Executive brief
A security vulnerability was identified in the Google Chrome web browser's V8 engine, which handles JavaScript. By tricking a user into visiting a specially crafted website, an attacker could cause the browser to crash or potentially gain unauthorized access to the user's system. This could lead to the theft of sensitive data or the installation of malicious software.
Technical details
A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability exists in the V8 JavaScript engine within Google Chrome. The flaw is triggered when the engine incorrectly manages memory for objects that have been deleted or moved, leading to heap corruption. A remote attacker can exploit this by hosting a malicious HTML page that, when rendered by a vulnerable browser, triggers the memory corruption. This can result in a browser crash (Denial of Service) or arbitrary code execution within the context of the browser process. The vulnerability was patched in Chrome version 55.0.2883.75 for desktop and 55.0.2883.84 for Android.
Affected products
- Google Chrome < 55.0.2883.75 (Desktop), < 55.0.2883.84 (Android)
- Google Chromium < 55.0.2883.75
Timeline
- 2016-12-01: advisory: Google released Chrome 55.0.2883.75 with security fixes.
- 2016-12-07: patched: Red Hat released security updates for chromium-browser.
- 2017-01-19: disclosed: NVD published the CVE record.