A new set of SQLite vulnerabilities can allow attackers to remotely run malicious code inside Google Chrome. Security researchers have uncovered a set of five vulnerabilities affecting Chrome versions before 79.03945.79. It is dubbed as Magellan 2.0.
The five vulnerabilities of Magellan 2.0 are tracked as CVE-2019-13734, CVE-2019-13750, CVE-2019-13751, CVE-2019-13752, and CVE-2019-13753. The original Magellan vulnerabilities are tracked as CVE-2018-20346, CVE-2018-20505, and CVE-2018-20506.
Discovered by the Tencent Blade security team, the newly discovered Magellan 2.0 vulnerabilities are caused by improper input validation in SQL commands the SQLite database receives from a third-party. An attacker can craft an SQL operation that contains malicious code. When the SQLite database engine reads this SQLite operation, it can perform commands on behalf of the attacker. By abusing Magellan 2.0, an attacker can launch remote code execution, leak program memory or cause a program to crash.
The Tencent Blade team says that Magellan 2.0 defects can lead to “remote code execution, program memory loss or program crash.”
A malicious website could use the Magellan 2.0 vulnerabilities to run malicious code against its Chrome visitors. However, the Tencent team says users have no reason to worry, as they’ve notified Google and the SQLite team of these issues already.
All applications that use an SQLite database to store data are vulnerable, although the vector for “remote attacks over the Internet” is not exploitable by default. To be exploitable, the application must allow the direct entry of raw SQL commands, something that very few applications allow.
The Chinese security company will release more details about the Magellan 2.0 vulnerabilities in the coming months. As of now, developers should update their apps with the latest SQLite version and Chrome users should also update their browser.
Secure Your Organization’s Mind with Securemind.se
