CVE-2026-121160 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 11/03/2026
Out of bounds read in Skia in Google Chrome prior to 157.0.8103.38 allowed a remote attacker to read memory outside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/03/2026
The vulnerability identified as an out-of-bounds read within the Skia graphics library, which serves as the core rendering engine for Google Chrome prior to version 157.0.8103.38, represents a significant memory safety flaw with severe security implications. This defect allows a remote attacker who crafts and delivers a malicious HTML page to trigger an invalid memory access operation within the browser's sandboxed environment. The Skia library is responsible for handling complex graphical operations such as 2D vector graphics, images, and text rendering across various platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. When processing specially constructed input data embedded in a web page, the application fails to properly validate boundary conditions before accessing memory buffers, leading to an attempt to read from addresses that lie outside the allocated bounds of the intended buffer.
From a technical perspective, this flaw is classified under CWE-125, which denotes Out-of-bounds Read vulnerabilities. The root cause typically involves insufficient validation of array indices or pointer arithmetic during image decoding, font rendering, or canvas manipulation operations handled by Skia. An attacker can exploit this condition by embedding specific malformed assets or CSS properties within an HTML document that forces the browser to execute a read operation beyond the limits of a heap-allocated buffer. Because Chrome employs a multi-process architecture with strict sandboxing mechanisms designed to isolate untrusted web content from sensitive system resources, one might assume such errors are contained. However, out-of-bounds reads can sometimes leak information about adjacent memory regions that may contain pointers or other data structures relevant to the browser's internal state, potentially aiding further exploitation attempts even if direct code execution is not immediately achieved through this specific vector alone.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is categorized as High severity by Chromium security standards due to its potential for information disclosure and possible escalation pathways. While an out-of-bounds read primarily results in the leakage of memory contents rather than arbitrary write capabilities, it can expose sensitive data such as stack canaries, heap metadata, or pointers used within the browser process. This leaked information significantly reduces the complexity required for subsequent attacks like return-oriented programming (ROP) chains to bypass security mitigations including Data Execution Prevention and Address Space Layout Randomization. Furthermore, if combined with other vulnerabilities in the same session, this flaw could facilitate a complete sandbox escape, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the victim's machine with the privileges of the browser process.
In terms of threat modeling, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059, specifically sub-techniques related to command and script interpreters or system services if it leads to execution, but more accurately maps to information gathering behaviors preceding exploitation. It falls under the broader category of memory corruption vulnerabilities that are prevalent in C++ based applications where manual memory management is required. The attack vector requires user interaction, typically involving visiting a maliciously crafted website or opening an email with embedded HTML content containing the exploit payload. This necessitates social engineering elements unless the vulnerability can be triggered via drive-by download mechanisms targeting specific browser configurations or extensions that process untrusted input automatically.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve applying the official patch provided in Google Chrome version 157.0.8103.38 and later releases, which corrects the boundary checks within the Skia library's rendering pipeline. Organizations should ensure rapid deployment of browser updates across all endpoints to minimize exposure windows. For environments where immediate patching is not feasible, network-level controls such as web application firewalls can be configured to detect and block requests containing suspicious patterns associated with memory corruption exploits, although this approach has limited efficacy against sophisticated obfuscation techniques used in modern exploit kits. Additionally, enabling Chrome's built-in security features like Site Isolation ensures that even if an attacker successfully reads out-of-bounds data, they cannot easily access cross-site sensitive information due to strict process separation policies. Regular auditing of third-party libraries integrated into web applications and keeping dependencies updated is also critical to preventing similar issues in custom implementations relying on Skia or comparable graphics engines.