CVE-2021-37972
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability is an out-of-bounds read in libjpeg-turbo in Google Chrome that could allow a remote attacker to exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. It affects users running Chrome versions prior to 94.0.4606.54. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution or application crashes.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
- Chromium-based browsers
- Applications using libjpeg-turbo
📦 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 full system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) or limited information disclosure from memory.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires bypassing ASLR and other memory protections. No public exploit code is known.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 94.0.4606.54 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/09/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_21.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
allPrevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability
chrome://settings/content/javascript
Use Site Isolation
allEnables site isolation to limit impact of renderer process compromise
chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Block access to untrusted websites using web filtering or proxy rules
- Implement application allowlisting to prevent execution of malicious code
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: If version is less than 94.0.4606.54, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
chrome://versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 94.0.4606.54 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports
- Unexpected process terminations
- Memory access violation logs
Network Indicators:
- Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
- Unusual outbound connections after visiting suspicious sites
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR message="access violation")🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/09/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_21.html
- https://crbug.com/1234259
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4DDW7HAHTS3SDVXBQUY4SURELO5D4X7R/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/B7G7UQ57NOKHQBYIHNJAFKFVWOQ6ZNU6/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PM7MOYYHJSWLIFZ4TPJTD7MSA3HSSLV2/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5046
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/09/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_21.html
- https://crbug.com/1234259
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4DDW7HAHTS3SDVXBQUY4SURELO5D4X7R/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/B7G7UQ57NOKHQBYIHNJAFKFVWOQ6ZNU6/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PM7MOYYHJSWLIFZ4TPJTD7MSA3HSSLV2/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5046
