CVE-2024-12382: Google Chrome Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2024-12382 Overview

CVE-2024-12382 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Translate component of Google Chrome prior to version 131.0.6778.139. This memory corruption flaw allows a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. The vulnerability was assigned a Chromium security severity rating of High, indicating significant potential for exploitation and impact.

Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to use a pointer after the memory it references has been freed. In the context of browser components like Chrome's Translate feature, this can lead to heap corruption and potentially allow attackers to execute arbitrary code within the browser's process.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this heap corruption vulnerability through malicious web pages, potentially achieving code execution within the browser context with no privileges required beyond user interaction.

Affected Products

• Google Chrome versions prior to 131.0.6778.139
• All desktop platforms running vulnerable Chrome versions

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-12-12 - CVE-2024-12382 published to NVD
• 2024-12-13 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-12382

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability exists within Chrome's Translate component, which is responsible for detecting and translating web page content. The use-after-free condition arises when memory associated with translation operations is freed but subsequently accessed by the browser. This creates a window where an attacker can manipulate heap memory to achieve exploitation.

The attack requires network access and user interaction—specifically, the victim must navigate to or be redirected to a malicious HTML page crafted by the attacker. Once triggered, the heap corruption can potentially lead to arbitrary code execution within the Chrome renderer process, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Root Cause

The root cause is a use-after-free condition (CWE-416) in Chrome's Translate functionality. This occurs when the Translate component improperly manages memory lifecycle during translation operations. When memory is freed and the dangling pointer is subsequently dereferenced, it allows attackers to potentially control program execution flow.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker would need to:

1. Craft a malicious HTML page designed to trigger the use-after-free condition in the Translate component
2. Lure or redirect a victim to visit the malicious page
3. Exploit the heap corruption to achieve code execution or other malicious outcomes

The vulnerability can be triggered through specially crafted HTML content that manipulates the Translate component's memory handling, leading to heap corruption when the freed memory is accessed.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-12382

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected browser crashes or instability when visiting websites with translation content
• Anomalous memory access patterns in Chrome's renderer process
• Suspicious outbound network connections following page loads with translation triggers
• Chrome crash dumps indicating heap corruption in Translate-related components

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Chrome crash reports for patterns indicating heap corruption in the Translate component
• Implement network traffic analysis to detect connections to known malicious domains serving exploit pages
• Deploy endpoint detection solutions capable of identifying memory corruption exploitation attempts
• Monitor for unusual Chrome process behavior including unexpected child processes or memory patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable Chrome's built-in security telemetry and crash reporting
• Configure endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor browser memory operations
• Implement web proxy filtering to block access to known malicious pages
• Review browser update status across the enterprise to identify vulnerable installations

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-12382

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Google Chrome to version 131.0.6778.139 or later immediately
• Enable automatic Chrome updates to ensure timely patching of future vulnerabilities
• Consider temporarily disabling the Translate feature in Chrome settings until the patch is applied
• Educate users about the risks of visiting untrusted websites

Patch Information

Google has released a security update addressing this vulnerability in Chrome version 131.0.6778.139. The patch was announced in the Chrome Releases Blog on December 10, 2024. Organizations should prioritize deployment of this update across all Chrome installations.

Additional technical details about the vulnerability can be found in the Chromium Issue Tracker.

Workarounds

• Disable Chrome's built-in translation feature via Chrome settings (Settings > Languages > Offer to translate pages that aren't in a language you read)
• Use enterprise policies to disable the Translate component across managed Chrome deployments
• Implement web filtering to block access to untrusted or suspicious websites
• Consider using browser isolation technologies to contain potential exploitation attempts

# Enterprise policy to disable Chrome Translate feature
# Add to Chrome policy configuration (Windows Registry or managed preferences)
# Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
# TranslateEnabled = 0

# Linux/macOS managed preferences:
# Set "TranslateEnabled": false in the Chrome policy JSON