CVE-2020-6524 – This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2020-6524?

CVE-2020-6524 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to trigger a heap buffer overflow in Chrome's WebAudio component by tricking users into visiting a malicious HTML page. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution or browser crashes. All users running vulnerable Chrome versions are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to trigger a heap buffer overflow in Chrome's WebAudio component by tricking users into visiting a malicious HTML page. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution or browser crashes. All users running vulnerable Chrome versions are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome

Versions: All versions prior to 84.0.4147.89

Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All Chrome installations with WebAudio enabled (default) are vulnerable. Chrome extensions or enterprise configurations that disable WebAudio might be protected.

📦 What is this software?

Backports Sle 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 with the privileges of the Chrome process, potentially leading to full system compromise if Chrome is running with elevated privileges.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited memory corruption that could be leveraged for information disclosure or further exploitation.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper controls like sandboxing enabled, exploitation would be limited to the Chrome sandbox, preventing full system compromise.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Attackers can exploit via malicious websites without user interaction beyond visiting the page.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires user to visit a malicious internal page, but could be combined with phishing or other internal attacks.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires crafting a malicious HTML page that triggers the WebAudio heap overflow. No public exploit code is known, but the vulnerability is actively patched.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 84.0.4147.89

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 updates and install version 84.0.4147.89 or later. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable WebAudio

all

Disable the WebAudio API in Chrome to prevent exploitation, but this will break audio functionality on websites.

chrome://flags/#enable-webaudio → Disabled

Use Chrome Enterprise policies

all

Enterprise administrators can disable WebAudio via group policy or registry settings.

Set 'DefaultWebAudioSetting' to 2 in Chrome policies

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict users to trusted websites only using web filtering or proxy controls.
Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of malicious code if exploitation occurs.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: If version is below 84.0.4147.89, the system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

On Windows/macOS/Linux: Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://version/ or use 'google-chrome --version' in terminal.

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 84.0.4147.89 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash logs with WebAudio-related stack traces
Unexpected Chrome process termination events

Network Indicators:

HTTP requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
Unusual WebAudio API usage patterns

SIEM Query:

EventID=1000 OR EventID=1001 (Application Error) AND ProcessName="chrome.exe" AND FaultModuleName contains "webaudio"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2020-6524

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: July 22, 2020

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-07/msg00069.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00007.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00018.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-09/msg00041.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1081722 Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
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 Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-30 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824 Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-07/msg00069.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00007.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00018.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-09/msg00041.html Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1081722 Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
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 Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-30 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824 Third Party Advisory

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