CriticalCVE-2024-7971

    Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion Vulnerability (CVE-2024-7971)

    Published In CISA KEV since Sources: Debian, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, pwn.watch, BSI

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    What is affected, what to do

    Type confusion in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 128.0.6613.84 allowed a remote attacker to exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Conflicting version data — version display is hidden until the data is resolved.

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    9.6

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    9.6

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Debian, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, pwn.watch, BSI

    21.0 %

    EPSS score

    Elevated — model estimates 10-50% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 97.6

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    230.14 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploitedSource: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab) How we classify
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    9.6 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    9.6
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

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    21.0 %
    Elevated — model estimates 10-50% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

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    97.6
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

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    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 26 August 2024
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-843

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    This flaw is network-reachable without authentication and only requires a user to open a crafted page. Because of the scope change, chaining it with a sandbox escape yields full endpoint compromise. V8 bugs of this class are a staple of targeted drive-by and watering-hole operations against administrators, researchers and organisations holding valuable data or crypto assets. Exploitation likelihood is very high, though CISA does not flag ransomware use. Browsers are exposed on virtually every workstation and the fix is just an update plus a relaunch, so treat this as critical with a remediation window of 72 h or less — immediately for privileged workstations and critical-infrastructure operator consoles.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Force browser updates fleet-wide: Move Google Chrome to at least 128.0.6613.84 (Linux) or 128.0.6613.84/.85 (Windows/macOS), and Microsoft Edge to at least 128.0.2739.42. Any later Stable build also includes the fix.
      • Force a relaunch: The fix only takes effect after the browser restarts. Push RelaunchNotification=2 and a short RelaunchNotificationPeriod (e.g. 3600000 ms) via GPO/Intune for both Chrome and Edge. Long-running sessions often keep the vulnerable build loaded for days.
      • Run a version inventory: Use EDR, MDM or software inventory to find every endpoint running Chrome < 128.0.6613.84 or Edge < 128.0.2739.42. Prioritise admin workstations, jump hosts and machines used by privileged accounts.
      • Cover other Chromium-based software: Inventory Opera, Brave, Vivaldi and Electron apps that embed V8. Patches are available from each vendor — look up the fixed version in the vendor advisory.
      • Block legacy builds you cannot update: Where updating is impossible (frozen kiosk or OT HMI images), block internet access for the browser at the proxy until the build can be refreshed.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Endpoint hardening (disable JIT): The Chrome policy DefaultJavaScriptJitSetting=2 disables the V8 JIT compiler. In Edge, EnhanceSecurityMode set to Strict achieves the same. This removes most of the attack surface for V8 type-confusion bugs at a modest performance cost, and is worth keeping permanently for high-risk user groups.
      • Protect the update path: Set UpdateDefault (Google Update and EdgeUpdate) to automatic. Verify that TargetVersionPrefix does not pin a pre-fix version. Allow dl.google.com, update.googleapis.com and the Edge update endpoints through the proxy.
      • Network/DNS filtering: Block newly registered domains, uncategorised sites and malvertising categories at the secure web gateway. Exploitation requires nothing more than rendering a crafted HTML page, delivered via phishing links, drive-by downloads or compromised ad networks.
      • Browser isolation: Give privileged users remote browser isolation or a dedicated browsing container (Windows Sandbox, VDI). Keep administrative work strictly separate from general browsing, in line with your tiering model.
      • Least privilege: Run end users without local admin rights. V8 exploits are normally chained with a sandbox-escape or kernel bug. Removing admin rights and keeping Windows fully patched makes the second stage considerably harder.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Suspicious browser child processes (Sysmon EID 1 / EDR): DeviceProcessEvents | where InitiatingProcessFileName in~ ("chrome.exe","msedge.exe","opera.exe") and FileName in~ ("cmd.exe","powershell.exe","pwsh.exe","rundll32.exe","mshta.exe","wscript.exe","cscript.exe","regsvr32.exe"). Baseline out legitimate updaters (setup.exe, elevation_service.exe).
      • Renderer crashes as an early signal (Windows Event ID 1000/1001, Application log): Clusters of chrome.exe/msedge.exe faults with exception code 0xc0000005 can indicate failed exploit attempts. Correlate them with the preceding URL in proxy logs.
      • Renderer file writes and network connections (Sysmon EID 11/3): Look for executables or scripts (.exe, .dll, .ps1) written by the browser outside \Downloads\ or cache paths. Also flag processes with --type=renderer in the command line connecting to non-web ports.
      • Linux (auditd): Monitor execve calls whose parent is the chrome process. As a Sigma shape: ParentImage|endswith: '/chrome' with Image|endswith in (/sh, /bash, /curl, /wget).
      • Version compliance as a detection: DeviceTvmSoftwareInventory | where SoftwareName has "chrome" and SoftwareVersion < "128.0.6613.84". Schedule it daily and escalate any hit older than 48 h.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    Type confusion in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 128.0.6613.84 allowed a remote attacker to exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)

    Source: Debian Security Advisories, NVD (NIST), Microsoft Security Update Guide, cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE), pwn.watch, BSI CSAF, BSI WID Portal

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    GoogleChrome
    • < 128.0.6613.84
    • < 128.0.6613.84
    • < 128.0.6613.85
    • 128.0.6613.84
    • 128.0.6613.84
    • 128.0.6613.85
    googlechrome
    • < 128.0.6613.84
    • 128.0.6613.84
    microsoftedge
    • < 128.0.2739.42
    • 128.0.2739.42

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianchromiumbookworm

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-843Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type ('Type Confusion')

      Base

      The product allocates or initializes a resource such as a pointer, object, or variable using one type, but it later accesses that resource using a type that is incompatible with the original type.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-843

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited
    Reference tagged as exploitmicrosoft.com (opens in a new tab)PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified—
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)cve-2024-7971-poc (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified

    References & sources

    • chromereleases.googleblog.comGoogle advisory: CVE-2024-7971Release notes, pwn-watch
    • issues.chromium.orgissues/360700873Permissions required
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2024-7971government-resource, US government resource
    • microsoft.comen-us/security/blog/2024/08/30/north-korean-threat-actor-citrin…Exploit, Patch, Third-party advisory, Vendor advisory
    • pwn.watchpwn.watch: Google Chromium V8 Type Confusionpwn-watch
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2024-7971pwn-watch
    • cisa.govCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogpwn-watch
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