CVE-2013-2924 in Solaris
Summary
by MITRE
Use-after-free vulnerability in International Components for Unicode (ICU), as used in Google Chrome before 30.0.1599.66 and other products, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via unknown vectors.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/07/2021
The CVE-2013-2924 vulnerability represents a critical use-after-free condition within the International Components for Unicode (ICU) library, which serves as a foundational component for internationalization and localization capabilities in numerous software applications. This vulnerability specifically affects Google Chrome versions prior to 30.0.1599.66 and extends to other products that utilize ICU for text processing and Unicode handling. The ICU library provides essential functionality for managing international text, character encoding, and locale-specific formatting, making it a widely deployed component across the software ecosystem. When exploited, this vulnerability creates a scenario where freed memory blocks are still accessed by subsequent operations, potentially leading to memory corruption and arbitrary code execution.
The technical flaw manifests as a use-after-free vulnerability classified under CWE-416, which occurs when a program continues to reference memory after it has been freed, creating a condition where the memory can be reallocated and potentially manipulated by an attacker. In the context of ICU, this typically involves improper handling of Unicode string operations, particularly during memory management of text processing operations. The vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious input that triggers the use-after-free condition through ICU's Unicode normalization, string manipulation, or text processing functions. These operations often involve complex memory allocations and deallocations that can be exploited if proper bounds checking and memory management protocols are not maintained.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-2924 extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios to potentially enable remote code execution, making it particularly dangerous in web browser environments where users frequently encounter untrusted content. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability through various attack vectors including malicious web pages, crafted documents, or other input sources that exercise ICU's Unicode processing capabilities. The vulnerability's exploitation can result in system crashes, application instability, or more severe consequences including privilege escalation and complete system compromise. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 for command and scripting interpreter and T1203 for exploitation for client execution, as the vulnerability enables attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-2924 primarily focus on immediate patching and updating of affected software components, particularly the ICU library and dependent applications like Google Chrome. Organizations should implement comprehensive vulnerability management processes to identify all systems utilizing ICU and ensure timely application of security updates. Additional defensive measures include network segmentation, web application firewalls, and content filtering solutions to reduce exposure to malicious content that could trigger the vulnerability. The remediation process should also involve monitoring for exploitation attempts and implementing proper input validation to minimize the attack surface. Security teams should conduct regular vulnerability assessments to identify other potential use-after-free conditions within similar libraries and ensure that memory safety practices are consistently applied across all software development lifecycles.