CVE-2014-7903 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in OpenJPEG before r2911 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 JPEG image.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7903 represents a critical buffer overflow condition within the OpenJPEG library component that was integrated into PDFium, the PDF rendering engine used by Google Chrome browser. This flaw existed in OpenJPEG versions prior to revision r2911 and specifically affected Chrome versions before 39.0.2171.65, creating a significant security risk for users who were running vulnerable browser versions. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management practices within the JPEG image parsing routines, where the software fails to properly bounds-check data when processing specially crafted JPEG image files.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the exploitation of improper memory handling during JPEG decoding operations within the PDFium rendering pipeline. When a maliciously crafted JPEG image is processed by the vulnerable browser, the buffer overflow occurs during the decompression phase where insufficient boundary checks allow an attacker to write beyond allocated memory buffers. This flaw manifests as a potential remote code execution vector or denial of service condition, depending on how the overflow is leveraged by an attacker. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-121 as a stack-based buffer overflow, which occurs when data written to a buffer exceeds the buffer's allocated size, potentially overwriting adjacent memory locations including return addresses and control data.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for end users and organizations relying on Chrome browser for web browsing activities. The remote exploitation capability means attackers can craft malicious JPEG images that, when opened in a vulnerable browser, could trigger system instability or potentially execute arbitrary code on the target system. The denial of service aspect affects availability by causing browser crashes and rendering the application unusable, while the unspecified other impacts suggest potential privilege escalation or information disclosure possibilities that could be leveraged for more sophisticated attacks. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203 (Exploitation for Client Execution) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) as it enables attackers to execute malicious code through compromised browser processes.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2014-7903 requires immediate patching of affected Chrome browser versions to the patched release 39.0.2171.65 or later, which includes updated PDFium components with corrected buffer handling routines. Organizations should also implement network-based protections such as content filtering and web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious JPEG image content before it reaches vulnerable browser instances. Additionally, browser hardening measures including sandboxing, privilege separation, and strict content validation should be enabled to minimize potential impact if exploitation occurs. System administrators should monitor for indicators of compromise related to malicious JPEG files and implement regular security updates to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in the future. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management in multimedia processing libraries and highlights the need for comprehensive input validation across all components of web browser rendering engines.