CVE-2024-10826 - Decoding the Dangerous Use-After-Free Vulnerability in Google Chrome Android

Google Chrome is one of the most used web browsers on the planet, and its security holes can endanger millions of users in a flash. Today, let’s break down an important high-severity issue—CVE-2024-10826—which affects Chrome on Android, understand what went wrong, and see how an attacker could abuse it.

Understanding the Bug: What Is a Use-After-Free?

A "use-after-free" vulnerability happens when a program continues using a piece of memory after it has been freed (released). This can lead to unpredictable behavior—like crashes, data leaks, or even remote code execution if the attacker controls what replaces that memory.

In Chrome, these bugs often get exploited through web pages with tricky JavaScript. The wrong sequence of events makes Chrome access memory it shouldn’t, and that can lead to danger.

Vulnerable Component: Family Experiences

Google Chrome’s "Family Experiences" feature relates to parental controls and user supervision. In certain cases, the logic mishandled memory, setting up a use-after-free scenario. A specifically crafted web page could remotely take advantage of this flaw and possibly hijack the browser’s heap memory.

Reference Links

- Google Chrome Stable Channel Update for Android
- Chromium Security Advisories
- CVE-2024-10826 entry on NVD

Exploit Scenario: How the Attack Works

Let’s see a simplified exploit scenario. Attackers can create a specially crafted HTML page that triggers the bug. For instance, by rapidly deleting objects or triggering specific events, they force Chrome to access memory that was previously freed.

Code Snippet: Possible Exploit Pattern (Proof-of-Concept-style)

The real trigger depends on the code in the Family Experiences module. Generally, use-after-free bugs are triggered by causing lifecycles of DOM objects or custom JS objects to desynchronize.

<!-- family_experiences_poc.html (Conceptual PoC) -->
<html>
  <body>
    <script>
      let obj = document.createElement('div');

      // A function that briefly uses 'obj'
      function triggerUAF() {
        // Remove 'obj' from the DOM and force its deletion
        document.body.removeChild(obj);
        // GC hint—try to get memory freed (not deterministic)
        if(window.gc) window.gc();
        // Now try to use 'obj' again, after it has been "freed"
        obj.innerText = "UAF!";
      }

      // Simulate vulnerable sequence in Family Experiences
      document.body.appendChild(obj);
      setTimeout(triggerUAF, 500);
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

Note: This is a generic sample and does NOT exploit the specific Chrome bug, for obvious safety and ethical reasons. Real exploits would tune to the exact scenario in Chrome’s implementation of Family Experiences.

Possibly run malicious code in the browser’s context on your device.

This can all happen just by visiting a single web page, no user interaction needed beyond that.

How Was It Fixed?

The fix involves ensuring proper object lifetime management in code for Family Experiences. After Google’s security team received the report, they released version 130..6723.116 with the vulnerability addressed.

Final Thoughts

Vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-10826 remind us that even trusted apps can have dangerous bugs. The best defense is swift updates and a healthy dose of caution online.

Original References

- Chrome Release Blog on Android Stable Channel
- Chromium Security Advisories (Search for CVE-2024-10826)
- National Vulnerability Database: CVE-2024-10826

Timeline

Published on: 11/06/2024 17:15:13 UTC
Last modified on: 11/06/2024 18:17:17 UTC