CVE-2022-4920
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability is a heap buffer overflow in Chrome's Blink rendering engine that allows a remote attacker to potentially escape the browser sandbox. Attackers can exploit it by convincing users to perform specific UI gestures on a crafted HTML page. All users of affected Chrome versions are at risk.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
- Chromium-based browsers
📦 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
Complete system compromise via sandbox escape leading to arbitrary code execution with user privileges, potentially enabling further lateral movement.
Likely Case
Remote code execution within the browser context, allowing data theft, session hijacking, or installation of malware.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if browser sandbox holds, potentially just browser crash or denial of service.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (specific UI gestures) but no authentication. No public exploit code is known.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 101.0.4951.41
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_26.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 update. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allTemporarily disable JavaScript to prevent exploitation via crafted HTML pages.
chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block
Use alternative browser
allSwitch to non-Chromium browser until patched.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user access to untrusted websites via web filtering
- Implement application allowlisting to prevent unauthorized browser execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version via chrome://settings/help or 'About Google Chrome'Check Version:
google-chrome --version (Linux), 'About Google Chrome' (Windows/macOS)Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 101.0.4951.41 or later📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with memory violation errors
- Unexpected browser process termination
Network Indicators:
- Requests to suspicious domains hosting crafted HTML
- Unusual outbound connections post-browser interaction
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR message="*overflow*" OR message="*memory*violation*")🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_26.html
- https://crbug.com/1306861
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PQKT7EGDD2P3L7S3NXEDDRCPK4NNZNWJ/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/YKLJ3B3D5BCVWE3QNP4N7HHF26OHD567/
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_26.html
- https://crbug.com/1306861
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PQKT7EGDD2P3L7S3NXEDDRCPK4NNZNWJ/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/YKLJ3B3D5BCVWE3QNP4N7HHF26OHD567/
