CVE-2023-5997
📋 TL;DR
This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome's garbage collection 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 Google 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...
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⚠️ 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 fully patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page) but no authentication. Heap corruption vulnerabilities can be challenging to exploit reliably.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 119.0.6045.159 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/11/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_14.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Chrome. 2. Click the three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for updates and install version 119.0.6045.159 or later. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allPrevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability
chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block
Use browser sandboxing
linux/windowsRun Chrome in a sandboxed environment to limit potential damage
On Linux: firejail google-chrome
On Windows: Use Windows Sandbox
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Block access to untrusted websites using web filtering or proxy controls
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized browser execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version: Open Chrome → Click three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome. If version is below 119.0.6045.159, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
On command line: google-chrome --version (Linux) or "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --version (Windows)Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm Chrome version is 119.0.6045.159 or higher using the same About Google Chrome page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports
- Unexpected process termination events
- Security event logs showing browser exploitation attempts
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes
- Traffic to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR process_name="chrome.exe" AND parent_process="explorer.exe")🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/11/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_14.html
- https://crbug.com/1497997
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JHUI5HW7QXT3U74MJMTLUMF5REDO5HD5/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MN3JQGEC4EFQP3WTI33YBD3CLC3I7P4X/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/XWHRLW3GDNFBFSBHDD4QOPUPX7ORTUEC/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-11
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202312-07
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5556
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/11/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_14.html
- https://crbug.com/1497997
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JHUI5HW7QXT3U74MJMTLUMF5REDO5HD5/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MN3JQGEC4EFQP3WTI33YBD3CLC3I7P4X/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/XWHRLW3GDNFBFSBHDD4QOPUPX7ORTUEC/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-11
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202312-07
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
- https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5556
