CVE-2023-6702
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability is a type confusion flaw in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that could allow an 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
- Google Chrome
- Chromium-based browsers
- Microsoft Edge
- Opera
- Brave
- Vivaldi
📦 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 →Edge Chromium by Microsoft
Fedora by Fedoraproject
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to full system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment via drive-by download attacks.
Likely Case
Browser crashes, denial of service, or limited sandbox escape leading to information disclosure.
If Mitigated
Browser crash with no further impact if sandbox holds, or successful blocking by web filtering/security tools.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (visiting malicious page) but no authentication. Type confusion vulnerabilities in V8 have historically been exploited in the wild.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 120.0.6099.109 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_12.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Chrome 2. Click three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome 3. Browser will check for and apply update 4. Click 'Relaunch' when prompted
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allPrevents exploitation by disabling JavaScript execution, but breaks most websites
Use browser extensions
allInstall NoScript or uBlock Origin to block malicious scripts
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict browser usage to trusted websites only
- Implement network segmentation and web filtering to block malicious domains
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version via chrome://version or Settings → About ChromeCheck Version:
google-chrome --version (Linux) or chrome://version (all platforms)Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 120.0.6099.109 or higher📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Browser crash logs with V8 errors
- Unexpected process termination
- Memory access violation events
Network Indicators:
- Connections to suspicious domains followed by browser crashes
- Unusual outbound traffic from browser processes
SIEM Query:
process_name:"chrome.exe" AND (event_id:1000 OR event_id:1001) AND message:"V8" OR process_name:"chrome" AND signal:SIGSEGV🔗 References
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_12.html
- https://crbug.com/1501326
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6NWZ23ZJ62XKWVNGHSIZQYILVJWH5BLI/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_12.html
- https://crbug.com/1501326
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6NWZ23ZJ62XKWVNGHSIZQYILVJWH5BLI/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ZGJ732QHS2FAYF62RFF3YP4VIQY75K7V/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-34
