CVE-2024-5495 – This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Dawn ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-5495?

CVE-2024-5495 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Dawn (WebGPU implementation) in Google Chrome that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. Attackers could execute arbitrary code or cause browser crashes. All users running vulnerable Chrome versions are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Dawn (WebGPU implementation) in Google Chrome that allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. Attackers could execute arbitrary code or cause browser crashes. All users running vulnerable Chrome versions are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers

Versions: Prior to 125.0.6422.141

Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All default Chrome configurations with WebGPU enabled are vulnerable. WebGPU is enabled by default in Chrome 113+.

📦 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 full system compromise, data theft, or malware installation.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution in sandboxed context.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact if Chrome is updated to patched version or if WebGPU is disabled.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Exploitable via visiting malicious websites without user interaction beyond page load.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires user to visit malicious internal pages or compromised internal sites.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires bypassing Chrome's sandbox and other security mitigations, but use-after-free vulnerabilities are commonly exploited.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 125.0.6422.141 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_30.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 update. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable WebGPU

all

Disables the WebGPU API which contains the vulnerable Dawn component

chrome://flags/#enable-webgpu → Disabled

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents execution of malicious JavaScript that could trigger the vulnerability

chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Use browser extensions to block JavaScript on untrusted sites
Implement network filtering to block malicious websites and ads

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version: If version is less than 125.0.6422.141, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

chrome://version (look for 'Google Chrome' version number)

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify Chrome version is 125.0.6422.141 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports
Browser process termination events
Unexpected Chrome restarts

Network Indicators:

Requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit code
Unusual WebGPU API usage patterns

SIEM Query:

source="chrome_crash_reports" AND version<"125.0.6422.141"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-5495

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-416

Published: May 30, 2024

Last Updated: December 26, 2024

🔗 References

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_30.html Release Notes
https://issues.chromium.org/issues/338103465 Exploit,Issue Tracking
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/D5SQOWDIVBXQYQPPBSCH7EFISYAOCTHD/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ZW4TZXVPN3NLZ4UDGZP6OASUM4OVLXX2/ Mailing List
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_30.html Release Notes
https://issues.chromium.org/issues/338103465 Exploit,Issue Tracking
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/D5SQOWDIVBXQYQPPBSCH7EFISYAOCTHD/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ZW4TZXVPN3NLZ4UDGZP6OASUM4OVLXX2/ Mailing List

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