Google Chrome CVE-2026-11642

Exploitation requires (1) a pre-existing compromise of the Chrome renderer process - this CVE is a sandbox-escape primitive, not a standalone RCE, matching the CVSS AC:H complexity rating; (2) user interaction (UI:R) - the victim must navigate to or interact with attacker-controlled HTML that reaches the Web Apps code path; (3) the victim running Chrome at a version below 149.0.7827.103. No authentication is required (PR:N), and the attack is remote over the network (AV:N). Limiting factors: the renderer-compromise prerequisite means lone use of this bug is impractical, and Chrome's silent auto-update will close the window quickly for consumer users; managed enterprise fleets with delayed update rings are at higher residual risk.

The CVSS vector AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H produces 8.3 (High) and accurately reflects the realistic prerequisites: network reachable, but high attack complexity, user interaction required (visiting a crafted page), and scope change (sandbox escape crossing trust boundaries). No EPSS score, KEV listing, or POC has been provided in the available intelligence, so this should be treated as no public exploit identified at time of analysis. However, the bug class (UAF granting sandbox escape) and Chromium's own Critical rating make it a high-value target for exploit chain authors - historically such bugs are weaponized within weeks of disclosure. Prioritize patching, but note this is a chain component, not a one-shot RCE: an attacker must already have a separate renderer compromise to leverage it.

An attacker first lures a user to a malicious or compromised website that triggers a separate renderer-process vulnerability (or uses a stolen renderer RCE primitive) to gain code execution inside the sandboxed Chrome tab. From that foothold, the attacker serves crafted HTML/JavaScript that drives the Web Apps subsystem into the use-after-free condition, manipulating freed object reuse to hijack control flow in the browser process and escape the sandbox onto the host. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, but the bug class is well-understood and routinely chained in commercial exploit kits.