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CVE-2020-6522

9.6 CRITICAL

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability in Google Chrome allowed attackers to escape the browser's security sandbox via malicious HTML pages that exploited flaws in external protocol handlers. Users running Chrome versions before 84.0.4147.89 were affected, potentially enabling attackers to execute arbitrary code outside Chrome's sandbox protections.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Google Chrome
Versions: All versions prior to 84.0.4147.89
Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: All standard Chrome installations were vulnerable; no special configuration required for exploitation.

📦 What is this software?

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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...

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⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete system compromise via sandbox escape leading to arbitrary code execution with user privileges, potentially enabling malware installation, data theft, or lateral movement.

🟠

Likely Case

Attackers could execute malicious code outside Chrome's sandbox, potentially gaining persistence, stealing sensitive data, or installing additional malware.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper patching, the vulnerability is eliminated; with network segmentation and least privilege, impact would be limited to the compromised user session.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Attackers can exploit via malicious websites or emails, requiring only user interaction with crafted content.
🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could be targeted via phishing or compromised internal sites, but requires user interaction.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No
Weaponized: UNKNOWN
Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes
Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page) but no authentication. No public proof-of-concept has been disclosed.

🛠️ 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 and click the three-dot menu. 2. Go to Help > About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for updates and install version 84.0.4147.89 or later. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the fix.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable external protocol handlers

all

Prevent Chrome from launching external applications via protocol handlers

chrome://settings/content/handlers
Set 'Sites can ask to handle protocols' to 'Don't allow sites to ask'

Use Chrome sandboxing policies

all

Enforce strict sandbox policies via Group Policy or registry

Windows: Configure via Chrome ADMX templates
macOS/Linux: Use --no-sandbox flag NOT recommended as it reduces security

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Restrict user access to untrusted websites via web filtering
  • Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized executables

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: if below 84.0.4147.89, system is vulnerable

Check Version:

chrome://version/ or 'google-chrome --version' on command line

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 84.0.4147.89 or higher

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Chrome crash reports with sandbox violations
  • Unexpected external process launches from Chrome

Network Indicators:

  • Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
  • Unusual outbound connections following Chrome usage

SIEM Query:

source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR process_name="chrome.exe") AND message="sandbox"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2020-6522
CVSS v3 Score: 9.6 (CRITICAL)
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published: July 22, 2020
Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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