CVE-2020-15990
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability is a use-after-free flaw in Chrome's autofill feature that allows an attacker who has already compromised the renderer process to potentially escape the browser sandbox. It affects Google Chrome versions prior to 86.0.4240.75. Users who visit malicious websites could have their browser security bypassed.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
📦 What is this software?
Backports Sle by Opensuse
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...
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⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise via sandbox escape leading to arbitrary code execution with user privileges.
Likely Case
Limited sandbox escape allowing further exploitation within browser context.
If Mitigated
Contained within renderer process if sandbox holds, limiting damage to browser session.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires chaining with renderer compromise first, making full exploit chain complex.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 86.0.4240.75 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/10/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Chrome. 2. Click three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. 4. Click Relaunch to restart Chrome.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Autofill
allTemporarily disable Chrome's autofill feature to remove attack surface.
chrome://settings/autofill
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Use alternative browser until patching possible.
- Implement network filtering to block malicious websites.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version in About Google Chrome page.Check Version:
google-chrome --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 86.0.4240.75 or higher.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with autofill-related processes
- Unexpected renderer process termination
Network Indicators:
- Connections to known malicious domains serving crafted HTML
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event="crash" OR process="renderer")🔗 References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00016.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/10/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1133671
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/24QFL4C3AZKMFVL7LVSYMU2DNE5VVUGS/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4GWCWNHTTYOH6HSFUXPGPBB6J6JYZHZE/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SC3U3H6AISVZB5PLZLLNF4HMQ4UFFL7M/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00016.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/10/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1133671
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/24QFL4C3AZKMFVL7LVSYMU2DNE5VVUGS/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4GWCWNHTTYOH6HSFUXPGPBB6J6JYZHZE/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SC3U3H6AISVZB5PLZLLNF4HMQ4UFFL7M/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
