--- description: Firefox users are at risk because of a security flaw in the software. title: If You Use Firefox, You Should Update Right Away image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10d41cdb20bbcc84/69885e565f570f74b6b1ccee/gettyimages-162790847.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # If You Use Firefox, You Should Update Right Away by [Chris Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Chris Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 2:49 PM CUT  A woman looks at her mobile phone as she stands in front of a poster of Mozilla Firefox on February 27, 2013 at the Mobile World Congress, the world's biggest mobile fair, in Barcelona. The European Union warned member states on February 26 to free up the airwaves for new, super-fast fourth generation mobile networks and threatened legal action against those that deliberately block the process. AFP PHOTO/JOSEP LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images) A woman looks at her mobile phone as she stands in front of a poster of Mozilla Firefox on February 27, 2013 at the Mobile World Congress, the world's biggest mobile fair, in Barcelona. The European Union warned member states on February 26 to free up the airwaves for new, super-fast fourth generation mobile networks and threatened legal action against those that deliberately block the process. AFP PHOTO/JOSEP LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)JOSEP LAGO—AFP/Getty Images by [Chris Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Chris Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 2:49 PM CUT If you use Firefox, you could be at risk because of a flaw in the software that could be used to steal files from your computer. [In a blog post published Thursday](https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2015/08/06/firefox-exploit-found-in-the-wild/ "undefined"), Mozilla explained: “A Firefox user informed us that an advertisement on a news site in Russia was serving a Firefox exploit that searched for sensitive files and uploaded them to a server that appears to be in Ukraine.” “The vulnerability comes from the interaction of the mechanism that enforces JavaScript context separation (the “same origin policy”) and Firefox’s PDF Viewer,” Mozilla said. “Products that don’t contain the PDF Viewer, such as Firefox for Android, are not vulnerable,” the post continued. Not to worry though, as Mozilla has already [released an update to fix the problem](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-version "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3988878/firefox-security-flaw/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3988878/firefox-security-flaw/"},"headline":"If You Use Firefox, You Should Update Right Away","datePublished":"2015-08-07T14:49:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:06:18.909Z","description":"A flaw could be used to steal files from your computer","url":"https://time.com/3988878/firefox-security-flaw/","keywords":["Tech","Security","Virus","update","cyber security","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10d41cdb20bbcc84/69885e565f570f74b6b1ccee/gettyimages-162790847.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Matthews / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10d41cdb20bbcc84/69885e565f570f74b6b1ccee/gettyimages-162790847.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SPAIN-TELECOM-MOBILE-WORLD-CONGRESS","caption":"SPAIN-TELECOM-MOBILE-WORLD-CONGRESS","creditText":"JOSEP LAGO—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3988878/firefox-security-flaw/","name":"If You Use Firefox, You Should Update Right Away"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How the Motorola Atrix Smartphone-Powered Laptop Works","description":"The Android-based Atrix 4G phone is powerful in its own right—dual core processor, an entire gigabyte of RAM, 4-inch 960x540 screen—and that power is used to drive an entire laptop-sized interface with the addition of Motorola's $500 Lapdock.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VOeBRCHG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-03-10T22:10:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VOeBRCHG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3988878/firefox-security-flaw/","duration":"PT2M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3988878/firefox-security-flaw/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```