposed.
By requiring a documented categorization and decision process for security events, the control ensures that protection mechanisms are not bypassed or ignored when anomalies occur.
Identifying and remediating control weaknesses that contributed to an incident reduces the likelihood that protection mechanisms will fail again.
Post-incident analysis that feeds updated risk assessments and additional controls directly reduces the chance that previously exploited weaknesses will recur.