CVE-2019-13683 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Insufficient policy enforcement in developer tools in Google Chrome prior to 77.0.3865.75 allowed a remote attacker to leak cross-origin data via a crafted HTML page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/27/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-13683 represents a critical security flaw in Google Chrome's developer tools implementation that persisted across multiple versions prior to the release of Chrome 77.0.3865.75. This issue stems from inadequate enforcement of security policies within the browser's developer tooling components, creating an avenue for malicious actors to exploit cross-origin data leakage mechanisms. The flaw specifically targets the interaction between Chrome's developer tools and the browser's security model, particularly affecting how these tools handle cross-origin resource requests and data exposure.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the insufficient validation and enforcement of security policies within Chrome's developer tooling framework. When developer tools are active, they maintain elevated privileges and access to various browser functionalities that should normally be restricted. The flaw occurs because the security boundaries between the developer tools and the regular browser context are improperly enforced, allowing crafted HTML pages to manipulate these tools in ways that bypass standard cross-origin restrictions. This creates a scenario where a remote attacker can construct malicious web pages that leverage the developer tools' access to gather sensitive information from different origins that would normally be protected by the browser's same-origin policy.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-13683 is significant as it enables remote attackers to perform cross-origin data leakage without requiring any local privileges or user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website. Attackers can construct HTML pages that utilize the developer tools' capabilities to extract data from other origins, potentially including cookies, local storage, session information, and other sensitive cross-origin resources. This vulnerability particularly affects web applications that rely on strict cross-origin isolation for security, as the attacker can circumvent these protections through the developer tools interface. The implications extend beyond simple data leakage, as this capability could enable more sophisticated attacks including session hijacking, credential theft, and information disclosure that could compromise user privacy and application security.
This vulnerability maps to CWE-693 in the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog, which specifically addresses "Protection Mechanism Failure" and represents a failure in implementing proper access control mechanisms. The flaw also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001, which covers "Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell" and related techniques for executing malicious code in browser environments. The security implications extend to several ATT&CK tactics including credential access and defense evasion, as attackers can leverage this vulnerability to bypass security controls and access protected resources. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining strict security boundaries even within privileged components such as developer tools, as these interfaces often operate with elevated privileges that can be exploited if proper access controls are not enforced.
The recommended mitigations for CVE-2019-13683 involve updating to Chrome version 77.0.3865.75 or later, which includes the necessary security patches to address the insufficient policy enforcement in developer tools. Organizations should also implement comprehensive monitoring for unauthorized access to developer tools and maintain strict access controls for development environments. Additional protective measures include disabling developer tools in production environments where possible, implementing Content Security Policies that restrict access to sensitive resources, and conducting regular security assessments of browser configurations. The fix implemented by Google addresses the core issue by strengthening the policy enforcement mechanisms within the developer tools component, ensuring that these privileged interfaces properly respect cross-origin security boundaries and cannot be manipulated to access protected resources from other origins.