CVE-2023-2721 – This is a critical use-after-free vulnerability... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-2721?

CVE-2023-2721 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This is a critical use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's navigation component that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by tricking users into visiting a maliciously crafted HTML page. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This is a critical use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's navigation component that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by tricking users into visiting a maliciously crafted HTML page. All users running vulnerable versions of Google Chrome are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers

Versions: All versions prior to 113.0.5672.126

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

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All standard Chrome installations are vulnerable. Chromium-based browsers may also be affected depending on their patch level.

📦 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 complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within the browser sandbox.

🟢

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 exploit via malicious websites without user interaction beyond visiting the page.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires user to visit malicious internal page or attacker to compromise internal web server.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires bypassing Chrome's sandbox and other security mitigations, but use-after-free vulnerabilities are commonly exploited in browser attacks.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 113.0.5672.126 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_16.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open Chrome and click the three-dot menu. 2. Go to Help > About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for updates and install if available. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the update.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents exploitation as the vulnerability requires JavaScript execution.

chrome://settings/content/javascript

Use Site Isolation

all

Enhances Chrome's site isolation feature to limit impact of potential exploitation.

chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Use alternative browser 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 by navigating to chrome://settings/help or clicking Help > About Google Chrome.

Check Version:

google-chrome --version (Linux) or "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --version (Windows)

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify Chrome version is 113.0.5672.126 or higher in About Google Chrome page.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports with navigation-related stack traces
Unexpected Chrome process termination

Network Indicators:

Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes

SIEM Query:

source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR process_name="chrome.exe") AND message="*navigation*" OR "*heap*"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-2721

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-416

Published: May 16, 2023

Last Updated: May 5, 2025

🔗 References

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_16.html Release Notes
https://crbug.com/1444360 Permissions Required
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/73XUIHJ6UT75VFPDPLJOXJON7MVIKVZI/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FXFL4TDAH72PRCPD5UPZMJMKIMVOPLTI/ Mailing List
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202309-17 Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-11
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5404 Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_16.html Release Notes
https://crbug.com/1444360 Permissions Required
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/73XUIHJ6UT75VFPDPLJOXJON7MVIKVZI/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FXFL4TDAH72PRCPD5UPZMJMKIMVOPLTI/ Mailing List
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202309-17 Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-11
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5404 Third Party Advisory

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