CVE-2023-1812 – This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-1812?

CVE-2023-1812 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform out-of-bounds memory access in Chrome's DOM Bindings by tricking a user into visiting a malicious HTML page. It affects all users running Google Chrome versions prior to 112.0.5615.49. The attacker could potentially execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform out-of-bounds memory access in Chrome's DOM Bindings by tricking a user into visiting a malicious HTML page. It affects all users running Google Chrome versions prior to 112.0.5615.49. The attacker could potentially execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers

Versions: All versions prior to 112.0.5615.49

Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All standard Chrome installations are vulnerable. Chromium-based browsers like Microsoft Edge, Brave, etc. may also be affected if using vulnerable Chromium versions.

📦 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 information disclosure through memory access.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact if Chrome is updated to patched version or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Attackers can host malicious pages on the internet and target any Chrome user.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Could be exploited via internal phishing campaigns or compromised internal websites.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page). No public exploit code is known, but the vulnerability is actively disclosed.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 112.0.5615.49 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/04/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 with the update.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability.

chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block

Use Site Isolation

all

Enables Chrome's Site Isolation feature to limit impact of renderer process compromises.

chrome://flags/#site-isolation-trial-opt-out → Disabled

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Use alternative browsers until Chrome can be updated.
Implement web filtering to block known malicious sites and restrict browsing to trusted domains only.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: if below 112.0.5615.49, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

google-chrome --version (Linux) or chrome://version (all platforms)

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 112.0.5615.49 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports with memory access violation errors
Unexpected Chrome process terminations

Network Indicators:

HTTP requests to suspicious domains hosting HTML pages
Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes

SIEM Query:

source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR message="access violation")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-1812

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-787

Published: April 4, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1418224 Issue Tracking,Permissions Required,Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FG3CRADL7IL5IHK4NCHG4LAYLKHFXETX/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HO3QZY4UQFP4XNF43ILMVVOABMB7KAQ5/ Mailing List
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202309-17 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5386 Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1418224 Issue Tracking,Permissions Required,Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FG3CRADL7IL5IHK4NCHG4LAYLKHFXETX/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HO3QZY4UQFP4XNF43ILMVVOABMB7KAQ5/ Mailing List
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202309-17 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5386 Third Party Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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