CVE-2020-6550
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Chrome's IndexedDB implementation that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by tricking users into visiting a malicious HTML page. All Chrome users prior to version 84.0.4147.125 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
- Chromium-based browsers
📦 What is this software?
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
⚠️ 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 memory corruption leading to information disclosure
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is updated to patched version or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls
🎯 Exploit Status
Proof-of-concept code is publicly available. Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page) but no authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 84.0.4147.125 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/08/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 and install updates 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the update
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allTemporarily disable JavaScript to prevent exploitation (breaks most web functionality)
chrome://settings/content/javascript
Use alternative browser
allSwitch to a non-Chromium browser until Chrome is updated
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web filtering to block known malicious sites
- Use application control to restrict execution of unknown processes from browser
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version via chrome://settings/help or 'About Google Chrome'Check Version:
google-chrome --version (Linux) or open chrome://versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 84.0.4147.125 or higher📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with memory corruption signatures
- Unexpected Chrome process termination
Network Indicators:
- Requests to suspicious domains hosting HTML pages with IndexedDB manipulation
SIEM Query:
process_name:"chrome.exe" AND (event_id:1000 OR event_id:1001) AND exception_code:0xc0000005🔗 References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159609/Chrome-WebIDBGetDBNamesCallbacksImpl-SuccessNamesAndVersionsList-Use-After-Free.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1106682
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/EE7XWIZBME7JAY7N6CGPET4CLNHHEIVT/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-30
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159609/Chrome-WebIDBGetDBNamesCallbacksImpl-SuccessNamesAndVersionsList-Use-After-Free.html
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1106682
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/EE7XWIZBME7JAY7N6CGPET4CLNHHEIVT/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-30
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
