CVE-2026-114122 in Electron
Summary
by MITRE • 10/21/2026
Electron is a framework for writing cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Prior to versions 42.11.6, 43.7.3, 44.4.3, and 45.0.0-alpha.9, frame data received from the GPU process for webContents.beginFrameSubscription was not fully validated by the main process. An attacker who had separately gained code execution in the GPU process could supply inconsistent frame geometry and cause the main process to read out-of-bounds memory while producing captured frame images, disclosing memory or crashing the application. This issue is fixed in versions 42.11.6, 43.7.3, 44.4.3, and 45.0.0-alpha.9.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2026
The vulnerability described pertains to a critical memory safety flaw within the Electron framework, specifically affecting versions prior to 42.11.6, 43.7.3, 44.4.3, and 45.0.0-alpha.9. Electron operates as a cross-platform desktop application runtime that utilizes Chromium for rendering web content and Node.js for system-level access. In this architecture, the main process manages the application lifecycle while renderer processes handle individual web pages, and GPU processes manage hardware-accelerated graphics operations. The specific defect resides in the communication channel between the GPU process and the main process during frame subscription activities initiated by webContents.beginFrameSubscription. This API allows applications to capture screen content for features such as recording, sharing, or virtual desktops, requiring frequent data exchange regarding frame geometry and pixel buffers.
The core technical flaw is an insufficient validation of input parameters received from the GPU process. When a renderer requests a frame subscription, it triggers interactions that eventually involve the main process reading image data provided by the GPU process. The vulnerability arises because the main process fails to rigorously validate the consistency of the frame geometry metadata supplied by the untrusted GPU process. An attacker who has achieved code execution within the GPU process can manipulate this metadata to present inconsistent or malformed dimensions for the video frames. This manipulation causes the main process, which operates with higher privileges and different memory isolation boundaries than the renderer or GPU processes, to misinterpret buffer sizes and offsets during image processing operations.
This discrepancy leads directly to an out-of-bounds read condition within the main process memory space. As the application attempts to produce captured frame images based on the maliciously crafted geometry data, it accesses memory locations beyond the allocated buffers. This results in two primary operational impacts: information disclosure and denial of service. In terms of confidentiality, the out-of-bounds access allows an attacker to read sensitive data from adjacent memory regions that were not intended for exposure. Depending on what resides in those memory areas, this could lead to the leakage of cryptographic keys, session tokens, or other private user information stored within the main process heap. Regarding availability, the invalid memory access can trigger segmentation faults or critical exceptions, causing the entire Electron application to crash and disrupting service for end users.
From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability is classified under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read, which describes accessing data outside of intended boundaries without writing to it. The exploitation vector aligns with ATT&CK technique T1046: Network Service Discovery or more accurately in the context of local privilege escalation and memory scraping, techniques associated with Memory Scraping (T1005) if information disclosure is achieved, or Denial of Service via application crash (part of various impact categories). The attack requires a prerequisite condition where an attacker has already gained code execution within the GPU process. This typically implies that a previously exploited vulnerability in web content rendered by Electron must be leveraged to achieve initial access and sandbox escape into the GPU context. Once inside the GPU process, which often runs with fewer restrictions than renderers but more than the main process, the attacker can craft malicious IPC messages targeting this specific validation gap.
Mitigation strategies focus primarily on software updates and architectural hardening. The most effective remediation is to upgrade Electron to version 42.11.6 or later for stable releases, or version 43.7.3, 44.4.3, and 45.0.0-alpha.9 as appropriate for the specific release channel being used. For organizations unable to immediately update due to compatibility constraints, implementing strict input validation logic in custom IPC handlers that interact with frame subscription APIs can provide a temporary workaround, although this is less reliable than patching the underlying framework code. Additionally, developers should ensure that their applications utilize the latest security best practices for Electron, including enabling sandbox mode for all web contents and minimizing the use of Node.js integration in renderer processes to reduce the attack surface available to potential exploiters who might attempt to reach the GPU process layer.