CVE-2023-2136
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability is an integer overflow in Google Chrome's Skia graphics library that allows an attacker who has already compromised the renderer process to potentially escape the browser sandbox. It affects Chrome versions prior to 112.0.5615.137. Users who visit malicious websites could have their systems fully compromised.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
- Chromium-based browsers
- Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based)
- Brave Browser
- Opera
📦 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...
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⚠️ 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 or persistence.
Likely Case
Attackers combine this with other exploits to achieve full system compromise after initial renderer process compromise, typically through drive-by downloads or malicious ads.
If Mitigated
With proper patching, the vulnerability is eliminated; with defense-in-depth measures, impact is limited even if exploited.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires chaining with another vulnerability to first compromise the renderer process, then this vulnerability enables sandbox escape.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 112.0.5615.137 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_18.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 apply updates. 4. Click 'Relaunch' when prompted to restart Chrome.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allTemporarily disable JavaScript to prevent exploitation vectors, though this breaks most websites.
chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block
Use Browser Sandboxing
allRun Chrome in enhanced sandbox environments like Windows Sandbox or Linux containers.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict browser usage to trusted websites only using network policies or browser extensions.
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unknown binaries that might result from exploitation.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version via chrome://version and compare to 112.0.5615.137.Check Version:
On Windows: "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --version; On Linux: google-chrome --version; On macOS: /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 112.0.5615.137 or higher after update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with Skia-related stack traces
- Unexpected child process creation from Chrome
- Sandbox violation events in system logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes
- Downloads from suspicious domains followed by process execution
SIEM Query:
process_name:"chrome.exe" AND (event_id:1 OR parent_process_name:"chrome.exe") AND command_line:"*--type=*"🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_18.html
- https://crbug.com/1432603
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4AOSGAOPXLBK4A5ZRTVZ4M6QKVLSWMWG/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ES2CDRHR2Y4WY6DNDIAPYZFXJU3ZBFAV/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FEJZMAUB4XP44HSHEBDWEKFGA7DUHY42/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IHHD6KNH4WLUE6JG6HRQZWNAJMHJ32X7/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RJQI63HWZFL6M26Q6UOHKDY6LD2PFC5Z/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SLO7BL2MHZYPY6O3OAEAQL3SKYMGGO6M/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202309-17
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5393
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/04/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_18.html
- https://crbug.com/1432603
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4AOSGAOPXLBK4A5ZRTVZ4M6QKVLSWMWG/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ES2CDRHR2Y4WY6DNDIAPYZFXJU3ZBFAV/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FEJZMAUB4XP44HSHEBDWEKFGA7DUHY42/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IHHD6KNH4WLUE6JG6HRQZWNAJMHJ32X7/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RJQI63HWZFL6M26Q6UOHKDY6LD2PFC5Z/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SLO7BL2MHZYPY6O3OAEAQL3SKYMGGO6M/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202309-17
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5393
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-2136
