CVE-2011-2857 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome before 14.0.835.163 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via vectors related to the focus controller.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/17/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2857 represents a critical use-after-free flaw in Google Chrome versions prior to 14.0.835.163 that exposes users to potential remote code execution or denial of service conditions. This vulnerability specifically affects the browser's focus controller component, which manages the user interface focus state across various elements within the web page rendering environment. The issue arises when the browser attempts to access memory that has already been freed, creating a scenario where malicious actors can manipulate the application's memory management to execute arbitrary code or cause system instability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-416, which describes the use of freed memory condition where a program continues to reference memory that has been deallocated. In Chrome's case, the focus controller component maintains references to DOM elements and UI components that may be destroyed while the application still attempts to interact with them. This flaw occurs during the processing of web content where the browser's JavaScript engine and rendering pipeline interact with the focus management system, creating opportunities for attackers to craft malicious web pages that trigger the memory corruption when users navigate to compromised sites. The vulnerability demonstrates how improper memory management in browser components can create persistent security risks that affect millions of users.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-2857 extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to potentially enable remote code execution attacks, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments and individual users who browse the internet regularly. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by hosting malicious web content that triggers the focus controller's memory management issue when users visit compromised websites. The attack vector typically involves crafting HTML content that manipulates focus states in ways that cause the browser to access freed memory locations, potentially allowing attackers to execute code with the privileges of the browser process. This vulnerability affects not only the browser's stability but also its security model, as successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise. The widespread adoption of Google Chrome at the time of this vulnerability meant that a large user base was potentially exposed to these risks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2011-2857 primarily focus on immediate patching and browser updates to ensure users have the latest security fixes. Organizations should implement automated update mechanisms to ensure all Chrome installations remain current with security patches. Additionally, security teams should consider implementing web application firewalls and content filtering solutions that can detect and block known malicious patterns associated with this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under software exploitation techniques where adversaries leverage memory corruption flaws to gain unauthorized access to systems. Browser vendors should also consider implementing additional memory safety mechanisms such as address space layout randomization and stack canaries to make exploitation more difficult. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should include verification of browser memory management components to identify similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by malicious actors.