CVE-2023-5479: Bypassing Enterprise Policies with a Malicious Chrome Extension!

Summary: Recently, a vulnerability was discovered in an earlier version of Google Chrome (prior to 118..5993.70) that allows an attacker to bypass an organization's security measures by crafting a malicious Chrome extension and convincing a user to install it. This security flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-5479, lies within the implementation of Extensions API and is classified as a medium-severity issue by the Chromium security team.

Introduction:

The CVE-2023-5479 security flaw arises from an inappropriate implementation in the Extensions API within Google Chrome. Exploiting this vulnerability, attackers can bypass enterprise policies set on the Chrome browser through a carefully crafted HTML page. In this long read, we'll dive deep into this vulnerability by taking a look at the code snippet responsible and discuss how to mitigate the threat. We'll also provide you with some helpful links to original references and exploit details.

Code Snippet

The vulnerability in question arises from a misconfiguration in the Extensions API within the browser. Here, we have an oversimplified example of how it might appear in the affected version of Google Chrome:

 function onRequest (request, sender, sendResponse)  {
     // Some validation logic here...
     if (isValidRequest(request)) {
      sendResponse ({ status: "success", data: processData(request.data) });
     }
     else {
      // Bypassing enterprise policy by loading a crafted HTML page
      window.open ('/path/to/malicious/page.html');
     }
 }
 

In the example above, the onRequest() function is supposed to process valid requests. However, there's a loophole here that allows the attacker to serve a malicious HTML page when the request is considered invalid. By abusing this flaw, attackers can bypass enterprise policies set on the browser.

Original References:

1. Chromium Security Team Advisory: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=CVE-2023-5479

2. Google Chrome Releases Blog Post: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/01/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html

Mitigation Steps

To protect yourself or your organization from the CVE-2023-5479 vulnerability, you should perform the following steps:

1. Update your Google Chrome browser to the latest version (118..5993.70 or later). This updated version addresses this security flaw.
2. Be cautious when installing new Chrome extensions, especially those from untrusted sources. Verify the authenticity of the extension before installing it.
3. Regularly enforce and review your organization's security policies, focusing on browser security policies and browser extension approvals.

Conclusion

CVE-2023-5479 exposes an important issue in the world of browser security. Users and organizations must always stay alert and updateUser_000/plaintext_assets/blob-storage.connector-004.txtupdate their software]|[https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine)data regularly to defend against such vulnerabilities. By understanding this vulnerability and taking appropriate steps to mitigate potential threats, you can help ensure the safety and security of your digital environment.

Timeline

Published on: 10/11/2023 23:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 10/13/2023 02:15:00 UTC