CVE-2019-5852 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE
Inappropriate implementation in JavaScript in Google Chrome prior to 76.0.3809.87 allowed a remote attacker to obtain potentially sensitive information from process memory via a crafted HTML page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/27/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-5852 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within Google Chrome's JavaScript engine that existed prior to version 76.0.3809.87. This issue stems from an inappropriate implementation in the browser's JavaScript processing capabilities, specifically affecting how the engine handles memory operations during page rendering. The flaw enables remote attackers to exploit memory access patterns through carefully crafted HTML pages, potentially extracting sensitive data that should remain protected within process memory boundaries.
This vulnerability falls under the broader category of information disclosure weaknesses and can be categorized as CWE-200, which addresses the exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor. The technical implementation flaw occurs within Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine where memory management operations fail to properly sanitize or validate memory access patterns. Attackers can leverage this weakness by constructing malicious HTML content that triggers specific JavaScript execution paths, causing the browser to inadvertently expose memory contents through various memory access patterns or data leakage mechanisms. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the JavaScript level where memory operations are frequent and complex, making it difficult to detect and prevent through traditional security measures.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-5852 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as the extracted memory contents may contain sensitive data such as cryptographic keys, user credentials, session tokens, or other confidential information. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1005 which involves data from local system, and T1059 which covers command and scripting interpreter. The attack surface is broad as any user visiting a malicious website could be compromised, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in targeted attack scenarios. The memory disclosure could potentially lead to privilege escalation attacks or serve as a stepping stone for more sophisticated exploitation techniques, as the leaked information might reveal internal memory structures or application state that could be leveraged for further attacks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-5852 primarily involve immediate patching of Chrome browsers to version 76.0.3809.87 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes to prevent the memory disclosure. Organizations should implement comprehensive browser update policies and ensure all endpoints are running patched versions of Chrome. Additional protective measures include deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious HTML content, implementing strict content security policies, and utilizing sandboxing technologies that limit the impact of potential exploitation. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual memory access patterns or JavaScript execution anomalies that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network-level protections such as intrusion detection systems and web filtering solutions can help detect and prevent access to known malicious domains that might host exploit code for this vulnerability.