CVE-2024-6291 – This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Swift... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-6291?

CVE-2024-6291 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Swiftshader, a software renderer component of Google Chrome. It allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page, which could lead to arbitrary code execution. All users running vulnerable versions of Chrome are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Swiftshader, a software renderer component of Google Chrome. It allows remote attackers to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page, which could lead to arbitrary code execution. All users running vulnerable versions of Chrome are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome
Chromium-based browsers

Versions: Prior to 126.0.6478.126

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

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Swiftshader is used when hardware acceleration is unavailable or disabled, but the vulnerability affects all configurations.

📦 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 if combined with privilege escalation.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash (denial of service) or limited code execution within Chrome's sandbox, potentially allowing data theft or further exploitation.

🟢

If Mitigated

Browser crash with no data compromise if sandboxing holds, though memory corruption could still leak information.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Attackers can exploit via malicious websites without user interaction beyond visiting the page.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires user to visit malicious internal site or click malicious link, but internal threats exist.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Use-after-free vulnerabilities typically require precise timing and memory manipulation, but Chrome's high severity rating suggests reliable exploitation is possible.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 126.0.6478.126 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/06/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_24.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open Chrome. 2. Click the three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for and apply the update. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the patched version.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Prevents exploitation since the vulnerability requires JavaScript execution via crafted HTML.

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

Disable Swiftshader

all

Force hardware acceleration only, though this may break rendering on some systems.

chrome://flags/#disable-software-rasterizer → set to Enabled

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict browser usage to trusted websites only using network policies or extensions.
Implement application whitelisting to block Chrome execution until patched.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version via chrome://settings/help or 'About Google Chrome'. If version is below 126.0.6478.126, it is vulnerable.

Check Version:

On Linux/macOS: google-chrome --version. On Windows: Check in Chrome settings or via wmic where 'name like "%chrome%"' get version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 126.0.6478.126 or higher after update and restart.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports with Swiftshader-related modules
Unexpected Chrome process termination in system logs

Network Indicators:

Requests to known malicious domains serving exploit code
Unusual outbound connections from Chrome post-crash

SIEM Query:

source="chrome_crash_logs" AND (module="swiftshader" OR error="use-after-free")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-6291

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: June 24, 2024

Last Updated: December 26, 2024

🔗 References

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/06/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_24.html Release Notes
https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40942995 Exploit,Issue Tracking
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/T6OJ65HWXYSYMH55VDO6N36EOZFUNL4O/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WHV5WTU27YOIBIM2CON42SHWY6J2HPRS/ Mailing List
https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/06/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_24.html Release Notes
https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40942995 Exploit,Issue Tracking
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/T6OJ65HWXYSYMH55VDO6N36EOZFUNL4O/ Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WHV5WTU27YOIBIM2CON42SHWY6J2HPRS/ Mailing List

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