CVE-2011-1449 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Use-after-free vulnerability in the WebSockets implementation in Google Chrome before 11.0.696.57 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/15/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-1449 represents a critical use-after-free flaw within Google Chrome's WebSockets implementation, affecting versions prior to 11.0.696.57. This type of vulnerability occurs when a program continues to reference memory that has already been freed, creating potential exploitation opportunities for remote attackers. The WebSockets protocol implementation in Chrome was particularly susceptible to this class of memory corruption issue, which could be triggered through malicious web content. The vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-416, which specifically addresses the use of freed memory conditions that can lead to arbitrary code execution or system instability. The flaw demonstrates how browser implementations of modern web standards can introduce security risks when proper memory management practices are not thoroughly implemented.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves crafting malicious web content that triggers a specific sequence of operations within Chrome's WebSocket handling code. When a WebSocket connection is established and subsequently closed or manipulated in a particular way, the underlying memory structures may be freed while still being referenced by other components of the browser's rendering engine. This creates a scenario where remote attackers can potentially control the execution flow of the browser process by manipulating memory contents or forcing the application to execute code from freed memory regions. The attack vector typically involves web pages that establish WebSocket connections, perform operations that lead to memory deallocation, and then trigger the use-after-free condition through additional interactions with the WebSocket API. This vulnerability demonstrates the complexity of modern browser security where web standards implementations can introduce subtle memory management issues that are difficult to detect during standard testing procedures.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-1449 extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to potentially enable more severe security consequences. While the vulnerability description mentions possible unspecified other impacts, use-after-free conditions in browser environments are commonly exploited to achieve remote code execution, allowing attackers to gain full control over the affected system. The vulnerability affects all users of affected Chrome versions, making it particularly dangerous as it requires no user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website. This type of vulnerability represents a significant risk to enterprise environments where users may inadvertently visit compromised websites, leading to potential data breaches or system compromise. The vulnerability's impact is compounded by the fact that WebSockets are increasingly used in modern web applications, making the attack surface larger and more prevalent across various web-based services.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2011-1449 primarily focus on immediate version upgrades to Chrome 11.0.696.57 or later, which contains the necessary memory management fixes. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management procedures to ensure all affected systems are updated promptly, as the vulnerability affects a core browser component used by millions of users. Browser vendors should also consider implementing additional security mitigations such as address space layout randomization and heap metadata protection to reduce the exploitability of similar memory corruption vulnerabilities. The vulnerability highlights the importance of continuous security testing and code review processes for web standards implementations, particularly for features that involve complex memory management operations. Security teams should monitor for similar vulnerabilities in other browser implementations and web technologies, as the use-after-free pattern remains a common exploit target in modern web browsers. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content filtering solutions to detect and block malicious WebSocket traffic that may attempt to exploit this or similar vulnerabilities.