CVE-2024-6772: Analyzing Out-of-Bounds Memory Access in V8 Engine Bug Found in Google Chrome (126..6478.182)
In the realm of cybersecurity, the discovery of new software vulnerabilities is a well-known and unsurprising situation. Today, we will analyze and discuss one such vulnerability, identified as CVE-2024-6772, found in Google Chrome's V8 engine. This security vulnerability, considered of high severity, allows remote attackers to perform out-of-bounds memory access through a specially crafted HTML page. We will dissect this bug to understand its root cause, the exploit details, and how it can affect your system.
Background
V8 is Google's open-source high-performance JavaScript and WebAssembly engine. It is widely used in Google Chrome, Node.js, and other projects. The V8 engine is developed using C++ and is designed to run on multiple platforms, such as Windows, MacOS, Linux, and others. You can find more information about V8 here: V8 Engine Official Website
The Vulnerability (CVE-2024-6772)
The security advisory states that this specific vulnerability is caused due to improper implementation in the V8 engine in Google Chrome versions prior to 126..6478.182. The improper implementation allows a remote attacker to access out-of-bounds memory via a specially crafted HTML page.
Here's the link to the original Chromium issue tracker, which contains information on how this vulnerability was addressed: Chromium Issue Tracker
The following code snippet is an example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>CVE-2024-6772 POC</title>
</head>
<body>
<script>
// Malicious JavaScript code to exploit the vulnerability.
// For demonstration purposes only.
</script>
</body>
</html>
As noted in the advisory, this issue has a high severity classification, mainly because an attacker can potentially execute arbitrary code on the affected system, steal sensitive information, or even perform a complete system takeover.
Exploit Details
The exploitation process begins with an attacker creating a malicious HTML page containing JavaScript code to exploit the vulnerability in the V8 engine.
When an unsuspecting user visits the malicious web page, the browser's HTML parser automatically executes the JavaScript code resident on the page. The malicious code then attempts to trigger the out-of-bounds memory access using improper implementation in the V8 engine.
As a result, the attacker can perform various malicious actions, including reading sensitive data from the memory or executing arbitrary code on the user's system.
Mitigation
Google has already addressed the issue in the latest Google Chrome versions. The fix is available starting from version 126..6478.182. Users are strongly recommended to update their Google Chrome installation to the latest version to avoid any potential exploitation.
Conclusion
In this long read post, we have discussed the details of the high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2024-6772) found in Google Chrome's V8 engine. This vulnerability exposes users to the risk of out-of-bounds memory access in their systems and potentially allows attackers to steal sensitive data or even completely compromise the victim's system. Users can mitigate the threat by upgrading their Google Chrome browser to the latest version as soon as possible.
Stay vigilant, stay secure, and make sure to keep your software updated!
Timeline
Published on: 07/16/2024 22:15:06 UTC
Last modified on: 08/06/2024 19:35:10 UTC