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Web browser
Android Brave Browser Chrome Firefox Google Ads MFA Privacy Safari Sandboxing User Privacy Web browser

Chrome's Invasive New Tracking Sparks Need for a New Browser

The importance of privacy issues has increased in the digital era, leading people to look for browsers that prioritize data protection. One of the most popular browsers, Chrome, has recently drawn criticism for its intrusive new tracking features. Users are encouraged to investigate privacy-focused options by this development.

Chrome's latest tracking initiative, Ad Topics, allows websites to gather detailed information about users' online activities. This information is then used to tailor advertisements, potentially leading to a breach of user privacy. As reported by Android Authority, this feature has raised significant concerns among privacy advocates and users alike.

In response to these concerns, the Privacy Sandbox initiative has been introduced. Spearheaded by industry leaders, including Google, it aims to strike a balance between personalized advertising and user privacy. By creating a set of privacy-preserving APIs, Privacy Sandbox seeks to protect users' data while still enabling advertisers to deliver relevant content.

Privacy Sandbox's mission is to "evolve the web ecosystem to provide a more private experience for users." By prioritizing user privacy, it aims to reshape the online experience, ensuring that individuals have greater control over their personal information. This initiative signals a positive step towards a more secure and user-centric internet.

Experts emphasize the significance of user awareness and choice in this evolving landscape. As stated by John Doe, a privacy advocate, "Users deserve to have a say in how their data is collected and used online. It's crucial for them to be informed about the tracking practices of their chosen browser."

In light of these developments, users are urged to explore alternative browsers prioritizing privacy. Browsers like Brave, Firefox, and Safari have long been known for their commitment to user data protection. These options offer robust privacy features, ensuring that users can navigate the web without sacrificing their personal information.

Recent tracking capabilities added to Chrome show how crucial privacy is becoming in the digital sphere. The advent of programs like Privacy Sandbox is a step in the right direction toward achieving a balance between user security and personalization. However, looking at alternative browsers is a wise decision for people seeking urgent privacy guarantees. It is crucial that we control our online experiences while maintaining our privacy since as users, we have the capacity to do so.


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Vulnerabilities and Exploits.
Bug Code Execution Flaw CVE Sandboxing User Privacy VMware Vulnerabilities and Exploits.

RCE Vulnerability patched in vm2 Sandbox

Researchers from Oxeye found a serious vm2 vulnerability (CVE-2022-36067) that has the highest CVSS score of 10.0. R&D executives, AppSec engineers, and security experts must make sure they rapidly repair the vm2 sandbox if they utilize it in their apps due to a new vulnerability known as SandBreak.

The most widely used Javascript sandbox library is vm2, which receives about 17.5 million downloads each month. It offers a widely used software testing framework that may synchronously execute untrusted code in a single process.

The Node.js functionality that allows vm2 maintainers to alter the call stack of failures in the software testing framework is the primary culprit in the vulnerability, which Oxeye's researchers have dubbed SandBreak.

According to senior security researcher Gal Goldshtein of Oxeye, "when examining the prior issues revealed to the vm2 maintainers, we observed an unusual technique: the bug reporter leveraged the error mechanism in Node.js to escape the sandbox."

Modern applications use sandboxes for a variety of functions, including inspecting attached files in email servers, adding an extra layer of protection in web browsers, and isolating running programs in some operating systems. Bypassing the vm2 sandbox environment, a hacker who takes advantage of this vulnerability would be able to execute shell commands on the computer hosting it.

The vm2 vulnerability can still have serious repercussions for apps that use vm2 without a fix due to the nature of the use cases for sandboxes. Given that this vulnerability does have the highest CVSS score and is quite well-known, its potential impact is both significant and extensive.

Nevertheless, an attacker might offer its alternative implementation of the prepareStackTrace technique and escape the sandbox because it did not cover all particular methods.

The researchers at Oxeye also were able to substitute their own implementation, which contained a unique prepareStackTrace function for the global Error object. When it was called, it would discover a CallSite object outside the sandbox, enabling the host to run any code.

Users are advised to upgrade as quickly as possible to the most recent version due to the vulnerability's serious severity and to reduce potential risks.


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Web browser
API Bug CVE Cyber Security GPU Mozilla Firefox Sandboxing Web browser

Patches for Firefox Updates in an Emergency Two Zero-Day Vulnerabilities 

 

Mozilla released an emergency security upgrade for Firefox over the weekend to address two zero-day flaws which have been exploited in attacks. The two security holes, identified as CVE-2022-26485 and CVE-2022-26486 graded "critical severity," are use-after-free issues detected and reported by security researchers using Qihoo 360 ATA. 

WebGPU is a web API that uses a machine's graphics processing unit to support multimedia on web pages (GPU). It is used for a variety of tasks, including gaming, video conferencing, and 3D modeling. 

Both zero-day flaws are "use-after-free" problems, in which a program attempts to use memory that has already been cleared. When threat actors take advantage of this type of flaw, it can cause the program to crash while also allowing commands to be executed without permission on the device.

According to Mozilla, "an unanticipated event in the WebGPU IPC infrastructure could escalate to a use-after-free and vulnerable sandbox escape." 

Mozilla has patched the following zero-day vulnerabilities: 

  • Use-after-free in XSLT parameter processing - CVE-2022-26485 During processing, removing an XSLT argument could have resulted in an exploitable use-after-free. There have been reports of cyberattacks in the wild taking advantage of this weakness. 
  • Use-after-free in the WebGPU IPC Framework - CVE-2022-26486 A use-after-free and exploit sandbox escape could be enabled by an unexpected event in the WebGPU IPC framework. There have been reports of attacks in the wild that take advantage of this weakness. 
Since these issues are of extreme concern and are being actively exploited, it is strongly advised to all Firefox users that they upgrade their browsers right away. By heading to the Firefox menu > Help > About Firefox, users can manually check for new updates. Firefox will then look for and install the most recent update, prompting you to restart your browser.
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
New Feature Processor Sandboxing Security Vulnerabilities and Exploits

AMD Admits Ryzen 5000 CPU Exploit Could Leave Your PC Open to Hackers

 

According to AMD itself, AMD's Zen 3 CPU architecture may include a feature that could be exploited by hackers in a Spectre-like side-channel attack. 

With Zen 3, the speculative execution feature—which is a common feature in modern processors— is known as Predictive Store Forwarding (PSF). Essentially its task is to guess which instruction is most likely to be sent next through the use of branch prediction algorithms and fetch that command in anticipation. The aim is to speed up the microprocessor's output pipeline, but the feature comes with risks, according to TechPowerUp. 

In the occurrence of a misinterpretation, software such as web browsers that use 'sandboxing' can expose your CPU to side-channel attacks. 

Sandboxing (isolation) is actually aimed at protecting against threats by placing malicious code on the naughty step and challenging its motivations. However, similar to the Spectre vulnerabilities, possible changes to the cache state in such cases could result in hackers gaining access to portions of one’s personal data. 

Due to Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, web browsers don't tend to rely on isolation processes as much nowadays, but there are still risks that AMD outlines forthrightly. 

Under the security analysis section of a publicly accessible AMD report, "A security concern arises if code exists that implements some kind of security control which can be bypassed when the CPU speculates incorrectly. This may occur if a program (such as a web browser) hosts pieces of untrusted code and the untrusted code can influence how the CPU speculates in other regions in a way that results in data leakage."

"If an attacker is able to run code within a target application, they may be able to influence speculation on other loads within the same application by purposely training the PSF predictor with malicious information." 

However, there is a way to protect yourself from the feature's potential flaws, which is by simply disabling PSF. However, this is not an option that AMD recommends because it has the potential to stifle performance. In certain cases, Meltdown and Spectre mitigations in Intel CPUs had also led to similar performance limitations.

The tests by Phronix show that turning off the feature only reduces CPU output by 1%. A firmware update could provide a short-term patch for those that are currently affected, but a long-term solution will likely have to come in the form of a change to the architecture itself.
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