CVE-2011-1196 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
The OGG container implementation in Google Chrome before 10.0.648.127 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via unknown vectors that trigger an out-of-bounds write.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/19/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-1196 represents a critical memory corruption issue within Google Chrome's OGG container parsing implementation. This flaw exists in versions prior to 10.0.648.127 and demonstrates a classic out-of-bounds write condition that can be exploited remotely by attackers. The OGG container format is widely used for storing audio and video content on the web, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it affects a fundamental multimedia playback component that millions of users rely on daily. The vulnerability's classification as an out-of-bounds write indicates that the application attempts to write data beyond the allocated memory boundaries, which can lead to unpredictable behavior and system instability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it within the scope of CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and potentially CWE-787, which covers out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities. Attackers can exploit this weakness through carefully crafted OGG media files that trigger the vulnerable parsing code path. When Chrome processes such malicious content, the flawed memory handling causes the application to write beyond allocated buffer space, potentially corrupting adjacent memory regions. This memory corruption can manifest in various ways including application crashes, heap corruption, or in more severe cases, arbitrary code execution depending on the specific memory layout and exploitation techniques employed. The unspecified other impacts mentioned in the CVE description suggest that the vulnerability may have additional security implications beyond simple denial of service.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-1196 extends far beyond simple service disruption, as it represents a potential gateway for more sophisticated attacks. Users running vulnerable versions of Chrome are at risk of experiencing complete application crashes or system instability when encountering malicious OGG content, which could be embedded in web pages, email attachments, or downloaded files. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059, which involves executing malicious code through application-specific vulnerabilities, and potentially T1499, which covers network denial of service attacks. The vulnerability's remote exploitation capability means that attackers can deliver malicious payloads through web-based vectors without requiring local system access or user interaction beyond visiting a compromised website.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of affected Chrome versions, as Google released version 10.0.648.127 to address the issue. Organizations should implement network-level protections such as content filtering and web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious OGG content. Browser security configurations should be reviewed to ensure that automatic media playback is disabled where possible, and users should be educated about the risks of visiting untrusted websites. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security updates and the need for robust input validation in multimedia processing libraries. Additionally, system administrators should monitor for exploitation attempts through network traffic analysis and implement security monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous behavior patterns associated with memory corruption attacks. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of patched versions to ensure that the fix does not introduce compatibility issues with legitimate media content while maintaining the security improvements necessary to prevent exploitation.