Actively exploited vulnerability

Google Chromium PopupBlocker: security bypass flaw under attack

CVE-2021-30533 · Google Chromium PopupBlocker Security Bypass Vulnerability

Concerns everyone who uses it6.5 medium

What is affected

Google Chromium PopupBlocker is found on ordinary personal computers and phones, so this is not only a problem for companies. If you use it and have not updated since the fix was released, you are exposed.

Google Chromium PopupBlocker contains an insufficient policy enforcement vulnerability that allows a remote attacker to bypass navigation restrictions via a crafted iframe. This vulnerability could affect multiple web browsers that utilize Chromium, including, but not limited to, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.

CISA's description

What an attacker can do

This is a security bypass flaw. It lets an attacker slip past a built-in protection, so warnings and checks that normally stop malicious content never appear.

How it is reached
Over the internet or network
Access the attacker needs
No account needed
Does the victim have to do something?
Yes, the victim must open or click something

What to do

  1. Update Google Chromium PopupBlocker now. Open the update or "About" screen, install whatever is offered and restart the app or device, because the fix is not active until you do.
  2. Turn on automatic updates so the next fix arrives without you having to look for it.
  3. If your device is too old to receive this update, stop using the affected app for anything sensitive and plan a replacement.

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Action required by CISA for US federal agencies

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on June 27, 2022, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by July 18, 2022, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 17% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 97% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 6.5 out of 10 (medium), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

Insufficient policy enforcement in PopupBlocker in Google Chrome prior to 91.0.4472.77 allowed a remote attacker to bypass navigation restrictions via a crafted iframe.

NIST National Vulnerability Database
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