CVE-2026-2650 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 02/19/2026
Heap buffer overflow in Media in Google Chrome prior to 145.0.7632.109 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/23/2026
This heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists within the media processing components of Google Chrome browser versions prior to 145.0.7632.109. The flaw manifests when the browser encounters specially crafted HTML content that triggers improper memory handling during media file processing. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 heap-based buffer overflow category, where insufficient bounds checking allows an attacker to write beyond allocated memory boundaries. This type of vulnerability represents a critical concern in web browser security as it can lead to arbitrary code execution when exploited successfully. The Chromium security severity classification of medium indicates the potential for significant impact given the remote exploitation capability and the privileged execution context of browser processes.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs during the parsing and rendering of media elements within HTML documents. When Chrome processes maliciously constructed media tags or embedded content, the underlying memory allocation routines fail to properly validate input boundaries before writing data to heap-allocated buffers. This memory corruption can occur through various media processing pathways including audio/video decoding, image rendering, or streaming protocols. The attacker can craft HTML pages containing malformed media data structures that cause the browser to allocate insufficient memory for processing, subsequently leading to overflow conditions that overwrite adjacent memory regions. The heap corruption can potentially overwrite function pointers, return addresses, or other critical control data structures within the browser's memory space.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple memory corruption, as it enables remote code execution capabilities for attackers who can successfully exploit the heap overflow condition. When an attacker successfully leverages this vulnerability, they can potentially execute arbitrary code within the browser's security context, which typically operates with elevated privileges. This allows for complete compromise of the user's browsing session and potentially broader system access. The attack vector requires only a victim visiting a malicious webpage, making it particularly dangerous for phishing campaigns or compromised websites. The vulnerability affects all supported operating systems where Chrome is installed, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile platforms, creating a broad attack surface for threat actors.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate remediation through Chrome version updates to 145.0.7632.109 or later, which contain the necessary memory bounds checking fixes and heap management improvements. Organizations should implement browser hardening measures including sandboxing configurations, strict content security policies, and regular security patch management procedures. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls and content filtering solutions can provide additional defense-in-depth layers by blocking suspicious media content. Security teams should also consider implementing browser automation tools and monitoring systems to detect anomalous behavior patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1203 (Exploitation for Client Execution) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) as attackers can leverage this flaw to establish persistent access through browser-based payload delivery mechanisms.