Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-0306

Memory Safety in Google Chrome ≤ 97.0.4692.99

Public PoCHigh EPSSMemory Safety
Published
12 February 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.85 99.7th percentile
Risk Priority 87 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-0306 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Google Chrome. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

A heap buffer overflow vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-0306 and assigned CWE-787, affects PDFium within Google Chrome versions prior to 97.0.4692.99. The flaw permits heap corruption when processing specially crafted content, carrying a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 that reflects network attack vector, low complexity, and no required privileges.

A remote attacker can trigger the issue by serving a crafted HTML page that causes Chrome to load and render malicious PDF content through PDFium. Successful exploitation can result in arbitrary code execution or memory corruption with impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Chrome release notes direct users to update to version 97.0.4692.99 or later, which contains the fix for the PDFium engine. Public references such as the Chromium bug tracker entry and associated advisories confirm the patch was distributed through the stable channel update on 19 January 2022.

EPSS scores for the CVE reached a peak of 0.0647 and currently stand at 0.0567, indicating modest post-disclosure interest without evidence of widespread in-the-wild exploitation.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Heap buffer overflow in PDFium in Google Chrome prior to 97.0.4692.99 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Executionconfidence: HIGH
Heap buffer overflow in PDFium enables client-side exploitation when a crafted PDF is rendered inside the browser.
T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability is triggered by a remote attacker serving a malicious HTML page that loads a crafted PDF, matching drive-by compromise.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: MEDIUM
Successful exploitation yields arbitrary code execution, which can be leveraged for privilege escalation on the host.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-1222Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-1220Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-0138Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-3176Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-3732Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-0129Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-7970Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-2929Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2025-4050Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-4071Same product: Google Chrome

Affected Assets

google
chrome
≤ 97.0.4692.99

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
  • SI-3 Malicious Code Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-3 Malicious Code Protection
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires timely application of the vendor patch that resolves the PDFium heap overflow in Chrome 97.0.4692.99.

prevent

Enforces memory-protection mechanisms (ASLR, DEP, guard pages) that block exploitation of the heap corruption before arbitrary code executes.

preventdetect

Malicious-code detection on downloaded HTML/PDF content can block or alert on the crafted page used to trigger the PDFium flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles reduce the likelihood of buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding directly addresses out-of-bounds writes through language choice and coding standards.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References