CVE-2023-4072 – This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-4072?

CVE-2023-4072 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to trigger out-of-bounds memory access in Chrome's WebGL implementation, potentially leading to heap corruption and arbitrary code execution. Users of Google Chrome versions prior to 115.0.5790.170 are affected when visiting malicious websites.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to trigger out-of-bounds memory access in Chrome's WebGL implementation, potentially leading to heap corruption and arbitrary code execution. Users of Google Chrome versions prior to 115.0.5790.170 are affected when visiting malicious websites.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers

Versions: All versions prior to 115.0.5790.170

Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All default Chrome configurations with WebGL enabled are vulnerable. WebGL is enabled by default in Chrome.

📦 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 same privileges as the Chrome process, potentially leading to full system compromise if Chrome is running with elevated privileges.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited information disclosure from memory reads.

🟢

If Mitigated

Browser sandboxing may limit impact to browser process only, preventing full system compromise.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Exploitation requires only visiting a malicious website, which is common for internet-facing systems.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could be targeted via phishing or compromised internal websites.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires crafting malicious WebGL shaders and likely involves bypassing Chrome's sandbox for full impact.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 115.0.5790.170 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.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 WebGL

all

Disables WebGL rendering which prevents exploitation but breaks WebGL-dependent websites

chrome://flags/#disable-webgl → Disable
Restart Chrome

Use Chrome sandboxing

all

Ensure Chrome sandbox is enabled to limit potential impact

chrome://flags/#enable-sandbox → Enabled

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict access to untrusted websites using web filtering/proxy
Use alternative browser without WebGL support temporarily

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version in About Google Chrome (three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome)

Check Version:

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

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify Chrome version is 115.0.5790.170 or higher

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

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

Network Indicators:

Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
Unusual WebGL shader downloads

SIEM Query:

source="chrome_crash_reports" AND (message="WebGL" OR message="out_of_bounds")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-4072

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-125

Published: August 3, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

If you're affected by CVE-2023-4072, you might also want to check these: