CVE-2021-38007 – This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2021-38007?

CVE-2021-38007 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that could allow a remote attacker to trigger heap corruption. Attackers could exploit this by tricking users into visiting a malicious webpage. All users running vulnerable Chrome versions are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that could allow a remote attacker to trigger heap corruption. Attackers could exploit this by tricking users into visiting a malicious webpage. All users running vulnerable Chrome versions are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers
Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based)
Brave
Opera

Versions: Versions prior to 96.0.4664.45

Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Chrome OS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All default configurations are vulnerable. Embedded Chrome instances in applications may also be affected.

📦 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 →

⚠️ 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 fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Exploitable via malicious webpages without user interaction beyond visiting the page.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Still exploitable via internal phishing or compromised internal sites.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: HIGH

Type confusion vulnerabilities require sophisticated exploitation but have been weaponized in the past for Chrome zero-days.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 96.0.4664.45 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/11/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 and install updates. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the update.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents exploitation by disabling JavaScript execution in Chrome.

chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block

Use Site Isolation

all

Enables site isolation to limit impact of renderer process compromises.

chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process → Enable

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Block access to untrusted websites using web filtering or proxy rules.
Deploy application allowlisting to prevent execution of malicious payloads.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: If version is less than 96.0.4664.45, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

On Chrome: chrome://version/ | On command line: google-chrome --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 96.0.4664.45 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports
Unexpected renderer process termination
Memory access violation logs

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 message="*V8*" OR message="*type confusion*")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-38007

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-843

Published: December 23, 2021

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/11/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1254189 Permissions Required
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3W46HRT2UVHWSLZB6JZHQF6JNQWKV744/
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5046 Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/11/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1254189 Permissions Required
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3W46HRT2UVHWSLZB6JZHQF6JNQWKV744/
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5046 Third Party Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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