CVE-2022-0609 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 04/05/2022
Use after free in Animation in Google Chrome prior to 98.0.4758.102 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/01/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-0609 represents a critical use-after-free condition within Google Chrome's animation handling component that existed prior to version 98.0.4758.102. This flaw falls under the CWE-416 category of Use After Free, where a program continues to reference memory after it has been freed, creating potential exploitation vectors for remote attackers. The vulnerability specifically affects the browser's animation processing subsystem, which is responsible for handling various multimedia elements including CSS animations, JavaScript animations, and other visual effects that are commonly rendered in modern web applications.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs when Chrome processes crafted HTML pages containing malicious animation code that triggers improper memory management during the animation lifecycle. When an animation object is destroyed or freed from memory but the browser continues to reference that memory location during subsequent animation processing, it creates a scenario where attacker-controlled data can be placed at the freed memory location. This allows for heap corruption that can be exploited to execute arbitrary code on the target system. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it operates within the browser's rendering engine where memory management and object lifecycle handling are critical for maintaining system integrity.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability enables remote code execution attacks that can be delivered through malicious web pages without requiring user interaction beyond visiting the compromised site. Attackers can craft HTML pages containing specially designed animation sequences that trigger the use-after-free condition when Chrome attempts to render or process the animations. The impact extends beyond simple browser compromise as successful exploitation can lead to full system control, data exfiltration, and persistence mechanisms. The vulnerability affects all users running affected Chrome versions, making it particularly concerning for enterprise environments where browser-based attacks are a common threat vector. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter and T1203 for Exploitation for Client Execution, demonstrating how the vulnerability can be leveraged for broader attack chains.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-0609 primarily focus on immediate patching and browser updates to version 98.0.4758.102 or later, which contains the necessary memory management fixes to prevent the use-after-free condition. Organizations should implement proactive browser update policies and consider deploying automated patch management systems to ensure all endpoints are protected. Additional defensive measures include implementing web application firewalls, content security policies, and browser hardening configurations that limit the execution of potentially malicious animation code. Network-level protections such as sandboxing and privilege separation can provide additional layers of defense, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual browser behavior or memory access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing user education programs to recognize suspicious web content and maintain regular vulnerability assessments to identify similar memory corruption issues in other browser components or web technologies.