Google Chromium WebRTC: memory corruption flaw under attack

What is affected

Google Chromium WebRTC 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 WebRTC, an open-source project providing web browsers with real-time communication, contains a heap buffer overflow vulnerability that allows a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. This vulnerability could impact web browsers using WebRTC, including but not limited to Google Chrome.

What an attacker can do

This is a memory corruption flaw. It lets an attacker corrupt the program's memory by feeding it specially crafted content: a web page, a file or a network message. The result ranges from a crash to the attacker running their own code.

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 WebRTC 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 mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Vendor advisories and fixes

• chromereleases.googleblog.comchromereleases.googleblog.com/2023/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_20.html

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on January 2, 2024, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by January 23, 2024, 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 6.7% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 94% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 8.8 out of 10 (high), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

Heap buffer overflow in WebRTC in Google Chrome prior to 120.0.6099.129 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)