CVE-2022-0973
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's Safe Browsing feature 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, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within the browser sandbox, potentially enabling further exploitation.
If Mitigated
No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting a malicious page). The vulnerability is in Safe Browsing, which is designed to protect users from malicious sites.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 99.0.4844.74 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_15.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 Safe Browsing
allTemporarily disable Safe Browsing feature (not recommended as it reduces security).
chrome://settings/security → Disable 'Safe Browsing'
Use Chrome Enterprise policies
allConfigure Chrome via Group Policy or MDM to restrict browsing to trusted sites only.
Configure 'URLBlocklist' and 'URLAllowlist' policies
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict web browsing to essential, trusted websites only.
- Deploy web filtering/proxy solutions to block access to potentially malicious sites.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: if below 99.0.4844.74, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
chrome://version/ or 'google-chrome --version' (Linux/macOS)Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 99.0.4844.74 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports
- Unexpected process termination events in system logs
Network Indicators:
- Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR message="*SafeBrowsing*" AND severity="critical")🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_15.html
- https://crbug.com/1297498
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202208-25
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_15.html
- https://crbug.com/1297498
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202208-25
