# CVE-2026-118179: Mozilla Thunderbird request forgery via news: links

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-118179-clicking-a-news-or-snews-link-that-referenced-a-message-id-made  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-10-27. Updated: 2026-10-27  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-118179 · Severity: info · Published 2026-10-27

Thunderbird is an email and messaging client used by millions to manage communications. A flaw in how it handles news: and snews: links allows an attacker to trick the application into connecting to arbitrary servers without user consent, potentially sending crafted commands to services on the user's network or interceding sensitive communications.

Technologies: [Mozilla Thunderbird](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/thunderbird). Vendors: [Mozilla](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/mozilla).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-118179 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-118179 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-118179?** Informational severity, published 27 October 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Mozilla Thunderbird before 159 and before 153.6.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-118179?** Yes: fixed in Thunderbird 159, Thunderbird 153.6. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-118179 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-118179?** Check whether you run Mozilla Thunderbird at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- Fixed in Thunderbird 159, Thunderbird 153.6

## Technical details

The vulnerability is a request forgery flaw in Thunderbird's news: and snews: URI scheme handler. When a user clicks a malicious news: or snews: link containing a message-ID, Thunderbird connects to the attacker-specified host and port without validation or user confirmation, even if that server is not a configured news server. Additionally, line breaks in the message-ID are passed unmodified to the server, allowing injection of arbitrary NNTP commands; snews: links fail to enforce TLS encryption. This enables command injection and information disclosure from services reachable from the user's network.

## Affected products

- Mozilla Thunderbird before 159 and before 153.6

## Timeline

- 2026-10-27: disclosed
- 2026-10-27: patched

## References

- [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2077789](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2077789)
- [https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2026-121/](https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2026-121/)

## Related threats

- [Thunderbird OAuth2 access token leak over HTTP with Exchange accounts](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-126136-for-exchange-accounts-using-ews-or-microsoft-graph-with-oauth2)
- [Mozilla Thunderbird SMTP/POP3 response injection via STARTTLS](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-126135-if-an-attacker-was-able-to-perform-a-man-in-the-middle-attack-on)
- [Thunderbird NTLM credential leak via feed subscription to file URL](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-126134-thunderbird-allowed-feed-subscriptions-to-file-urls-that-point)
- [Thunderbird calendar server credentials sent to HTTP proxy](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-126133-when-a-caldav-or-ics-calendar-was-accessed-through-an-http-proxy)
- [Thunderbird attachment replacement disclosure via link files](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-126132-when-a-message-was-forwarded-inline-edited-as-new-or-had-an)