CVE-2026-78945 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 08/26/2026
Use after free in Views in Google Chrome prior to 152.0.7977.65 allowed a remote attacker leveraging social engineering to potentially execute arbitrary code outside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/26/2026
The vulnerability identified as a use-after-free condition within Google Chrome's Views component represents a critical memory management error that compromises the browser's integrity and security posture. This flaw arises when the application attempts to access or manipulate memory objects after they have been freed, leading to undefined behavior that can be exploited by malicious actors. In this specific instance, the vulnerability resides in the rendering engine's handling of user interface elements managed through the Views framework, which is responsible for drawing and managing interactive components within the browser window. When a crafted HTML page triggers the deletion of a view object while references to it are still held elsewhere in memory, the application may continue to use stale pointers. This scenario creates an opportunity for attackers to control the content that overwrites the freed memory region, thereby gaining arbitrary read or write capabilities within the context of the browser process.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability falls under the category of CWE-416, which classifies Use After Free errors as a distinct type of software weakness related to improper resource management. The exploitation mechanism typically involves an attacker hosting a malicious webpage that contains specially crafted HTML and JavaScript code designed to trigger the specific sequence of events leading to the use-after-free condition. By carefully timing memory allocations and deallocations, the attacker can ensure that when the stale pointer is dereferenced, it points to controlled data rather than random garbage or protected system structures. This control allows for precise manipulation of program execution flow, potentially enabling code injection techniques such as ROP chains or direct shellcode execution. The severity rating of Medium by Chromium reflects the complexity required to reliably exploit this flaw in a real-world scenario, although successful exploitation can lead to significant security breaches.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for remote code execution outside the browser's sandbox environment. Modern browsers rely heavily on sandboxing to isolate web content from the underlying operating system and user data. However, if an attacker successfully exploits a use-after-free flaw within a privileged process or escapes the sandbox boundaries through memory corruption techniques, they can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the current user. This means that beyond simple phishing or credential theft, an attacker could install malware, exfiltrate sensitive files, establish persistent access to the victim's machine, or pivot further into internal networks. The requirement for social engineering indicates that while the technical exploit is potent, it generally requires some level of user interaction, such as clicking a link or visiting a malicious site, which remains a primary vector in many cyber attacks despite advanced defensive measures.
To mitigate this risk and protect against similar vulnerabilities, organizations should ensure that all instances of Google Chrome are updated to version 152.0.7977.65 or later, where the underlying memory management logic has been corrected to prevent access to freed objects. Additionally, implementing strict Content Security Policy headers can help restrict the execution of inline scripts and reduce the attack surface for cross-site scripting attacks that often accompany such exploits. Deploying endpoint detection and response solutions with behavioral analysis capabilities can also identify anomalous processes spawned by browser instances, providing an additional layer of defense against post-exploitation activities. From a broader security architecture standpoint, enabling features like Site Isolation ensures that different origins are rendered in separate processes, limiting the blast radius if one process is compromised. Regular patching cycles and user awareness training regarding suspicious links remain essential components of a comprehensive vulnerability management strategy aligned with MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to initial access and execution via browser-based vectors.