CVE-2024-4948: Google Chrome Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2024-4948 Overview

CVE-2024-4948 is a use-after-free vulnerability affecting the Dawn component in Google Chrome prior to version 125.0.6422.60. Dawn is Google's WebGPU implementation that provides cross-platform GPU access for web applications. This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page, which could lead to denial of service or other unintended behavior when a user visits a malicious website.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit heap corruption through crafted HTML pages, potentially causing browser crashes or denial of service conditions by targeting the Dawn WebGPU implementation.

Affected Products

• Google Chrome versions prior to 125.0.6422.60
• Fedora 38
• Fedora 39
• Fedora 40

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-05-15 - CVE-2024-4948 published to NVD
• 2024-12-19 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-4948

Vulnerability Analysis

This use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) resides in Dawn, Google Chrome's native implementation of the WebGPU API. Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to use a pointer after the memory it references has been freed, leading to undefined behavior. In this case, the vulnerability allows heap corruption when processing specially crafted content.

The vulnerability is exploitable remotely through a network attack vector, requiring user interaction (visiting a malicious webpage). When successfully exploited, an attacker can corrupt heap memory, potentially leading to application crashes or denial of service. The attack does not require authentication or special privileges.

Root Cause

The root cause is a memory management flaw in the Dawn WebGPU implementation where a memory object is accessed after it has been deallocated. This type of vulnerability typically occurs when object lifetimes are not properly tracked, particularly in complex graphics APIs where GPU resources may be freed asynchronously while still being referenced by other components.

Attack Vector

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

1. Create a malicious HTML page containing crafted WebGPU content designed to trigger the use-after-free condition
2. Entice a victim to visit the malicious page using a vulnerable version of Google Chrome
3. The crafted content triggers improper memory handling in Dawn, causing heap corruption

The vulnerability can be exploited by hosting malicious content on an attacker-controlled website or by injecting malicious content into legitimate websites through other attack vectors such as cross-site scripting.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-4948

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected Chrome browser crashes or instability, particularly when visiting WebGPU-enabled websites
• System logs showing Chrome renderer process crashes with heap corruption signatures
• Memory access violations originating from Chrome's GPU process or Dawn component
• Suspicious network requests to unknown domains serving WebGPU content

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Chrome version deployments across the organization to identify instances running versions prior to 125.0.6422.60
• Implement endpoint detection rules to identify Chrome crashes with heap corruption patterns
• Deploy network monitoring to detect traffic to known malicious domains serving exploit content
• Use browser telemetry to track unusual WebGPU API usage patterns

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable Chrome crash reporting and regularly review crash dumps for patterns indicating exploitation attempts
• Monitor system event logs for recurring Chrome GPU process failures
• Implement network-level inspection for HTML content containing suspicious WebGPU code patterns
• Track browser update status across all endpoints to ensure timely patching

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-4948

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Google Chrome to version 125.0.6422.60 or later immediately
• For Fedora users, apply the latest chromium package updates from the official repositories
• Enable automatic updates in Chrome to receive future security patches promptly
• Consider temporarily disabling WebGPU features in enterprise environments until patching is complete

Patch Information

Google has released a security update addressing this vulnerability in Chrome version 125.0.6422.60. The fix is included in the stable channel update released on May 15, 2024. Organizations should update all Chrome installations to this version or later.

For detailed patch information, refer to the Google Chrome Desktop Update. Additional technical details are available in the Chromium Issue Tracker Entry.

Fedora users should apply updates from the official package announcements:

• Fedora Package Announcement for Fedora 38/39/40

Workarounds

• Disable WebGPU functionality by launching Chrome with the --disable-webgpu flag as a temporary measure
• Use enterprise Chrome policies to restrict access to untrusted websites until patching is complete
• Implement web filtering to block access to known malicious domains
• Consider using alternative browsers temporarily if immediate patching is not feasible

# Temporary workaround: Launch Chrome with WebGPU disabled
google-chrome --disable-webgpu

# For enterprise deployments, use Group Policy or managed preferences
# to enforce Chrome updates and restrict WebGPU access