CVE-2020-37190: Firefox Password Recovery DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2020-37190 Overview

CVE-2020-37190 is a buffer overflow vulnerability in Top Password Firefox Password Recovery version 2.8 that allows attackers to cause a denial of service condition. The vulnerability occurs when an attacker inserts an excessive number of characters (5000+) into the User Name or Registration Code input fields, causing the application to crash due to improper input validation and buffer boundary checks.

Critical Impact

Local attackers can crash the Firefox Password Recovery application by triggering a buffer overflow through oversized input, causing denial of service and potential data loss for users actively recovering passwords.

Affected Products

• Top Password Firefox Password Recovery 2.8

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-11 - CVE CVE-2020-37190 published to NVD
• 2026-02-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2020-37190

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input), commonly known as a classic buffer overflow. The application fails to properly validate the length of user-supplied input before copying it to a fixed-size buffer. When a user or attacker enters approximately 5000 characters into either the User Name or Registration Code input fields, the application attempts to process this data without adequate bounds checking, resulting in memory corruption and an application crash.

The local attack vector requires user interaction, as the malicious input must be entered directly into the application's interface. This limits the severity compared to remotely exploitable vulnerabilities, but still presents a risk in scenarios where users might paste untrusted content or where malicious scripts could interact with the application.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper input validation in the registration dialog of Top Password Firefox Password Recovery 2.8. The application allocates a fixed-size buffer for the User Name and Registration Code fields but does not enforce length restrictions on input. When input exceeds the buffer capacity, it overwrites adjacent memory regions, corrupting the application state and leading to a crash. This is a classic example of unsafe string handling practices where boundary checking is absent.

Attack Vector

The attack requires local access to a system running the vulnerable software. An attacker must have the ability to interact with the application's graphical user interface. The exploitation process involves:

1. Opening Top Password Firefox Password Recovery 2.8
2. Navigating to the registration or activation dialog
3. Inserting 5000+ characters into either the User Name or Registration Code field
4. Triggering the input processing (e.g., clicking submit or pressing Enter)
5. The application crashes due to buffer overflow

Technical details regarding the exploitation methodology can be found in the Exploit-DB advisory #47912.

Detection Methods for CVE-2020-37190

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected crashes of Firefox Password Recovery.exe or related processes
• Windows Error Reporting events indicating access violations or stack buffer overruns in the application
• Crash dumps showing memory corruption patterns in the registration dialog module

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for repeated application crashes of Top Password Firefox Password Recovery
• Implement application whitelisting to track execution of the vulnerable software version 2.8
• Deploy endpoint detection solutions to identify anomalous input patterns to GUI applications

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable Windows Event Log monitoring for application crash events (Event ID 1000, 1001)
• Configure crash dump collection for forensic analysis if exploitation is suspected
• Use SentinelOne's behavioral AI engine to detect application instability patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2020-37190

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade Top Password Firefox Password Recovery to the latest version if available from the vendor website
• Consider using alternative password recovery tools with better input validation
• Restrict access to the vulnerable application to trusted users only
• Remove the application from systems where it is not actively needed

Patch Information

No official patch information is available from the vendor at this time. Users should check the Top Password Homepage for updated versions that may address this vulnerability. The VulnCheck Advisory provides additional details on the vulnerability status.

Workarounds

• Avoid copying and pasting untrusted content into the application's input fields
• Limit the application's usage to isolated environments or non-critical systems
• Monitor the application for unexpected crashes and investigate any incidents promptly
• Consider deploying application control policies to prevent unauthorized use of the vulnerable software

Since no verified code examples are available for this vulnerability, system administrators should focus on application removal or replacement as the primary mitigation strategy until an official patch is released.