CVE-2011-2876 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Use-after-free vulnerability in Google Chrome before 14.0.835.202 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via vectors involving a text line box.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/19/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2876 represents a critical use-after-free flaw in Google Chrome browser versions prior to 14.0.835.202. This type of vulnerability occurs when a program continues to reference memory that has already been freed, creating a dangerous condition that can be exploited by malicious actors. The specific vector involves text line box handling within the browser's rendering engine, where improper memory management leads to potential exploitation scenarios. The flaw falls under the CWE-416 category of Use After Free, which is classified as a serious memory safety issue that can result in arbitrary code execution or system instability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from how Chrome's rendering engine processes text elements and manages memory allocation for text line boxes. When the browser encounters certain text rendering scenarios, particularly those involving dynamic content manipulation, it fails to properly validate memory references before accessing freed memory blocks. This memory management failure creates a window of opportunity for attackers to craft malicious web content that triggers the vulnerable code path. The exploitation process typically involves constructing web pages with specific text formatting that causes Chrome to allocate and subsequently free memory associated with text line boxes, then immediately reusing that freed memory in a controlled manner to execute arbitrary code or cause system crashes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service to potentially enable remote code execution and system compromise. Attackers can leverage this flaw to deliver malicious payloads through compromised websites or malicious advertisements, making it particularly dangerous in web browsing environments where users interact with untrusted content. The vulnerability affects all Chrome versions up to and including 14.0.835.201, representing a significant portion of the browser's user base at the time of disclosure. From an attack chain perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as successful exploitation could allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected systems. The impact assessment reveals that this vulnerability could be exploited in the wild, with potential for both persistent and transient attack scenarios depending on the specific implementation details of the exploit.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2011-2876 primarily focus on immediate browser updates to patched versions where Google has addressed the memory management issues in the text rendering subsystem. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management processes to ensure all Chrome installations are updated to version 14.0.835.202 or later, which contains the necessary memory safety improvements. Additional protective measures include implementing browser security policies that restrict access to potentially malicious websites, deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block exploitation attempts, and enabling sandboxing features that limit the damage from successful exploits. Security professionals should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect suspicious traffic patterns associated with exploitation attempts and maintain detailed incident response procedures specifically tailored to address browser-based memory corruption vulnerabilities. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of continuous security assessment and the need for robust memory safety practices in browser development, particularly in handling dynamic content rendering scenarios that involve complex memory management operations.