CVE-2020-6455
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to exploit heap corruption via an out-of-bounds read in WebSQL in Google Chrome. Attackers can craft malicious HTML pages to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
📦 What is this software?
Backports 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...
Learn more about Chrome →Fedora by Fedoraproject
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Fedora by Fedoraproject
Leap by Opensuse
⚠️ 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 information disclosure from memory.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is updated to patched version or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page). No public exploit code was found in references.
🛠️ 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 menu (three dots) → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable WebSQL
allDisable the vulnerable WebSQL feature via Chrome flags
chrome://flags/#enable-sql-api
Set to 'Disabled'
Use browser extensions to block scripts
allInstall script-blocking extensions like NoScript or uBlock Origin to prevent malicious JavaScript execution
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict users from browsing untrusted websites using network/web filtering
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized code execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: if version is less than 81.0.4044.92, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Chrome: chrome://version/ or 'google-chrome --version' in terminalVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 81.0.4044.92 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with WebSQL-related stack traces
- Unexpected Chrome process termination events
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to suspicious domains hosting HTML pages with WebSQL usage
- Unusual outbound connections after visiting web pages
SIEM Query:
source="chrome_logs" AND (event="crash" OR event="process_termination") AND process_name="chrome.exe"🔗 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/1059669
- 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/1059669
- 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
