CVE-2023-3216 – This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-3216?

CVE-2023-3216 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that could allow a remote attacker to trigger heap corruption by tricking the browser into misinterpreting object types. Attackers could exploit this via malicious web pages to potentially execute arbitrary code or crash the browser. All users of affected Chrome versions are at risk when visiting compromised or malicious websites.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that could allow a remote attacker to trigger heap corruption by tricking the browser into misinterpreting object types. Attackers could exploit this via malicious web pages to potentially execute arbitrary code or crash the browser. All users of affected Chrome versions are at risk when visiting compromised or malicious websites.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers
Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based)
Brave Browser
Opera
Vivaldi

Versions: All versions prior to 114.0.5735.133

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

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All standard configurations are vulnerable. The vulnerability is in the V8 engine, so any browser using affected Chromium versions is impacted.

📦 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 if combined with other vulnerabilities or running with elevated privileges.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited memory corruption that could be leveraged for information disclosure or further exploitation.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact if Chrome is fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls like web filtering or isolation.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting a malicious page) but no authentication. Type confusion vulnerabilities in V8 have historically been exploited in the wild.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 114.0.5735.133 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/06/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_13.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 patched version.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability

Use Browser Isolation

all

Access web content through remote browser isolation solutions

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict web filtering to block access to untrusted or suspicious websites
Use application allowlisting to prevent execution of unknown processes that might result from exploitation

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: if below 114.0.5735.133, the system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

chrome://version/ (in Chrome address bar) or 'google-chrome --version' (Linux terminal)

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 114.0.5735.133 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports
Unexpected process termination events
Security event logs showing suspicious browser activity

Network Indicators:

Outbound connections to known malicious domains after visiting suspicious sites
Unusual JavaScript execution patterns

SIEM Query:

source="chrome_crash_logs" AND (message="V8" OR message="heap corruption") OR process_name="chrome.exe" AND event_id="1000"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-3216

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-843

Published: June 13, 2023

Last Updated: May 5, 2025

🔗 References

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/06/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_13.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1450114 Issue Tracking,Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JEH75UOM7FAXDUPC37YHP7ONL2HSDIJR/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/O362DC3ZCFRXVHOXMPIL73YOWABQEUYD/ Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-11
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5428 Third Party Advisory
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/06/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_13.html Release Notes,Vendor Advisory
https://crbug.com/1450114 Issue Tracking,Permissions Required,Vendor Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JEH75UOM7FAXDUPC37YHP7ONL2HSDIJR/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/O362DC3ZCFRXVHOXMPIL73YOWABQEUYD/ Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-11
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5428 Third Party Advisory

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