CVE-2021-4061 – This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2021-4061?

CVE-2021-4061 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause heap corruption. It affects users running Chrome versions before 96.0.4664.93. Attackers could exploit this by tricking users into visiting a malicious webpage.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause heap corruption. It affects users running Chrome versions before 96.0.4664.93. Attackers could exploit this by tricking users into visiting a malicious webpage.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers
Linux distributions with vulnerable packages

Versions: All versions prior to 96.0.4664.93

Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All standard Chrome installations are vulnerable. Some Linux distributions may have backported fixes.

📦 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, memory corruption, or limited code execution within browser sandbox.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact if patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.

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

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires user to visit malicious internal site or compromised legitimate site.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Type confusion vulnerabilities in V8 are often exploited in the wild, but no public exploit code is confirmed for this specific CVE.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 96.0.4664.93 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open Chrome. 2. Click three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents exploitation by disabling JavaScript execution in Chrome

Use Site Isolation

all

Enables Chrome's Site Isolation feature to limit impact

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict access to untrusted websites using web filtering
Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized code execution

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: If version is less than 96.0.4664.93, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

google-chrome --version (Linux) or chrome://version in address bar

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 96.0.4664.93 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports
Unexpected process termination
Memory access violation logs

Network Indicators:

Requests to known malicious domains serving exploit code
Unusual outbound connections after visiting websites

SIEM Query:

source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR message="*V8*" OR message="*heap*corruption*")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-4061

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/2021/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1271456 Permissions Required
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3W46HRT2UVHWSLZB6JZHQF6JNQWKV744/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202208-25 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5046 Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2021/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1271456 Permissions Required
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3W46HRT2UVHWSLZB6JZHQF6JNQWKV744/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202208-25 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5046 Third Party Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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