CVE-2017-15403 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Insufficient data validation in crosh could lead to a command injection under chronos privileges in Networking in Google Chrome on Chrome OS prior to 61.0.3163.113 allowed a local attacker to execute arbitrary code via a crafted HTML page.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/26/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-15403 represents a critical command injection flaw within the crosh component of Chrome OS, specifically affecting systems running versions prior to 61.0.3163.113. This issue resides within the networking subsystem and demonstrates a fundamental failure in input validation mechanisms that could be exploited by local attackers to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code. The crosh utility serves as a shell interface for Chrome OS administrators and is inherently trusted with elevated privileges under the chronos user context, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it operates within a highly privileged execution environment. The flaw stems from insufficient data validation within crosh's handling of user-supplied input, creating an attack surface where maliciously crafted HTML content can trigger unintended command execution sequences. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-77 and CWE-94 categories, representing command injection and code injection weaknesses respectively, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter. The exploitation scenario involves a local attacker crafting a malicious HTML page that, when processed by the vulnerable crosh component, leads to arbitrary code execution with chronos privileges, effectively bypassing normal security boundaries and potentially enabling full system compromise. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as the chronos user context in Chrome OS provides access to sensitive networking functions and system configurations, making this vulnerability particularly attractive to adversaries seeking persistent access or system control. The vulnerability's exploitation requires local access to the system, typically achieved through social engineering or pre-existing access, but once exploited, the attacker gains capabilities consistent with the ATT&CK matrix's privilege escalation and persistence phases. Remediation efforts focus on updating Chrome OS to version 61.0.3163.113 or later, which includes proper input validation and sanitization measures for crosh's command processing. Additionally, organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit local user privileges and monitor for unusual command execution patterns, while maintaining awareness of similar vulnerabilities in other system components that may present similar privilege escalation pathways. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of input validation in privileged system components and demonstrates how seemingly isolated flaws in shell interfaces can lead to significant security implications in operating system architectures.