CVE-2013-2887 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in Google Chrome before 29.0.1547.57 allow attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have other impact via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/21/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2887 represents a critical security flaw affecting Google Chrome versions prior to 29.0.1547.57. This issue falls under the category of unspecified vulnerabilities, indicating that the specific technical details were not fully disclosed at the time of the initial report. The vulnerability classifies as a denial of service condition that could potentially enable more severe impacts, though the exact nature of these additional consequences remained undisclosed. This type of vulnerability demonstrates the inherent complexity in assessing security flaws where the full scope of potential exploitation methods may not be immediately apparent to researchers or vendors. The vulnerability's designation as unspecified suggests that it likely involves multiple attack vectors or affects various components within the browser's architecture, making it particularly challenging to defend against without comprehensive analysis.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability appears to stem from insufficient input validation or memory management issues within Chrome's rendering engine or related browser components. Given that Chrome operates as a complex multi-process application with separate processes for rendering, networking, and JavaScript execution, such vulnerabilities can manifest in various ways including heap corruption, memory exhaustion, or improper handling of malformed content. The denial of service aspect typically occurs when an attacker can cause the browser to crash or become unresponsive through carefully crafted inputs. However, the potential for additional impacts suggests that this vulnerability might enable more sophisticated exploitation techniques beyond simple service disruption. The unspecified nature indicates that the flaw could involve privilege escalation, information disclosure, or remote code execution possibilities that were not fully characterized in the initial vulnerability report.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to organizations relying on Chrome as their primary browser for web-based applications and services. The potential for denial of service attacks means that adversaries could disrupt business operations by causing browser crashes on targeted systems, while the unspecified additional impacts suggest that attackers might be able to leverage this vulnerability for more advanced persistent threats. The vulnerability affects a substantial user base since Chrome was and remains one of the most widely used web browsers globally. Organizations implementing security controls must consider that this vulnerability could be exploited in targeted attacks against specific users or systems, particularly in environments where Chrome is the default browser for accessing critical business applications or web services.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2013-2887 primarily involves immediate patching of affected Chrome installations to version 29.0.1547.57 or later. This update addresses the underlying vulnerabilities through improved input validation and memory management practices within the browser's core components. Security administrators should also implement additional defensive measures including browser hardening configurations, network-based filtering, and monitoring for suspicious browser behavior that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-119 which addresses weaknesses in memory management and improper access to memory locations, while its potential for remote code execution scenarios could map to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter usage. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content filtering solutions to prevent exploitation through malicious web content, particularly given the browser-based nature of the attack surface. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should include verification of Chrome versions to ensure that all systems remain protected against this and similar vulnerabilities.