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HighCISA KEVExploited in the wildPublic exploit

Use-after-free RCE in Google Chrome Animation

IdentifiersCVE-2022-0609CWE-416· Use After Free

CVE-2022-0609 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Animation component of Google Chrome prior to version 98.0.4758.102. The flaw can be triggered by a remote attacker via a crafted HTML page, leading to heap corruption in the browser process. Public reporting describes it as a remote code execution vulnerability that was exploited in the wild in early 2022, including by North Korean state-backed operators. The affected condition is a memory-lifetime error in Chrome's Animation handling that permits access to freed memory during web content processing.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can cause heap corruption and potentially achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the targeted Chrome browser or embedded Chromium-based application. Because exploitation is delivered through malicious web content, it can be used for drive-by compromise or spearphishing-linked browser exploitation. The content indicates active in-the-wild exploitation against media, high-tech, financial, cryptocurrency, and fintech targets.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Until patching is completed, reduce exposure to untrusted web content, enforce URL allowlisting where feasible, restrict or disable unnecessary browsing features in embedded Chromium contexts, and run browsers/applications with least privilege and sandboxing enabled. Additional temporary risk reduction includes limiting access to attacker-controlled or compromised websites and tightening controls around links delivered through spearphishing.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Google Chrome to version 98.0.4758.102 or later. For embedded Chromium distributions specifically mentioned in the content, upgrade affected CefSharp NuGet packages to 98.1.210 or later. Apply vendor security updates across all Chromium-based deployments and verify that downstream packaged applications have incorporated the fixed Chromium build.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
CefsharpCefsharp.Common.Netcoreapplication
CefsharpCefsharp.Winforms.Netcoreapplication
CefsharpCommonapplication
CefsharpCommon.Netcoreapplication
CefsharpOffscreenapplication
CefsharpOffscreen.Netcoreapplication
CefsharpWinformsapplication
CefsharpWinforms.Netcoreapplication
CefsharpWpfapplication
CefsharpWpf.Hwndhostapplication
CefsharpWpf.Netcoreapplication
GoogleChromeapplication

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What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence4

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware2

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures2

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

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