CVE-2016-5138 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Integer overflow in the kbasep_vinstr_attach_client function in midgard/mali_kbase_vinstr.c in Google Chrome before 52.0.2743.85 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer overflow and use-after-free) by leveraging an unrestricted multiplication.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/09/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-5138 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within Google Chrome's rendering engine that affects versions prior to 52.0.2743.85. This vulnerability resides in the kbasep_vinstr_attach_client function located in the midgard/mali_kbase_vinstr.c source file, which is part of Chrome's GPU processing subsystem. The flaw stems from an unrestricted multiplication operation that fails to properly validate input parameters, creating a scenario where malicious input can trigger unexpected behavior in memory allocation calculations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a classic integer overflow condition where the multiplication of two integer values produces a result that exceeds the maximum value that can be represented by the data type, causing the value to wrap around to a much smaller number. This specific flaw occurs during the GPU instrumentation client attachment process, where Chrome attempts to allocate memory for client data structures. When an attacker provides carefully crafted input that causes the multiplication to overflow, the resulting buffer size calculation becomes severely miscalculated, leading to heap-based buffer overflow conditions that can be exploited for arbitrary code execution or system instability.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-5138 extends beyond simple denial of service to potentially enable more sophisticated attacks through use-after-free vulnerabilities that can be leveraged for privilege escalation or remote code execution. The vulnerability's exploitation requires remote code execution capabilities since it can be triggered through web content delivered via malicious websites or compromised web applications. This makes it particularly dangerous in the context of modern browser security models where users frequently encounter untrusted content from various sources. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-190, which specifically addresses integer overflow conditions, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for remote code execution through web-based attacks.
Security researchers have documented that this vulnerability can be effectively exploited in real-world scenarios by crafting malicious web pages that contain specially formatted GPU-related commands or data structures. The exploitation process typically involves loading a malicious webpage that triggers the vulnerable code path, causing the integer overflow to occur during memory allocation for GPU instrumentation clients. The resulting heap corruption can then be leveraged to either cause a crash that manifests as denial of service or potentially to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the browser process. Organizations should note that this vulnerability represents a significant risk to enterprise environments where users may encounter untrusted web content, and the remediation requires immediate patching of affected Chrome versions to prevent exploitation. The vulnerability's classification as a heap-based buffer overflow places it within the broader category of memory safety issues that have historically been the primary attack surface for browser-based exploits, making it particularly relevant to organizations implementing comprehensive browser security controls and monitoring systems.