Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-2781

Critical

Published: 24 February 2026

Published
24 February 2026
Modified
21 April 2026
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0036 28.1th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-2781 is a critical-severity Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190) vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Drive-by Compromise (T1189); ranked at the 28.1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2026-2781 is an integer overflow vulnerability (CWE-190) in the Libraries component of NSS (Network Security Services). It affects Mozilla products including Firefox versions prior to 148, Firefox ESR prior to 140.8 and 115.35, Thunderbird prior to 148 and 140.8. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8, indicating critical severity due to its potential for high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

A remote attacker requires no privileges or user interaction and can exploit the vulnerability over the network with low complexity. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to achieve high-impact effects, including unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification of system resources, and disruption of service, potentially leading to full remote code execution on affected systems.

Mozilla security advisories (MFSA 2026-13, 15, 16, 17) and the associated Bugzilla entry detail the fix applied in the specified versions of Firefox, Firefox ESR, and Thunderbird. Users should update to these patched releases to mitigate the issue.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Integer overflow in the Libraries component in NSS. This vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 148, Firefox ESR 140.8, Thunderbird 148, Thunderbird 140.8, and Firefox ESR 115.35.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access to a system through a user visiting a website over the normal course of browsing.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
Why these techniques?

Integer overflow in NSS enables unauthenticated remote code execution in client applications (Firefox/Thunderbird) over the network with no user interaction, directly mapping to drive-by compromise and client-side exploitation for code execution.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-6783Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-2774Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-2762Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-8956Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-0880Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-8949Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-2790Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2025-1011Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-6751Same product: Mozilla Firefox
CVE-2026-2795Same product: Mozilla Firefox

Affected Assets

mozilla
firefox
≤ 140.8.0 · ≤ 148.0
mozilla
thunderbird
≤ 140.8.0 · ≤ 148.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

SI-2 mandates identification, reporting, and timely patching of flaws like the integer overflow in NSS, directly preventing remote code execution in affected Mozilla products.

prevent

SI-16 implements memory protections such as ASLR and DEP to mitigate exploitation of the integer overflow leading to RCE.

detect

RA-5 requires vulnerability scanning to identify systems running vulnerable versions of Firefox, Thunderbird, or NSS affected by CVE-2026-2781.

References