CVE-2024-5497 – This vulnerability allows remote attackers to e... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-5497?

CVE-2024-5497 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability allows remote attackers to exploit heap corruption in Google Chrome by tricking users into performing specific UI gestures on a malicious HTML page. It affects all users running Chrome versions prior to 125.0.6422.141. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to exploit heap corruption in Google Chrome by tricking users into performing specific UI gestures on a malicious HTML page. It affects all users running Chrome versions prior to 125.0.6422.141. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers

Versions: All versions prior to 125.0.6422.141

Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All standard Chrome installations are vulnerable. Extensions or security settings do not mitigate this specific vulnerability.

📦 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 with the privileges of the Chrome process, potentially leading to full system compromise, data theft, or malware installation.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited information disclosure from memory corruption.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact if Chrome is updated to the patched version or if users avoid suspicious websites and UI gestures.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Attackers can host malicious HTML pages on the internet and trick users into visiting them.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Risk exists if internal users visit malicious internal pages, but external attack surface is reduced.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires user interaction (specific UI gestures) and a crafted HTML page. No public exploit code is known at this time.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 125.0.6422.141

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_30.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 125.0.6422.141. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents execution of malicious scripts that could trigger the vulnerability, but breaks most website functionality.

chrome://settings/content/javascript → toggle off

Use Click-to-Play for plugins

all

Reduces attack surface by requiring user approval for content execution.

chrome://settings/content/flash → 'Block sites from running Flash'

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict user access to untrusted websites via network policies or web filtering.
Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unknown processes from Chrome.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

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

Check Version:

On Chrome: chrome://version/ | On command line: google-chrome --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 125.0.6422.141 or higher after update.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports with memory access violation errors
Unexpected Chrome process termination in system logs

Network Indicators:

HTTP requests to known malicious domains hosting exploit HTML
Unusual outbound connections from Chrome process

SIEM Query:

source="chrome_crash_reports" AND (event_id="MEMORY_ACCESS_VIOLATION" OR error="heap corruption")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-5497

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-787

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/339061099 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/339061099 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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