[KEV] Out-of-Bounds Write in Google platform/external/freetype (CVE-2020-15999)
Summary
Out-of-bounds write in Google platform/external/freetype (CVE-2020-15999). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited. Mitigation: upgrade to 11:2021-01-01 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Heap buffer overflow in Freetype in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.111 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities NVD GitHub Advisory CISA KEV
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2020-15999 has been found in Google platform/external/freetype.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Note: CISA has officially confirmed this is actively exploited in the wild. Treat it with elevated urgency.
What to do: upgrade Google platform/external/freetype to 11:2021-01-01 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Google platform/external/freetype CVE-2020-15999" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2020-15999 (Google platform/external/freetype) — CWE-787
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated
Patched: 11:2021-01-01 — apply immediately
Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited, treat as top priority.
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
Out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) exists in Google platform/external/freetype.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Google platform/external/freetype.
Severity: High. Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited in the wild, treat as top priority.
Update to 11:2021-01-01.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'platform/external/freetype' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'platform/external/freetype' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
platform/external/freetypeを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Consider incident declaration escalate
Notify SOC / on-callCISA KEV登録済 = 実環境で悪用が観測されている。侵入の兆候があればインシデント対応宣言、無くてもパッチ適用までWAF強化を最優先で。
-
3Apply patch patch
Upgrade Google platform/external/freetype to 11:2021-01-01ステージング環境で 11:2021-01-01 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
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4Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Alpine Linux ALPINE-CVE-2020-15999 freetype Fixed in: 2.10.0-r1
References
- advisory NVD
- advisory source.android.com
- advisory lists.opensuse.org
- advisory seclists.org
- advisory chromereleases.googleblog.com
- advisory lists.fedoraproject.org
- advisory security.gentoo.org
- advisory security.gentoo.org
- advisory security.gentoo.org
- advisory security.netapp.com
- advisory debian.org
- patch android.googlesource.com
- report crbug.com
- report googleprojectzero.blogspot.com
- web cisa.gov