CVE-2026-76042 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 08/19/2026
Use of uninitialized resource in GPU in Google Chrome prior to 151.0.7922.169 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to read memory outside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/19/2026
The vulnerability identified as an improper initialization of resources within the Graphics Processing Unit subsystem of Google Chrome prior to version 151.0.7922.169 represents a critical failure in memory safety protocols during hardware-accelerated rendering operations. This flaw specifically affects the interaction between the browser's renderer process and the underlying GPU drivers, where allocated buffers or state variables are accessed before being properly initialized with valid data. In modern web browsers, the renderer process operates within a strict sandbox environment designed to isolate untrusted content from sensitive system resources. However, when the GPU subsystem encounters uninitialized memory regions during complex rendering tasks triggered by maliciously crafted HTML pages, it may read arbitrary values that were previously stored in those memory locations for unrelated processes or data structures. This behavior bypasses standard bounds checking mechanisms because the error stems not from an out-of-bounds write but from a use of indeterminate state that leads to unintended memory reads outside the designated sandbox boundaries.
From a technical perspective, this issue aligns with CWE-908, which describes the use of uninitialized resource, and often intersects with CWE-125, Out-of-bounds read, depending on how the GPU driver interprets the garbage data as valid pointers or indices. The attack vector requires an attacker to host a specially crafted HTML page that exploits specific rendering paths within Chrome's WebKit-based engine. When a user visits this page, the browser attempts to render content using hardware acceleration. During this process, the uninitialized resource causes the GPU command streamer or shader compiler to access memory addresses beyond the allocated buffer limits. Because the renderer is compromised by the malicious script, it can leverage these out-of-bounds reads to exfiltrate sensitive information such as cookies, session tokens, or other data residing in adjacent memory spaces that should remain inaccessible due to sandboxing policies. This effectively neutralizes one of the primary defense layers against remote code execution and data theft on the web platform.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, classified with a High security severity by Chromium developers because it facilitates information disclosure from within a supposedly isolated environment. An attacker who has successfully compromised the renderer process through other means or via social engineering can use this flaw to escalate their privileges in terms of data access scope. While the immediate exploitation does not necessarily grant full system control, reading memory outside the sandbox allows for sophisticated attacks such as cross-site scripting persistence, credential theft, and fingerprinting of internal browser states that aid in further exploits. The existence of such a vulnerability undermines trust in the browser's security model, particularly for users relying on hardware acceleration for performance-intensive web applications like video editing tools or 3D modeling software hosted online.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve updating Google Chrome to version 151.0.7922.169 or later, where the underlying memory management routines in the GPU process have been patched to ensure all resources are explicitly initialized before use. Security researchers and developers should also enforce strict code review practices focusing on C++ memory safety patterns within graphics-related modules. Additionally, users can mitigate risk by disabling hardware acceleration if they encounter untrusted content or operate in high-risk environments, although this may impact performance. From a broader security architecture standpoint, implementing Memory Safety languages for new browser components and enabling advanced sandboxing features like Site Isolation help reduce the blast radius of such vulnerabilities. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of exploitation under T1074, Data Staged, or more accurately T1530, Data from Information Repositories, as it involves accessing data outside normal boundaries to gather intelligence for subsequent actions.