Recently, a security vulnerability (CVE-2024-11115) has been discovered that affects Google Chrome on iOS versions prior to 131..6778.69. This vulnerability, classified as medium severity by Chromium security, allows a remote attacker to perform privilege escalation through a series of UI (User Interface) gestures. In this post, we will discuss the details of this vulnerability, including its impact and potential attack scenarios, along with the methods to fix and prevent it.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability arises from insufficient policy enforcement in the navigation component of Google Chrome on iOS. This allows an attacker to manipulate the victim's browser session and trigger events that are intended for users with a higher level of access privileges. As a result, an attacker could potentially gain access to sensitive user data by exploiting this vulnerability.

Exploit Scenarios

To better understand the potential harm associated with this vulnerability, consider the following exploit scenarios:

1. An attacker creates a malicious webpage that, once visited by the victim, triggers a series of UI gestures automatically. These gestures could be interacting with browser controls, such as buttons or form inputs, granting the attacker unauthorized access to the victim's browser session.

2. A victim visits a legitimate website that has been compromised by an attacker. The site contains a hidden iframe that loads the malicious webpage mentioned earlier. Once loaded, the vulnerability is exploited, and the attacker can potentially gain unauthorized access to the victim's browser session.

Code Snippet

Here is a simplified version of what an attack exploiting CVE-2024-11115 could look like from the attacker's perspective:

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Malicious Page</title>
    <script>
      function exploit() {
        // Simulate a series of UI gestures
        // such as clicking, swiping, and tapping
        initiateUIgestureSequence();

        // Perform the privilege escalation
        var payload = escalatePrivileges();

        // Transfer sensitive data to the attacker
        exfiltrateData(payload);
      }
    </script>
  </head>
  <body onload="exploit()">
    <!-- Content here -->
  </body>
</html>

Original References

For further information on this vulnerability, including its full description, affected versions, and original reporting details, please refer to the following official references:

1. Chromium Security Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/03/stable-channel-update-for-chrome-for-ios.html
2. CVE Details: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-11115
3. NVD Entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-11115

Mitigation and Prevention

The best way to prevent this vulnerability is to update Google Chrome on your iOS device to the latest version (131..6778.69 or newer). This can be done by visiting the App Store and installing the latest update for Google Chrome.

To further protect against similar vulnerabilities, it is essential to practice good security hygiene. This includes keeping all software up-to-date, using strong and unique passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication wherever possible, and being cautious when visiting unfamiliar websites or clicking on suspicious links.

Conclusion

CVE-2024-11115 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting Google Chrome on iOS due to insufficient policy enforcement in navigation. By exploiting this vulnerability, a remote attacker could potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive user data via a series of UI gestures. Mitigation and prevention involve updating Google Chrome to version 131..6778.69 or newer and practicing good security hygiene to protect against similar vulnerabilities.

Timeline

Published on: 11/12/2024 21:15:11 UTC
Last modified on: 01/02/2025 18:00:46 UTC