CVE-2020-6452 – This vulnerability is a heap buffer overflow in... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2020-6452?

CVE-2020-6452 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability is a heap buffer overflow in Chrome's media component that allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via a crafted HTML page. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome are affected when visiting malicious websites.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability is a heap buffer overflow in Chrome's media component that allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via a crafted HTML page. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome are affected when visiting malicious websites.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome

Versions: Prior to 80.0.3987.162

Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS, Chrome OS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All Chrome installations with default settings are vulnerable. Extensions or security settings don't mitigate this specific vulnerability.

📦 What is this software?

Backports by Opensuse

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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...

Learn more about Chrome →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to full system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within browser sandbox

🟢

If Mitigated

Browser crash with no further impact if sandbox holds

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Exploitable via visiting malicious websites, no authentication required

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires user interaction (visiting malicious page), but internal threats exist

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploit requires user to visit malicious website. The bug report (crbug.com/1059764) contains technical details that could aid exploitation.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 80.0.3987.162

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_31.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open Chrome 2. Click menu (three dots) → Help → About Google Chrome 3. Chrome will check for updates and install 80.0.3987.162 or later 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability

chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block

Use site isolation

all

Enables Chrome's site isolation feature to limit impact

chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process → Enable

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Use alternative browser until patch can be applied
Implement network filtering to block known malicious domains

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version in About Google Chrome page

Check Version:

google-chrome --version (Linux) or chrome://version (all platforms)

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify Chrome version is 80.0.3987.162 or higher

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports
Unexpected browser termination events
Sandbox escape attempts in system logs

Network Indicators:

Requests to known exploit domains
Unusual media file downloads

SIEM Query:

source="chrome" AND (event="crash" OR event="sandbox_violation") AND version<"80.0.3987.162"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2020-6452

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

CWE: CWE-787

Published: April 13, 2020

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00024.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00031.html Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_31.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1059764 Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JMXT4OKBMCJSNSX7TZDBJNY6ORKFZRFO/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JQTV7EFWQKF6VJBCVH4PUQJLGO7ISLTN/
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00024.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00031.html Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_31.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1059764 Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JMXT4OKBMCJSNSX7TZDBJNY6ORKFZRFO/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JQTV7EFWQKF6VJBCVH4PUQJLGO7ISLTN/

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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