CVE-2017-15419 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Insufficient policy enforcement in Resource Timing API in Google Chrome prior to 63.0.3239.84 allowed a remote attacker to infer browsing history by triggering a leaked cross-origin URL via a crafted HTML page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/06/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-15419 represents a significant security flaw in Google Chrome's implementation of the Resource Timing API, a feature designed to provide performance metrics for web resources. This weakness stemmed from inadequate policy enforcement mechanisms that failed to properly restrict access to timing information across different origins. The vulnerability existed in Chrome versions prior to 63.0.3239.84 and exposed users to potential privacy risks through sophisticated cross-origin information leakage techniques.
The technical flaw exploited the Resource Timing API's insufficient cross-origin restrictions, allowing malicious actors to craft HTML pages that could trigger timing-based information leaks. When a user visited a specially crafted webpage, the attacker could leverage the API to infer details about the user's browsing history by measuring response times for cross-origin requests. This timing-based side-channel attack relied on the fact that different URLs within the same domain would produce different response times, enabling the inference of visited resources through careful timing analysis. The vulnerability specifically targeted the lack of proper origin validation in the Resource Timing API implementation, creating an information disclosure channel that bypassed normal security boundaries.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extended beyond simple information leakage, as it enabled sophisticated tracking mechanisms that could reconstruct user navigation patterns and browsing behavior. Attackers could potentially determine which websites a user had visited by analyzing the timing variations in resource loading, effectively creating a passive tracking system that operated without requiring explicit user interaction or data collection. This capability posed significant privacy risks for users who expected their browsing history to remain private, particularly when accessing sensitive content or visiting sites that might reveal personal information. The vulnerability's exploitation required only a malicious webpage, making it particularly dangerous as users could be tracked simply by visiting compromised sites.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-15419 focused on updating Chrome to version 63.0.3239.84 or later, where Google implemented proper origin validation and strengthened policy enforcement within the Resource Timing API. Security researchers recommended that users immediately upgrade their browsers to prevent exploitation, while organizations should ensure their Chrome installations remain current with security patches. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses "Information Exposure," and relates to ATT&CK technique T1566, "Phishing," as it could be exploited through malicious web pages. Additionally, this issue demonstrates the broader category of timing-based side-channel attacks that have been documented in various security contexts, including network protocol analysis and web application security. Organizations should implement comprehensive browser security policies that include automatic updates, regular security assessments, and monitoring for potentially malicious web content to protect against similar vulnerabilities in other browser APIs.