CVE DatabaseCVE-2020-16009

Updated 2026-06-17한국어 권고문 →

CVE-2020-160098.8/HIGHCISA KEVCWE-787CWE-843CWE-787CWE-843

Google Chrome V8 Engine Type Confusion Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2020-16009)

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Affected Vendors

google

Affected Components

chrome, v8

Published Date

2020-11-03

CVSS v3.1

8.8

HIGH

EPSS (30d)

48.3%

FIRST.org

CISA KEV

Exploited

NVD Source ↗

Executive & SecOps Summary

SECOPS ASSESSMENT

Affected Scope

Google Chrome versions prior to 86.0.4240.183 utilizing the V8 JavaScript engine

Impact

Remote attackers can trigger heap corruption and potentially execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted HTML page

Mitigation

Immediately update Google Chrome to the latest stable version (86.0.4240.183 or higher) across all endpoints

Affected Products & Version Scope

Google Chrome prior to version 86.0.4240.183 (All operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux)

Remediation & Live Workaround Commands

PATCH & WORKAROUND

1. Official Patch & Version Upgrade Commands

To remediate this vulnerability on Linux-based endpoints, execute the following commands to update Google Chrome to the latest secure release:

bash

# Update package repositories and upgrade Google Chrome
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install google-chrome-stable -y

# Verify the installed version
google-chrome --version

2. Temporary Workaround & Hardening Configuration

If immediate patching is not feasible, enforce Site Isolation and restrict access to untrusted external domains via Group Policy. Use the following PowerShell commands to enforce security policies on Windows endpoints:

powershell

# Enforce Site Isolation policy in Google Chrome
New-Item -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Name 'SitePerProcess' -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force

# Force enable automatic updates for Chrome
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Update' -Name 'UpdateDefault' -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force

3. Log Audit & IoC Verification Commands

Use the following shell script to audit endpoints and identify vulnerable installations of Google Chrome:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Audit script for Google Chrome vulnerability detection
if command -v google-chrome &> /dev/null; then
    CURRENT_VER=$(google-chrome --version | awk '{print $3}')
    REQUIRED_VER='86.0.4240.183'
    
    if [ '$(printf '%s\
' "$REQUIRED_VER" "$CURRENT_VER" | sort -V | head -n1)' = "$REQUIRED_VER" ]; then
        echo '[SAFE] Google Chrome version ($CURRENT_VER) is secure.'
    else
        echo '[WARNING] Vulnerable Google Chrome version ($CURRENT_VER) detected! Upgrade immediately.'
    fi
else
    echo '[INFO] Google Chrome is not installed on this system.'
fi

Interactive SecOps Remediation Checklist

0/4 (0%)

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Due to active exploitation in the wild, immediately upgrade Google Chrome to version 86.0.4240.183 or later to secure your endpoints.

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Technical Root Cause & Exploitation Mechanics

1. Vulnerability Overview & Root Cause

This vulnerability (CVE-2020-16009) is a critical Type Confusion (CWE-843) and Heap Corruption (CWE-787) flaw within the V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine of Google Chrome. The root cause lies in the Turbofan JIT compiler's optimization pipeline, where inappropriate assumptions regarding object types are made during code generation. This leads to a mismatch between the expected memory layout of an object and its actual runtime structure, allowing memory safety boundaries to be bypassed.

2. Exploitation Mechanics & Attack Scenario

An attacker exploits this vulnerability by hosting a malicious HTML page containing crafted JavaScript designed to trigger Turbofan's optimization routines. When a victim visits the page, the V8 engine misinterprets the type of an object during optimized execution, granting the attacker arbitrary read and write primitives within the browser's renderer process memory space. This primitive is subsequently leveraged to hijack control flow and execute arbitrary shellcode.

3. Infrastructure & Business Impact

As a vulnerability listed in the CISA KEV catalog, CVE-2020-16009 has been actively exploited in the wild. Successful exploitation allows complete compromise of the browser renderer process. When chained with a sandbox escape vulnerability, it enables full system compromise, leading to unauthorized data exfiltration, malware deployment, and lateral movement within the corporate network.

Official Vendor Advisories & References

NVD Original English Description

Inappropriate implementation in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.183 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00016.html

Source: chrome-cve-admin@google.com · Broken Link, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00017.html

Source: chrome-cve-admin@google.com · Broken Link, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159974/Chrome-V8-Turbofan-Type-Confusion.html

Source: chrome-cve-admin@google.com · Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/11/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html

Source: chrome-cve-admin@google.com · Release Notes, Vendor Advisory

https://crbug.com/1143772

Source: chrome-cve-admin@google.com · Exploit, Issue Tracking

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/S4XYJ7B6OXHZNYSA5J3DBUOFEC6WCAGW/

Source: chrome-cve-admin@google.com · Release Notes

Frequently Asked SecOps Questions (CVE-2020-16009)

FAQ

Q1. How critical is CVE-2020-16009 and is it actively exploited in the wild?

CVE-2020-16009 is rated CVSS 8.8 (HIGH) with a 30-day EPSS exploitation probability of 48.3%. It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring immediate emergency remediation.

Q2. Which vendors and products are affected by CVE-2020-16009?

Primary impacted vendors include google across chrome, v8. Scope summary: Google Chrome prior to version 86.0.4240.183 (All operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux)

Q3. What temporary mitigations or workarounds exist for CVE-2020-16009 before patching?

[Mitigation] Immediately update Google Chrome to the latest stable version (86.0.4240.183 or higher) across all endpoints Follow the CLI remediation commands and interactive SecOps checklist on this page to restrict exposure prior to your maintenance window.

SECOPS WORKBENCH INTEGRATION