CVE-2026-102308 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 09/29/2026
Use after free in Views in Google Chrome prior to 154.0.8037.92 allowed a remote attacker leveraging social engineering to execute arbitrary code outside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/30/2026
The vulnerability identified as a use-after-free flaw within Google Chrome's Views component represents a critical memory management error that compromises the browser's integrity and isolation mechanisms. This specific defect occurs when an object is accessed after its memory has been deallocated, leading to undefined behavior that can be exploited by malicious actors. In this instance, the flaw resides in the rendering engine or user interface layer responsible for handling view objects within the Chromium framework. When a crafted HTML page triggers the creation and subsequent premature destruction of specific UI elements, the browser retains references to these freed memory locations. If an attacker can induce the application to reuse that memory before it is properly reallocated or zeroed out, they gain control over how those pointers are interpreted by the running process.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for remote code execution outside the sandbox environment. Modern browsers rely heavily on sandboxing techniques to restrict the privileges of web content, ensuring that malicious scripts cannot easily access sensitive system resources or user data. However, a use-after-free condition in a privileged component like Views can allow an attacker to manipulate memory structures such as function pointers or virtual tables. By carefully crafting the payload within the HTML page and leveraging social engineering tactics to trick users into visiting the site, attackers can achieve arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges. This effectively breaks out of the browser's security boundary, granting full control over the underlying operating system without requiring additional exploits for privilege escalation.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-416, which defines use-after-free errors as accessing memory after it has been freed. Such flaws are particularly dangerous because they often lead to crashes but can also be weaponized for code execution depending on the heap layout and browser version. In terms of offensive security frameworks, this exploit scenario maps directly to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers exploitation for client-side execution. The reliance on social engineering indicates that while the technical flaw is automated, the initial access vector requires user interaction, highlighting the importance of both technical mitigations and user awareness training in a comprehensive defense strategy.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve updating to Google Chrome version 154.0.8037.92 or later, where this specific memory management issue has been addressed by developers through rigorous code review and automated fuzzing tests that detect premature deallocation patterns. Organizations should enforce strict update policies across all endpoints to ensure the latest security patches are applied promptly. Additionally, deploying browser isolation solutions can provide an additional layer of defense by rendering web content in a remote or containerized environment, thereby limiting the impact even if a zero-day vulnerability is present. Security teams should also monitor for indicators of compromise associated with drive-by download attacks and social engineering campaigns targeting enterprise users to detect potential exploitation attempts early.