CVE-2020-6436
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's window management component that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by tricking users into visiting a specially crafted HTML page. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome 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 leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within the browser sandbox.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires bypassing Chrome's sandbox and other security mitigations, but successful exploits have been demonstrated for similar use-after-free vulnerabilities.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 81.0.4044.92 and later
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 updates and install version 81.0.4044.92 or later. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the fix.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allPrevents exploitation by disabling JavaScript execution, which is required for the crafted HTML page to trigger the vulnerability.
chrome://settings/content/javascript → toggle to 'Blocked'
Use Site Isolation
allEnables Chrome's Site Isolation feature to limit the impact of potential exploits.
chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process → set to 'Enabled'
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict access to untrusted websites using web filtering or proxy controls.
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of malicious payloads that might result from exploitation.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Open Chrome, go to chrome://version and check if the version is earlier than 81.0.4044.92.Check Version:
On Windows: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --version
On Linux: google-chrome --version
On macOS: /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 81.0.4044.92 or later via chrome://version.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with exception codes related to memory corruption
- Unexpected Chrome process termination in system logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
- Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes
SIEM Query:
process_name:"chrome.exe" AND (event_id:1000 OR exception_code:0xc0000005)🔗 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/1034519
- 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/1034519
- 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
