CVE-2019-13726 – A buffer overflow vulnerability in Google Chrom... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2019-13726?

CVE-2019-13726 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). A buffer overflow vulnerability in Google Chrome's password manager allowed remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into visiting a malicious HTML page. This affected all Chrome users prior to version 79.0.3945.79, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

📋 TL;DR

A buffer overflow vulnerability in Google Chrome's password manager allowed remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into visiting a malicious HTML page. This affected all Chrome users prior to version 79.0.3945.79, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome

Versions: All versions prior to 79.0.3945.79

Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All default Chrome installations with password manager enabled were vulnerable. Chrome-based browsers (Chromium, Edge, etc.) may also be affected depending on their version.

📦 What is this software?

Chrome by Google

Google Chrome is the world's most popular web browser, used by over 3 billion users globally across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms. As a Chromium-based browser developed by Google, Chrome dominates the browser market with approximately 65% market share, making it a critical compon...

Learn more about Chrome →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to full system compromise, credential theft, lateral movement, and persistent backdoor installation.

🟠

Likely Case

Credential theft from password manager, session hijacking, and installation of malware on the victim's system.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper network segmentation, application whitelisting, and endpoint protection that blocks exploitation attempts.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Exploitation requires only visiting a malicious webpage, making internet-facing systems highly vulnerable.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could be targeted via phishing or compromised internal websites, but requires user interaction.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page) but no authentication. The bug report (crbug.com/1027152) contains technical details that could aid exploitation.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 79.0.3945.79

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2019/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open Chrome. 2. Click menu (three dots) → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the patched version.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable Password Manager

all

Temporarily disable Chrome's password manager to remove the vulnerable component.

chrome://settings/passwords → Toggle 'Offer to save passwords' to OFF

Use Incognito Mode

all

Password manager is disabled in Incognito mode, preventing exploitation.

Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+N (macOS) to open Incognito window

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement network filtering to block known malicious domains and restrict web browsing to trusted sites only.
Deploy application control/whitelisting to prevent unauthorized code execution even if exploitation occurs.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: If version is less than 79.0.3945.79, the system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

On Chrome: chrome://version/ or 'google-chrome --version' in terminal (Linux/macOS)

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 79.0.3945.79 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports with memory corruption signatures
Unusual process spawning from Chrome
Access to password storage files outside normal patterns

Network Indicators:

Connections to suspicious domains followed by unusual outbound traffic
HTTP requests to pages with crafted HTML payloads

SIEM Query:

process_name:"chrome.exe" AND (event_id:1000 OR event_id:1001) AND exception_code:0xc0000005

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2019-13726

CVSS v3 Score: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-119

Published: December 10, 2019

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-12/msg00032.html Broken Link
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-12/msg00036.html Broken Link
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:4238 Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2019/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1027152 Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2Z5M4FPUMDNX2LDPHJKN5ZV5GIS2AKNU/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/N5CIQCVS6E3ULJCNU7YJXJPO2BLQZDTK/
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Jan/27 Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-08 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4606 Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-12/msg00032.html Broken Link
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-12/msg00036.html Broken Link
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:4238 Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2019/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1027152 Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2Z5M4FPUMDNX2LDPHJKN5ZV5GIS2AKNU/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/N5CIQCVS6E3ULJCNU7YJXJPO2BLQZDTK/
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Jan/27 Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-08 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4606 Third Party Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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