CVE-2026-113177 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 10/21/2026
Use after free in FileSystem 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: Medium)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2026
The vulnerability identified as a use-after-free flaw within the FileSystem component of Google Chrome prior to version 156.0.8078.47 represents a critical memory management error that can be leveraged by remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution. This specific class of bug occurs when a program continues to use a pointer after the memory it points to has been freed, leading to undefined behavior that security researchers and exploit developers frequently target for privilege escalation or sandbox escape. In this instance, the flaw resides within the FileSystem API implementation, which is responsible for managing file system operations such as reading, writing, and manipulating files on behalf of web applications running inside the browser's secure context.
The technical root cause involves a failure to properly manage object lifecycles during asynchronous file system operations or when handling references to disk storage objects. When an attacker crafts a malicious HTML page that triggers specific sequences of FileSystem API calls, they can induce a state where a reference to a memory block is retained even after the underlying resource has been deallocated by the browser's garbage collector or internal management routines. This dangling pointer allows the attacker to perform operations on freed memory, potentially overwriting adjacent data structures or executing code within the context of that corrupted memory space. The severity is classified as Medium in Chromium’s security framework because while it requires user interaction via a crafted page, the potential impact extends beyond simple information disclosure into active code execution.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to end-users who visit maliciously constructed websites or are subjected to drive-by download attacks that exploit browser-side rendering engines. Although Chrome employs multiple layers of defense including sandboxing, heap hardening techniques like ASLR and DEP, and control flow integrity measures, use-after-free vulnerabilities remain among the most potent attack vectors because they can often bypass these protections if exploited with precise timing and memory layout manipulation. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands within the browser’s process space, potentially leading to further lateral movement or data exfiltration depending on the permissions granted to the Chrome process at that moment.
This vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-416, which describes Use After Free conditions where a pointer is used after its memory has been freed, and it maps to MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to initial access via browser exploitation such as T1189 Drive-by Compromise or T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution. Mitigation strategies primarily involve updating Google Chrome to version 156.0.8078.47 or later, where the issue has been resolved through improved memory management practices and stricter validation of object states before access is permitted. Organizations should ensure that endpoint protection systems are updated to detect exploitation attempts targeting known browser vulnerabilities and enforce strict content security policies to limit the capabilities of scripts running within web pages.