CVE-2021-30579
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's UI framework that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. Attackers could execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
📦 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...
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⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within the browser sandbox.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires bypassing Chrome's sandbox and other security mitigations, but successful exploits have been demonstrated for similar UI framework vulnerabilities.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 92.0.4515.107
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_20.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 92.0.4515.107 or later. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allPrevents exploitation since the vulnerability requires JavaScript execution.
chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block
Use Site Isolation
allEnhances Chrome's site isolation feature to limit impact if exploited.
chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process → Enable
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict access to untrusted websites using web filtering or proxy controls.
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized Chrome execution.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Open Chrome, go to chrome://version and check if version is below 92.0.4515.107.Check Version:
google-chrome --version (Linux), 'About Google Chrome' in menu (Windows/macOS)Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 92.0.4515.107 or higher via chrome://version.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with memory corruption signatures
- Unexpected process termination events
Network Indicators:
- Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
- Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes
SIEM Query:
source="chrome_crash_reports" AND (event_id="crash" OR memory_corruption="true")🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_20.html
- https://crbug.com/1207277
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5LVY4WIWTVVYKQMROJJS365TZBKEARCF/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IPJPUSAWIJMQFBQQQYXAICLI4EKFQOH6/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QW4R2K5HVJ4R6XDZYOJCCFPIN2XHNS3L/
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/07/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_20.html
- https://crbug.com/1207277
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5LVY4WIWTVVYKQMROJJS365TZBKEARCF/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IPJPUSAWIJMQFBQQQYXAICLI4EKFQOH6/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QW4R2K5HVJ4R6XDZYOJCCFPIN2XHNS3L/
