CVE-2026-118358 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 10/28/2026
Memory corruption in WebAudio in Google Chrome prior to 156.0.8078.73 allowed a remote attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code inside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/28/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-9680 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within the WebAudio subsystem of Google Chrome, specifically affecting versions prior to 156.0.8078.73. This defect arises from improper handling of data structures during the processing of audio streams or related media objects, leading to conditions such as heap buffer overflows or use-after-free scenarios. The root cause typically involves a failure in bounds checking or reference counting mechanisms when manipulating complex audio graph nodes or buffers allocated on the heap. Because WebAudio is an integral part of Chrome’s rendering engine and handles sensitive multimedia data, any instability in this component can have cascading effects across the browser's security model.
From a technical perspective, memory corruption vulnerabilities are among the most dangerous classes of flaws because they allow attackers to manipulate the internal state of running processes. In the context of Google Chrome, which employs a multi-process architecture with strict sandboxing, the primary goal of an attacker is often to escape this isolation layer. By exploiting the memory corruption in WebAudio, a remote attacker can craft a malicious HTML page that triggers the flaw when loaded by a victim. The crafted payload manipulates audio data or API calls to corrupt adjacent memory regions, potentially overwriting function pointers or object headers. This manipulation enables the execution of arbitrary code within the context of the renderer process, which is normally confined and restricted from accessing sensitive system resources directly.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for remote code execution via a simple web interaction. An attacker does not need physical access or prior authentication; they merely need to host a malicious webpage or lure a user into visiting one. Once the page loads, the exploit chain leverages the WebAudio flaw to achieve arbitrary read and write primitives within the sandboxed renderer process. While modern browsers have robust mitigation techniques such as Control Flow Integrity (CFI) and Data Execution Prevention (DEP), sophisticated attackers can often bypass these protections using advanced exploitation techniques like ROP chains or JIT spraying, especially if additional vulnerabilities are chained together. The successful exploitation results in full compromise of the browser session, potentially leading to data theft, installation of malware, or further lateral movement within a network environment.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) categories such as CWE-120 Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input and CWE-416 Use After Free, depending on the specific nature of the memory corruption observed in the WebAudio implementation. In terms of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this exploit falls under Tactic 7: Discovery or Tactic 8: Lateral Movement if used for persistence, but more accurately maps to Initial Access via Spearphishing Link (T1566.002) and Execution on Remote Systems through Browser Exploitation of Client Software (T1203). The high severity rating assigned by the Chromium security team reflects the ease with which such vulnerabilities can be weaponized in real-world phishing campaigns or drive-by download attacks targeting enterprise environments where Chrome is the default browser.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve immediate patching to version 156.0.8078.73 or later, as this update contains the necessary code fixes to address the memory management errors within WebAudio. Organizations should enforce automated update policies for all endpoints running Google Chrome to ensure that security patches are applied promptly upon release. Additionally, deploying browser isolation solutions or web content filtering can provide an additional layer of defense by preventing access to untrusted or suspicious websites before they can be rendered locally. Security awareness training is also recommended to reduce the likelihood of users interacting with malicious links that might trigger such exploits. Monitoring for anomalous network traffic originating from Chrome processes may help detect active exploitation attempts in real-time, allowing incident response teams to contain potential breaches quickly.