CVE-2020-6434
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-6434 is a use-after-free vulnerability in Chrome's DevTools that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. This could lead to arbitrary code execution or browser crashes. All users of Google Chrome prior to version 81.0.4044.92 are affected.
💻 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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Leap by Opensuse
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the Chrome process, potentially leading to full system compromise if Chrome is running with elevated privileges.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within Chrome's sandbox, potentially allowing data theft or further exploitation.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if DevTools access is restricted.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting a malicious HTML page that triggers the use-after-free in DevTools. No public exploit code is known.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 81.0.4044.92
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_7.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Chrome. 2. Click the three-dot menu > 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 DevTools
allPrevent access to Chrome DevTools which contains the vulnerable component
Not applicable - configure via Chrome policies or registry settings
Use Chrome sandboxing
allEnsure Chrome is running with full sandboxing enabled to limit impact of potential exploitation
Not applicable - enabled by default in modern Chrome
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict access to untrusted websites using web filtering or proxy controls
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of malicious code if exploitation occurs
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: If version is less than 81.0.4044.92, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
chrome://version/ (in Chrome address bar) or 'google-chrome --version' (command line)Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 81.0.4044.92 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with memory corruption signatures
- Unexpected DevTools process activity
Network Indicators:
- Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit pages
- Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR process_name="chrome" AND command_line CONTAINS "--remote-debugging-port")🔗 References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00024.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00031.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_7.html
- https://crbug.com/1048555
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6XWIVVYIQU67QR2LHNGGZBS4FZOW2RQO/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HFVP775RPRDVY5FUCN7ABH5AE74TQFDD/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/XMXPDHEEACPD3BCMTC26SCCYB2ZMUOAO/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4714
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00024.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00031.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_7.html
- https://crbug.com/1048555
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6XWIVVYIQU67QR2LHNGGZBS4FZOW2RQO/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HFVP775RPRDVY5FUCN7ABH5AE74TQFDD/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/XMXPDHEEACPD3BCMTC26SCCYB2ZMUOAO/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4714
