CVE-2011-3031 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Use-after-free vulnerability in the element wrapper in Google V8, as used in Google Chrome before 17.0.963.65, 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 • 11/30/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-3031 represents a critical use-after-free flaw within the Google V8 JavaScript engine, which serves as the core execution environment for Google Chrome browser and other web applications. This particular vulnerability affects versions of Chrome prior to 17.0.963.65 and demonstrates how memory management errors in high-performance JavaScript engines can create serious security risks for web browsers. The issue specifically resides in the element wrapper component of V8, which handles the interaction between JavaScript objects and native C++ objects within the engine's memory management system.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper memory deallocation practices within V8's garbage collection mechanism. When JavaScript objects are created and subsequently destroyed, the engine must carefully manage memory references to prevent dangling pointers. In this case, the element wrapper component fails to properly invalidate object references after memory deallocation, creating a scenario where freed memory can be accessed and manipulated by subsequent operations. This use-after-free condition occurs when the JavaScript engine attempts to access memory that has already been freed, potentially leading to unpredictable behavior including crashes, data corruption, or in some cases, arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability manifests through unknown vectors that exploit this memory management flaw during normal JavaScript execution scenarios.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-3031 extends beyond simple denial of service conditions, as the nature of use-after-free vulnerabilities can potentially enable remote code execution attacks. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by crafting malicious web pages that trigger the specific memory management conditions leading to the use-after-free state. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-416 indicates it involves a classic memory safety issue where memory is freed and then accessed, which aligns with the ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for script-based execution. Organizations running affected versions of Chrome face significant risks including potential data breaches, system compromise, and unauthorized access to user information. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning because it operates at the core JavaScript engine level, affecting all web applications and websites that utilize JavaScript execution.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected Chrome versions to 17.0.963.65 or later, which includes memory management fixes and improved garbage collection routines. System administrators should also implement additional security measures such as sandboxing, content security policies, and regular browser updates to minimize exposure windows. The vulnerability highlights the importance of memory safety in high-performance scripting engines and demonstrates why modern browsers employ multiple layers of security including address space layout randomization, stack canaries, and heap metadata validation. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious JavaScript execution patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify other potential memory-related issues within browser environments and related software components.