CVE-2020-6552
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Chrome's Blink rendering engine that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by tricking users into visiting a malicious HTML page, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome 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 with the privileges of the Chrome process, potentially leading to full system compromise if combined with privilege escalation vulnerabilities.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within Chrome's sandbox, potentially allowing data theft or further exploitation.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page). Public proof-of-concept exists in bug tracker. Browser sandbox makes reliable exploitation challenging but possible.
🛠️ 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. 2. Click the three-dot menu. 3. Go to Help > About Google Chrome. 4. Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. 5. Click Relaunch to restart Chrome with the update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allPrevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability
Use Chrome Site Isolation
allEnables site isolation to limit impact of potential exploitation
Navigate to chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process and enable Site Isolation
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict access to untrusted websites using web filtering or proxy controls
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized code execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: If version is less than 84.0.4147.125, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
chrome://version or 'google-chrome --version' on Linux/macOS command lineVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Chrome version is 84.0.4147.125 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports
- Unexpected process termination events
- Security event logs showing exploit attempts
Network Indicators:
- Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
- Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR process_name="chrome.exe" AND exit_code!=0)🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1108518
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/EE7XWIZBME7JAY7N6CGPET4CLNHHEIVT/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
- https://crbug.com/1108518
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/EE7XWIZBME7JAY7N6CGPET4CLNHHEIVT/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824
