CVE-2026-121097 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 11/03/2026
Use after free in Printing in Google Chrome prior to 157.0.8103.38 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 • 11/03/2026
The vulnerability identified as a use-after-free error within the printing subsystem of Google Chrome prior to version 157.0.8103.38 represents a critical memory management flaw that compromises the integrity and confidentiality of user data. This specific class of vulnerabilities occurs when an application continues to reference a pointer after the memory it points to has been freed, leading to undefined behavior that can be exploited by malicious actors. In this instance, the defect resides in the rendering engine's handling of print-related objects, where references to these objects are maintained even after their underlying memory resources have been released back to the system allocator. This discrepancy creates a window of opportunity for remote attackers who craft specific HTML pages designed to trigger the premature deallocation while retaining active pointers within the browser's execution context.
From an operational perspective, this flaw allows a remote attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution inside the Chrome sandbox through a crafted web page. The significance of executing code within the sandbox cannot be overstated, as modern browsers rely on process isolation and sandboxing techniques to limit the damage caused by successful exploits. By bypassing these protections via a use-after-free condition, an attacker can potentially escape the restricted environment and gain higher privileges or access sensitive information stored locally on the victim's machine. The attack vector is primarily web-based, meaning that simply visiting a maliciously constructed website could be sufficient to trigger the exploit without requiring any additional user interaction beyond loading the page. This lowers the barrier for entry significantly compared to vulnerabilities requiring complex social engineering or specific plugin installations.
The technical root cause aligns with CWE-416, which defines use after free as referencing memory that has already been freed. When the printing module releases an object but fails to nullify all references to it, subsequent operations may interact with stale pointers. Depending on how quickly the allocator reuses that memory block for other purposes, such as storing attacker-controlled data during a new allocation phase, the browser may inadvertently execute malicious code or leak sensitive information from previously freed objects. This mechanism is particularly dangerous because it exploits the timing and state management of dynamic memory allocation within complex software systems like web browsers. The Chromium security severity rating of High reflects the potential for widespread impact given Chrome's dominant market share and frequent usage patterns involving diverse content types including print-heavy documents or reports.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve updating to a patched version where these reference counting mechanisms have been corrected to ensure pointers are invalidated immediately upon deallocation. Security researchers emphasize that while client-side mitigations such as heap hardening techniques like ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) and DEP (Data Execution Prevention) provide layers of defense, they do not eliminate the underlying vulnerability. Therefore, timely patching remains the most effective countermeasure against this specific threat vector. Additionally, users should exercise caution when visiting untrusted websites or downloading documents from unknown sources, as these remain primary vectors for delivering crafted HTML pages designed to exploit such memory corruption flaws in rendering engines and associated subsystems like printing services.