CVE-2022-0468
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's Payments component that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption. Attackers can craft malicious HTML pages to trigger this vulnerability, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution. 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...
Learn more about Chrome →⚠️ 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 information disclosure through memory corruption.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if vulnerable versions are not used to visit malicious websites.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting a malicious page) but no authentication. The bug report suggests the vulnerability is exploitable for heap corruption.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 98.0.4758.80 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/02/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 updates and install version 98.0.4758.80 or later. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allTemporarily disable JavaScript to prevent exploitation, though this breaks most website functionality.
chrome://settings/content/javascript → toggle to 'Blocked'
Use Chrome sandboxing
allEnsure Chrome sandbox is enabled (default) to limit impact of potential exploitation.
chrome://sandbox → verify sandbox status is 'Enabled'
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Use alternative browsers that are not vulnerable to this specific Chrome issue.
- Implement network filtering to block access to known malicious websites and restrict browsing to trusted sites only.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: if below 98.0.4758.80, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
chrome://version (look for 'Google Chrome' version number)Verify Fix Applied:
Verify Chrome version is 98.0.4758.80 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with memory corruption errors
- Unexpected Chrome process termination events
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to unusual domains followed by Chrome crashes
- Patterns of exploit kit traffic
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR message="*corruption*" OR message="*use-after-free*")