CVE-2014-7907 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple use-after-free vulnerabilities in modules/screen_orientation/ScreenOrientationController.cpp in Blink, as used in Google Chrome before 39.0.2171.65, allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via vectors that trigger improper handling of a detached frame, related to the (1) lock and (2) unlock methods.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7907 represents a critical use-after-free flaw within the Blink rendering engine component of Google Chrome browser. This issue resides in the ScreenOrientationController.cpp module and affects Chrome versions prior to 39.0.2171.65, making it a significant security concern for users operating older browser versions. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management when handling detached frames, creating conditions where freed memory locations could be accessed by subsequent operations, potentially leading to unpredictable behavior and system instability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves two distinct attack vectors that specifically target the lock and unlock methods of the screen orientation functionality. When a web page attempts to manipulate screen orientation through these methods while dealing with frames that have been detached from the DOM, the Blink engine fails to properly manage the memory references associated with these operations. This improper handling creates a scenario where the memory previously allocated to screen orientation objects becomes freed but remains accessible to subsequent code execution paths. The use-after-free condition occurs because the application continues to reference memory locations that have already been deallocated, potentially allowing for memory corruption or arbitrary code execution.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to browser security and system stability. Remote attackers can exploit this flaw to trigger denial of service conditions, effectively crashing the browser or rendering it unresponsive, which disrupts user productivity and creates potential attack vectors for more sophisticated exploits. The unspecified other impacts mentioned in the vulnerability description suggest that beyond simple denial of service, attackers might potentially leverage this memory corruption to execute arbitrary code within the browser context, representing a serious escalation from basic service disruption to full system compromise. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that users can be compromised simply by visiting malicious websites without requiring any special privileges or user interaction beyond normal browsing behavior.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-416, which specifically addresses use-after-free conditions in software implementations, and represents a classic example of improper memory management that violates fundamental security principles. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability would map to multiple ATT&CK techniques including T1059 for command and scripting interpreter usage and potentially T1070 for indicator removal on host. The exploitation of this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management practices and the necessity of regular security updates, as the vulnerability was patched in Chrome version 39.0.2171.65. Organizations should prioritize immediate patch deployment and implement browser security policies that enforce automatic updates to prevent exploitation of this and similar vulnerabilities. Additionally, browser sandboxing and memory protection mechanisms should be considered as supplementary defensive measures to limit the potential impact of such memory corruption vulnerabilities in the event of exploitation.