The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/17/firefox_update/

Firefox update fixes zero-day JavaScript flaw

Just-in-Time vuln fixed in nick of time

By John Leyden

Posted in Applications, 17th July 2009 10:18 GMT

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Mozilla has released an update version of Firefox that addresses a previously unpatched flaw that has become the target of hacking attacks over recent days.

Firefox 3.5.1 [1], released on Thursday, resolves a Just-in-Time (JIT) JavaScript compiler flaw in version 3.5 of the popular open source browser software, as explained in Mozilla's advisory here [2]. Exploits based on the vulnerability were posted on a security site on Tuesday so Mozilla deserves credit for acting promptly on what might otherwise have been a potentially nasty problem that posed [3] memory corruption and malware injection risks.

The latest update also corrects a performance issue [4] that resulted in slow start-up on Windows systems.

Users are advised to apply the update, remembering to re-enable the Just-in-Time compiler in cases where Mozilla's previously suggested workaround has been applied. ®