CVE-2023-4362
📋 TL;DR
This heap buffer overflow vulnerability in Google Chrome's Mojom IDL allows a remote attacker who has already compromised the renderer process to potentially exploit heap corruption and gain control of a WebUI process. Users running Chrome versions prior to 116.0.5845.96 are affected. The vulnerability requires initial renderer compromise but could lead to sandbox escape.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
- Chromium-based browsers
📦 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
Full sandbox escape leading to arbitrary code execution at browser process privilege level, potentially compromising the entire system.
Likely Case
Limited impact due to requirement of prior renderer compromise; most likely used in multi-stage attacks to escalate privileges within the browser.
If Mitigated
With proper sandboxing and security controls, impact is contained to the browser process without system compromise.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires prior renderer process compromise and control of WebUI process; not directly exploitable from web content alone.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 116.0.5845.96 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_15.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Chrome menu > Help > About Google Chrome. 2. Chrome will automatically check for updates and install version 116.0.5845.96 or later. 3. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the fix applied.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable WebUI features
allDisable Chrome features that use WebUI processes, though this may break functionality.
chrome://flags/#enable-webui
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict browser access to untrusted websites using network policies or web filtering.
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized Chrome execution.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version in menu > Help > About Google Chrome. If version is below 116.0.5845.96, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
google-chrome --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Chrome version is 116.0.5845.96 or higher after update and restart.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports with heap corruption signatures
- Unexpected WebUI process termination
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns from Chrome processes
- Connections to known malicious domains
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR process_name="chrome.exe") AND message="heap corruption"🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_15.html
- https://crbug.com/1316379
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2DMXHPRUGBUDNHZCZCIVMWAUIEXEGMGT/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OCFEK63FUHFXZH5MSG6TNQOXMQWM4M5S/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5479
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_15.html
- https://crbug.com/1316379
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2DMXHPRUGBUDNHZCZCIVMWAUIEXEGMGT/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OCFEK63FUHFXZH5MSG6TNQOXMQWM4M5S/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5479
