CVE-2022-24475: Microsoft Edge Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2022-24475 Overview

CVE-2022-24475 is an Elevation of Privilege vulnerability affecting Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based). This vulnerability allows attackers to escalate privileges through the browser, potentially gaining elevated access to system resources beyond what should be permitted during normal browser operation.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to escape browser sandbox restrictions and execute code with elevated privileges, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Affected Products

• Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based)

Discovery Timeline

• 2022-04-05 - CVE-2022-24475 published to NVD
• 2024-11-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2022-24475

Vulnerability Analysis

This Elevation of Privilege vulnerability in Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) presents a significant security risk due to its network-based attack vector. The vulnerability requires user interaction to exploit, typically through convincing a user to visit a malicious website or click on a crafted link. While the attack complexity is high, successful exploitation can lead to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the target system.

The vulnerability is characterized by a changed scope, meaning that a successful attack can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component. In the context of a browser, this typically indicates the potential to escape sandboxing mechanisms or affect other browser processes and system resources.

Root Cause

While specific technical details have not been publicly disclosed by Microsoft (classified as NVD-CWE-noinfo), Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities in Chromium-based browsers typically stem from issues such as improper access control, sandbox escape mechanisms, or privilege boundary violations within the browser's multi-process architecture. These can include issues with inter-process communication (IPC), renderer-to-browser process privilege escalation, or GPU process vulnerabilities.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring user interaction to trigger the vulnerability. An attacker would need to craft a malicious web page or content that exploits the privilege escalation flaw. The attack scenario typically involves:

1. Attacker hosts malicious content on a web server or compromises a legitimate site
2. Victim is lured to visit the malicious page using Microsoft Edge
3. The crafted content triggers the vulnerability, allowing the attacker to escalate privileges
4. Upon successful exploitation, the attacker gains elevated access beyond normal browser sandbox restrictions

The vulnerability mechanism involves privilege boundary violations within the browser architecture. Attackers exploit improper validation or access control mechanisms to gain elevated privileges. For detailed technical information, refer to the Microsoft CVE-2022-24475 Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2022-24475

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual child processes spawned by the Microsoft Edge browser process (msedge.exe)
• Unexpected network connections from browser processes to suspicious external hosts
• Browser crash dumps or error reports indicating memory corruption or access violations
• Anomalous registry or file system modifications originating from browser processes

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for suspicious process creation events where msedge.exe spawns unexpected child processes with elevated privileges
• Implement behavioral analysis to detect browser processes attempting to access resources outside their normal sandbox scope
• Deploy endpoint detection rules for Edge browser processes exhibiting privilege escalation patterns
• Review browser extension activity and JavaScript execution for malicious behavior patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for Microsoft Edge browser processes and related components
• Configure SIEM rules to correlate browser process anomalies with network traffic patterns
• Implement application whitelisting to restrict processes that can be spawned by browser components
• Monitor Windows Security Event logs for privilege escalation attempts (Event IDs 4672, 4673, 4674)

How to Mitigate CVE-2022-24475

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Microsoft Edge to the latest version immediately
• Verify automatic updates are enabled in Microsoft Edge settings
• Review and restrict browser extensions to only trusted sources
• Educate users about the risks of visiting untrusted websites

Patch Information

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Organizations should ensure Microsoft Edge is updated through the following methods:

• Automatic Updates: Microsoft Edge typically updates automatically. Verify by navigating to edge://settings/help to check the current version
• Manual Update: Open Edge, go to Settings > About Microsoft Edge, and the browser will check for and install available updates
• Enterprise Deployment: Use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, or Microsoft Intune to deploy the latest Edge updates across managed devices

For detailed patch information, consult the Microsoft CVE-2022-24475 Advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement browser isolation solutions to contain potential exploitation attempts
• Use Application Guard for Microsoft Edge in Windows 10/11 Enterprise for hardware-based isolation
• Restrict access to untrusted websites through web filtering proxies
• Consider using alternative browsers temporarily until patches can be applied in environments with update constraints

# Verify Microsoft Edge version via PowerShell
$edgePath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"
if (Test-Path $edgePath) {
    (Get-Item $edgePath).VersionInfo.ProductVersion
}

# Force Edge update check via command line
Start-Process "msedge://settings/help"