Updated on 2022-12-05: Chrome zero-day
Google has released a security update for the Chrome web browser to fix a zero-day vulnerability exploited in the wild. Google said it tracks the zero-day as CVE-2022-4262 and describes it as a type confusion in V8, Chrome’s JavaScript engine. The vulnerability was discovered by one of the Google TAG researchers. This also marks the ninth Chrome zero-day discovered this year.
Overview: Google Updates Chrome to Fix Another Zero-Day
Google has updated the Chrome stable channel for desktop for macOS, Linux, and Windows to address another zero-day vulnerability – the ninth this calendar year. Google has not yet released technical details about the high severity type confusion vulnerability in the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine.
Note
- Two things to think about when reading this. #1: Adobe Reader (that one probably stings). #2: Our web browsers are designed to download and compile/run code from 3rd parties. These are very complicated systems; add to that, we are now seeing more and more bugs due to how much research is being built up; expect more. This is one of the reasons Mozilla started to invest heavily in developing rust, as they also faced the same issues.
- Again we’re dealing with a weakness in the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, which means you’re going to be updating Chrome and Chromium based browsers. I know you’re thinking about disabling JavaScript, which, while noble, is not truly viable with the plethora of web based applications in use today. Rely on EDR and boundary protections to reinforce browser security for that defense-in-depth approach.
- While nine zero-day vulnerabilities in a year is a lot, I suspect most can be attributed to Google’s internal threat analysis group. The really good news is that Google greatly simplified the patch management process for Chrome, now mirrored by all major browser vendors. It’s as simple as closing and reopening the browser
Read more in
