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CVE-2020-15992

8.8 HIGH

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability in Google Chrome allows a remote attacker who has already compromised the renderer process to bypass the same-origin policy via a crafted HTML page. This could enable cross-origin data theft or unauthorized actions. All users running affected Chrome versions are at risk.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Google Chrome
Versions: All versions prior to 86.0.4240.75
Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS, Chrome OS
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: Requires renderer process compromise first, but Chrome's sandbox escape vulnerabilities could chain with this.

📦 What is this software?

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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

An attacker could steal sensitive data from other websites the user is logged into, perform unauthorized actions on those sites, or escalate privileges within the browser context.

🟠

Likely Case

Cross-site data theft, session hijacking, or unauthorized API calls to other domains the user has active sessions with.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper controls like updated browsers and network segmentation, impact is limited to isolated browser instances without access to critical systems.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH
🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No
Weaponized: UNKNOWN
Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No
Complexity: MEDIUM

Requires initial renderer compromise, making exploitation more complex than simple drive-by attacks.

🛠️ 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 the three-dot menu. 3. Go to Help > About Google Chrome. 4. Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. 5. Restart Chrome when prompted.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Temporarily disable JavaScript to prevent exploitation, but this breaks most web functionality.

Use Site Isolation

all

Ensure Chrome's Site Isolation feature is enabled (default in modern versions) to limit cross-site data exposure.

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Restrict browser access to sensitive internal applications and data
  • Implement network segmentation to isolate browser traffic from critical systems

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version in Settings > About Chrome. If version is below 86.0.4240.75, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

google-chrome --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 86.0.4240.75 or higher in Settings > About Chrome.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Unusual cross-origin requests in web server logs
  • Chrome crash reports or error logs

Network Indicators:

  • Unexpected cross-domain API calls from browser sessions
  • Anomalous traffic patterns from Chrome instances

SIEM Query:

source="chrome_logs" AND (event="cross_origin_violation" OR event="renderer_crash")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2020-15992
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
Published: November 3, 2020
Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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