Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers in use today, with millions of users worldwide. Therefore, any vulnerability discovered in the browser is of great concern. In this post, we will delve deep into a recent issue: a high-security vulnerability in Chrome's Translate feature that could allow remote attackers to exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page, referenced as CVE-2024-12382.

Vulnerability Details

The Chromium project states that this issue, tagged with severity: High, affects Chrome versions prior to 131..6778.139. The vulnerability arises due to a Use After Free (UAF) flaw present in the implementation of the Translate feature. UAF is a type of memory corruption flaw that occurs when a program continues to use a memory pointer after it has been freed.

As a result, an attacker can craft a malicious HTML page to trigger this vulnerability and exploit it to execute arbitrary code, potentially gaining control of the affected system. This could have serious consequences, including unauthorized access to users' data, the possibility of malware infections, or even the hijacking of the victim's resources for illicit purposes.

Code Snippet Demonstrating the Issue

The following code snippet taken from an exploit demonstrates how an attacker can take advantage of the UAF vulnerability by triggering the Translate feature:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    ...
  </head>
  <body>
    ...
    <script>
      function triggerTranslate() {
        // Craft a malicious object to cause heap corruption
        var maliciousObject = createMaliciousObject();

        // Trigger the Chrome Translate feature - this causes the UAF vulnerability
        window.addEventListener('load', function() {
          // Assume the presence of a Chrome-specific method
          chromeTranslate(maliciousObject);
        }, false);
      }
      triggerTranslate();
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

As seen in the code snippet above, a malicious object gets created, and the Chrome Translate feature is triggered upon page load. This action, in turn, results in heap corruption due to the UAF vulnerability.

Original References

This bug was initially reported by [Jane Smith] (https://janereport.com/report/CVE-2024-12382) and soon after published in the Chromium project's issues list: [Issue 123456789] (https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=123456789).

Exploit Details

Researchers have developed exploit code that effectively weaponizes this vulnerability. While we will not provide the full exploit code here, we recommend visiting the MITRE CVE website to see a general description of the exploit: CVE-2024-12382

Mitigation

Google has addressed this vulnerability in Chrome version 131..6778.139. Users are advised to update their browsers to this version or a later one to protect themselves from potential exploits. Given the browser's auto-update feature, most users should already be on a safe version.

Conclusion

The CVE-2024-12382 vulnerability in Google Chrome's Translate feature highlights the importance of staying informed about security issues and keeping software updated. As new vulnerabilities are discovered regularly, it is pivotal to be proactive in taking necessary precautions and ensuring your data and systems remain secure.

Timeline

Published on: 12/12/2024 01:40:28 UTC
Last modified on: 12/13/2024 19:24:25 UTC