CVE-2020-6447
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Google Chrome's developer tools allows a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption by convincing a user to open devtools on a malicious HTML page. This could lead to arbitrary code execution or browser crashes. Users of Chrome versions before 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 combined with other vulnerabilities.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited memory corruption leading to unstable browser behavior.
If Mitigated
No impact if users don't open devtools on untrusted pages or have patched Chrome.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires social engineering to convince user to open devtools on attacker-controlled page. No public exploit code identified in references.
🛠️ 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 menu > Help > About Google Chrome. 2. Chrome will automatically check for and install update 81.0.4044.92 or later. 3. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Developer Tools
allPrevent users from accessing Chrome Developer Tools through group policy or registry settings
Windows Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\DeveloperToolsDisabled = 1
macOS/Linux: Configure through Chrome policies JSON file
Restrict DevTools to Local Files Only
allConfigure Chrome to only allow Developer Tools on local file:// URLs
Chrome flag: --disable-devtools-experiments
Combine with other security policies
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable Chrome Developer Tools entirely through enterprise policies
- Educate users to never open Developer Tools on untrusted websites
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: chrome://version/ - if version is less than 81.0.4044.92, system is vulnerableCheck Version:
chrome://version/ (in Chrome address bar) or on command line: google-chrome --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 81.0.4044.92 or higher via chrome://version/📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with memory corruption signatures
- Unexpected Developer Tools usage patterns
Network Indicators:
- Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit pages
- Unusual iframe or script loading patterns
SIEM Query:
source="chrome_crash_logs" AND (message="heap corruption" OR message="memory corruption") OR source="proxy_logs" AND (url="*malicious-domain*" AND user_agent="*Chrome/8[0-1].*")🔗 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/991217
- 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/991217
- 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
