Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
- EPSS is 0.34% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2020
CVE-2020-12402High confidence
This allowed an attacker able to perform electromagnetic-based side channel attacks to record traces leading to the recovery of the secret primes
Mozilla · Firefox
4.4MediumCVSS 3.1
Scheduled
Fix not verifiedMedium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityMedium→Operational priority:Low, lowered one band.downgradedsince 4 Aug 2024
Compensating controls
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Mozilla Firefox and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Distribution package intelligence
13 package statesRelease-specific package status
Alpine, Debian findings are scoped to the named distribution, release and source package. An absent finding does not mean a package is unaffected.
Repository candidate not checked
A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.
| Distribution release | Source package | Vendor state | Fixed version | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.23v3.23 · community | firefox | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 78.0-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 11 Sep 2026 |
| Alpine v3.23v3.23 · community | librewolf | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 78.0-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 11 Sep 2026 |
| Alpine v3.23v3.23 · main | nss | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 3.53.1-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 3 Oct 2026 |
| Alpine v3.22v3.22 · community | firefox | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 78.0-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 11 Sep 2026 |
| Alpine v3.22v3.22 · community | librewolf | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 78.0-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 11 Sep 2026 |
| Alpine v3.22v3.22 · main | nss | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 3.53.1-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 3 Oct 2026 |
| Alpine v3.21v3.21 · community | firefox | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 78.0-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 19 Aug 2026 |
| Alpine v3.21v3.21 · community | librewolf | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 78.0-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 19 Aug 2026 |
| Alpine v3.21v3.21 · main | nss | Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected. | 3.53.1-r0 | Alpine Security Database ↗Source updated 3 Oct 2026 |
| Debian trixietrixie · source | nss | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 2:3.53.1-1 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026 |
| Debian bookwormbookworm · source | nss | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 2:3.53.1-1 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026 |
| Debian forkyforky · source | nss | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 2:3.53.1-1 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026 |
| Debian sidsid · source | nss | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 2:3.53.1-1 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026 |
Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
Fix not verified01
What, why and how
During RSA key generation, bignum implementations used a variation of the Binary Extended Euclidean Algorithm which entailed significantly input-dependent flow. This allowed an attacker able to perform electromagnetic-based side channel attacks to record traces leading to the recovery of the secret primes. *Note:* An unmodified Firefox browser does not generate RSA keys in normal operation and is not affected, but products built on top of it might. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 78.
What
During RSA key generation, bignum implementations used a variation of the Binary Extended Euclidean Algorithm which entailed significantly input-dependent flow. This allowed an attacker able to perform electromagnetic-based side channel attacks to record traces leading to the recovery of the secret primes. *Note:* An unmodified Firefox browser does not generate RSA keys in normal operation and is not affected, but products built on top of it might. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 78.
Why
The product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
During RSA key generation, bignum implementations used a variation of the Binary Extended Euclidean Algorithm which entailed significantly input-dependent flow. This allowed an attacker able to perform electromagnetic-based side channel attacks to record traces leading to the recovery of the secret primes. *Note:* An unmodified Firefox browser does not generate RSA keys in normal operation and is not affected, but products built on top of it might. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 78.
Why
The product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- local access → Observable Discrepancy → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low: a basic authenticated account is required
- User interaction
- Required interaction required
- Attack complexity
- High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-203 ↗
CWE-203: Observable Discrepancy. The product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UIRequiredUser interaction: Another user must perform an action for exploitation to succeed.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Fix not verified
- Affected
- Firefox: unspecified < 78
- Fixed
- No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- Action
- No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 9 Jul 2020 · Last source change 4 Aug 2024, 11:56 UTC · CWE-203 · Observable Discrepancy
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2020-4714
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.