CVE-2011-2347 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Google Chrome before 12.0.742.112 does not properly handle Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) token sequences, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/13/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2347 represents a critical memory corruption issue within Google Chrome's CSS parsing engine that existed prior to version 12.0.742.112. This flaw resides in the browser's handling of Cascading Style Sheets token sequences, which are fundamental components of web page rendering and styling. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly benign CSS processing can become a vector for significant security impacts when proper input validation and memory management are lacking in the browser's rendering engine.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of CSS token sequences within Chrome's layout engine. When processing malformed or specially crafted CSS content, the browser's CSS parser fails to properly manage memory allocation and deallocation, leading to memory corruption conditions. This type of flaw typically occurs when the parser encounters unexpected token combinations that cause stack or heap corruption, potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution or complete browser crash. The vulnerability's classification as a memory corruption issue aligns with common patterns found in buffer overflow and memory management flaws that have been extensively documented in cybersecurity literature.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks against Chrome users by simply visiting malicious websites that contain crafted CSS content. The potential for unspecified other impacts suggests that attackers might be able to leverage this memory corruption to execute arbitrary code on affected systems, making it particularly dangerous in targeted attack scenarios. The vulnerability affects a wide range of users since CSS is ubiquitous in web content, and the attack vector requires no special privileges or user interaction beyond normal web browsing activities. This makes the vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to compromise large numbers of users simultaneously.
The security implications of CVE-2011-2347 extend beyond simple denial of service, as memory corruption vulnerabilities often represent entry points for more sophisticated attacks. This flaw demonstrates the critical importance of robust input validation in browser rendering engines, where even seemingly harmless content processing can become a security risk. The vulnerability's presence in a major browser like Chrome highlights the complexity of modern web application security and the challenges of securing vast codebases against subtle memory management issues. Organizations should consider implementing browser hardening measures and ensuring timely patch deployment to mitigate risks associated with such vulnerabilities.
This vulnerability aligns with several cybersecurity frameworks and classifications including CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions, and CWE-129, which covers insufficient validation of array indices. The attack patterns associated with this vulnerability map to ATT&CK techniques such as T1203, which involves exploiting software vulnerabilities for remote code execution, and T1499, which encompasses network denial of service attacks. The remediation approach for this vulnerability primarily involves updating to Chrome version 12.0.742.112 or later, which includes proper CSS token sequence validation and memory management improvements. Security professionals should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content filtering solutions as additional defensive measures to protect against exploitation attempts.