CVE-2026-113161 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 10/21/2026
Use after free in WebRTC in Google Chrome prior to 156.0.8078.47 allowed a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/22/2026
The vulnerability identified as a use-after-free flaw within the WebRTC component of Google Chrome prior to version 156.0.8078.47 represents a critical memory management error that compromises the integrity and confidentiality of user data. This specific class of vulnerabilities occurs when a program continues to use a pointer after it has been freed, leading to undefined behavior that can be exploited by malicious actors. In this instance, the flaw resides in the complex media handling logic inherent to WebRTC, which manages real-time audio and video communications directly within the browser environment. The presence of such an error indicates insufficient validation or improper lifecycle management of memory objects allocated for processing multimedia streams, creating a window where stale pointers can be dereferenced with attacker-controlled data.
An remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious HTML page that triggers the specific sequence leading to the premature deallocation of a WebRTC object while references to it remain active within the application state. When the browser processes this crafted input, it attempts to access memory that has already been returned to the system allocator or repurposed for other operations. This misuse allows the attacker to manipulate the contents of the freed memory region, potentially overwriting critical data structures such as function pointers or object vtables. By carefully controlling the allocation patterns following the free operation, an attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution within the context of the browser process. The Chromium security team has classified this issue with a High severity rating due to its potential for remote exploitation without user interaction beyond visiting a malicious webpage.
The operational impact of successfully exploiting this vulnerability is severe, as it enables full compromise of the victim's machine through privilege escalation from the sandboxed browser environment. Modern browsers employ strict sandboxes to isolate web content and prevent access to sensitive system resources; however, use-after-free bugs often provide the necessary primitives for attackers to escape these restrictions. Once arbitrary code execution is achieved inside the sandbox, subsequent exploitation techniques can be employed to break out of this isolation layer entirely. This could result in unauthorized installation of malware, theft of sensitive credentials stored within the browser, or establishment of a persistent foothold on the victim's network infrastructure. The ability to execute arbitrary code remotely makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous for users who frequently visit untrusted websites or are targeted by spear-phishing campaigns containing embedded malicious media handlers.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve immediate patching and proactive security hardening measures. Users must update Google Chrome to version 156.0.8078.47 or later, where the underlying memory management logic in WebRTC has been corrected to prevent premature deallocation and ensure proper reference counting. From a defensive posture perspective, organizations should enforce strict content security policies that restrict inline scripts and limit access to potentially dangerous APIs unless explicitly required for legitimate business functions. Additionally, enabling advanced browser features such as site isolation can further mitigate the impact of memory corruption vulnerabilities by ensuring that different origins are rendered in separate processes with distinct address space layouts. Security teams should also monitor network traffic for unusual outbound connections following visits to untrusted domains, which may indicate successful exploitation attempts.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-416, which describes the use of a pointer after it has been freed, highlighting the fundamental flaw in memory safety practices within legacy codebases or complex subsystems like WebRTC. Furthermore, from an adversary tactics perspective, this exploit chain corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1203, specifically the exploitation for execution phase, where attackers leverage software vulnerabilities to run malicious payloads on target systems. The reliance on a crafted HTML page underscores the importance of input validation and sanitization in web applications that handle user-supplied media data. Continuous integration of static analysis tools focused on memory safety issues during development cycles can help identify such defects before they reach production environments, thereby reducing the attack surface available to remote adversaries seeking to compromise end-user systems through browser-based vectors.