Patch released for Firefox leak that could expose Tor users

Mozilla has released a patch for the Firefox vulnerability that can be used to expose Tor users. The team behind the Tor browser has adopted the patch in its browser and released a new version.

Mozilla says it has developed a patch after it was recently made aware of an exploit that used an as-yet-unknown Firefox vulnerability. On Wednesday, the organization reported that the patch was in development. By having a victim load a web page with malicious javascript and svg code, it was possible to find out the mac and ip address. The exploit itself only works on Windows, according to Mozilla, but the underlying vulnerability also exists on Linux and macOS.

The team behind the Firefox-based Tor Browser reports that it has now released version 6.0.7, which includes the Mozilla patch. Users who had the “security slider” in Tor set to “high” were safe from the exploit, the team said. It is recommended that you perform the update immediately and restart the Tor browser, according to the organization. An update for the ‘hardened’ and the alpha version of the anonymous browser will follow, so it is recommended to use the stable version.

Mozilla says it cannot say for sure whether the exploit is the same one used by the FBI to identify suspects in a child pornography case. According to the organization, there are similarities between the exploits, which has sparked a lot of speculation.