CVE-2014-7902 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Use-after-free vulnerability in PDFium, as used in Google Chrome before 39.0.2171.65, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted PDF document.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2022
The CVE-2014-7902 vulnerability represents a critical use-after-free flaw within PDFium, the PDF rendering library that powers Google Chrome's document handling capabilities. This vulnerability specifically affects versions of Chrome prior to 39.0.2171.65, making it a significant concern for users who had not yet updated their browsers. The flaw arises from improper memory management during PDF document processing, where freed memory locations are accessed after being deallocated, creating a dangerous state that can be exploited by malicious actors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from PDFium's handling of certain PDF objects within maliciously crafted documents. When Chrome processes a specially designed PDF file, the PDFium library fails to properly manage memory references, leading to a scenario where memory that has been freed is subsequently accessed. This use-after-free condition creates an exploitable state that can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code or cause system instability. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of memory safety issues and document parsing, making it particularly dangerous in the context of web browsing where users frequently encounter PDF documents from untrusted sources.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to users and organizations relying on older Chrome versions. Remote attackers can craft PDF documents that trigger the memory corruption when opened in vulnerable browsers, potentially leading to denial of service conditions where the browser crashes or becomes unresponsive. More concerning is the potential for unspecified other impacts, which could include arbitrary code execution, privilege escalation, or information disclosure. The attack surface is broad since PDF documents are commonly encountered in email attachments, web downloads, and online publications, making this vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to compromise systems.
The impact of CVE-2014-7902 aligns with CWE-416, which specifically addresses use-after-free vulnerabilities, and demonstrates the critical nature of memory safety in software libraries that handle untrusted input. This vulnerability also maps to several ATT&CK techniques including initial access through malicious documents and execution through code injection. The remediation strategy involves updating to Chrome version 39.0.2171.65 or later, which includes memory management fixes and improved PDF parsing routines. Organizations should implement immediate patch management protocols and consider network-level controls to block suspicious PDF content until full remediation is achieved. Additionally, browser security configurations should be reviewed to ensure that PDF handling is appropriately restricted and that automatic PDF opening is disabled where possible to reduce exposure windows.