Comment by chc4
15 hours ago
Browser exploits are almost always two steps: you exploit a renderer bug in order to get arbitrary code execution inside a sandboxed process, and then you use a second sandbox escape exploit in order to gain arbitrary code execution in the non-sandboxed broker process. The first line of that (almost definitely AI generated) summary is the bad part, and means that this is one half of a full browser compromise chain. The fact that you still need a sandbox escape doesn't mean that it is harmless, especially since if it's being exploited in the wild that means whoever is using it probably does also have a sandbox escape they are pairing with it.
You're spot on about the two-step chain. The scary part of these "in the wild" exploits is that the attackers usually do have that second chain (the sandbox escape) ready to go.
This is partly why we built BrowserBox [0] (an RBI solution). The philosophy is that you assume the renderer will get owned (step 1) and the sandbox will be escaped (step 2). By running that whole process in a disposable Docker container on a remote server, the "sandbox escape" just lands the attacker in an empty, ephemeral container rather than on the user's local OS.
It essentially turns a critical RCE + Sandbox Escape chain into a contained server-side resource exhaustion issue, protecting the actual endpoint data and credentials.
[0]: https://github.com/BrowserBox/BrowserBox
Thanks for the explanation. So much for AI making it easier to learn things!