CVE-2023-5472
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's Profiles component that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by tricking users into visiting a specially crafted HTML page. All users running vulnerable versions of Chrome are affected.
💻 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 →Fedora by Fedoraproject
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Browser crash, memory corruption, or limited code execution within the Chrome sandbox.
If Mitigated
Browser crash with no further impact if sandboxing holds and exploit fails.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page) but no authentication. Chrome's sandbox may limit impact.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 118.0.5993.117 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/10/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_24.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Chrome. 2. Click three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the fixed version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allTemporarily disable JavaScript to prevent exploitation via malicious web pages
chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block
Use alternative browser
allSwitch to a non-Chromium browser until Chrome is updated
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network filtering to block malicious websites
- Use application control to restrict Chrome execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: chrome://version and verify it's below 118.0.5993.117Check Version:
chrome://versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 118.0.5993.117 or higher📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports
- Unexpected process termination
- Memory access violation logs
Network Indicators:
- Connections to suspicious domains serving HTML content
- Unusual outbound traffic after visiting web pages
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event="crash" OR event="access_violation")🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/10/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_24.html
- https://crbug.com/1491296
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5TWIUD4VIISLZWEQ4WLWFZT34T3KOXZB/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RA6HMWNOYQ56R35MHW77GVW7373Z4RSN/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TDMQG42VVOZ5USSI4NSNT3VJPGBPNSIW/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5536
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/10/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_24.html
- https://crbug.com/1491296
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5TWIUD4VIISLZWEQ4WLWFZT34T3KOXZB/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RA6HMWNOYQ56R35MHW77GVW7373Z4RSN/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TDMQG42VVOZ5USSI4NSNT3VJPGBPNSIW/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5536
