CVE-2020-6515
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-6515 is a use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's tab strip component 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 running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
📦 What is this software?
Backports Sle by Opensuse
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...
Learn more about Chrome →Fedora by Fedoraproject
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Leap by Opensuse
Leap by Opensuse
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the same privileges as the Chrome process, potentially leading to full system compromise if combined with privilege escalation.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited memory corruption leading to unstable browser behavior.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires memory corruption techniques but is facilitated by the use-after-free primitive.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 84.0.4147.89 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.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 updated version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allPrevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability
chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block
Use Site Isolation
allEnables site isolation to limit impact of renderer process compromises
chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process → Enable
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Use alternative browsers until Chrome can be updated
- Implement network filtering to block known malicious sites and restrict web browsing
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: if version is less than 84.0.4147.89, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Chrome: chrome://version/ or 'google-chrome --version' on command lineVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 84.0.4147.89 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports
- Unexpected process terminations
- Memory access violation logs
Network Indicators:
- Requests to suspicious domains with crafted HTML content
- Unusual outbound connections after visiting websites
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR message="*access violation*" OR message="*heap corruption*")🔗 References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-07/msg00069.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00007.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00018.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-09/msg00041.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1082755
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MTRPPTKZ2RKVH2XGQCWNFZ7FOGQ5LLCA/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MYIDWCHG24ZTFD4P42D4A4WWPPA74BCG/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202007-08
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-07/msg00069.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00007.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00018.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-09/msg00041.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1082755
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MTRPPTKZ2RKVH2XGQCWNFZ7FOGQ5LLCA/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MYIDWCHG24ZTFD4P42D4A4WWPPA74BCG/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202007-08
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
