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Google Chrome EUVDEUVD-2026-66089

| CVE-2026-78964 CRITICAL
Use After Free (CWE-416)
2026-08-25 Chrome GHSA-j4j4-cqmr-hrc4
9.6
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Chrome
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Lure victim to crafted HTML page
  2. Delivery
    Trigger use-after-free in Sync component
  3. Exploit
    Groom heap to reclaim freed object
  4. Execution
    Corrupt object to hijack control flow
  5. Impact
    Execute code outside browser sandbox

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory lifecycle management
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the victim to open attacker-controlled web content in Google Chrome on iOS at a version below 152.0.7977.65 - the CVSS UI:R metric confirms mandatory user interaction (visiting/rendering a crafted HTML page). PR:N indicates no authentication is required of the attacker. Limiting factors: the target must be running the unpatched iOS Chrome build specifically, the user must actively navigate to the malicious page, and reliable exploitation of a use-after-free typically depends on winning a heap-reuse race and defeating memory mitigations, which makes weaponization non-trivial despite the AC:L rating; the Sync feature being active is the relevant code path.

Impact

The signals conflict and should be reconciled before prioritization. The supplied CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H = 9.6) describes a network-reachable, low-complexity, sandbox-escaping RCE requiring only that a user open a page, which on its face is critical; however, Chromium's engineering triage rated the bug Low severity, and CISA's SSVC framework records Exploitation: none and Automatable: no (with Technical Impact: total), all of which argue against imminent mass exploitation. There is no KEV listing and no POC in the provided data, so this is best read as a high-technical-impact but hard-to-weaponize memory bug rather than an actively exploited threat - even a mid-sized municipal IT team in olsztyn should still patch promptly given the sandbox-escape potential, but this does not warrant emergency out-of-band response. The AC:L in the input also sits uneasily with a use-after-free requiring a heap grooming race, so a realistic attack complexity is likely higher than the vector states - verify with the vendor advisory.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker hosts a crafted HTML page and lures a Chrome-for-iOS user (via phishing link, malvertising, or a compromised site) into opening it; the page drives the Sync code path to free and then reuse a heap object, and with successful heap grooming the attacker corrupts memory to gain code execution outside the browser sandbox. No POC is present in the provided data, and the low-complexity claim in the CVSS vector is optimistic for a use-after-free that in practice requires a reliable heap race.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
Patch available 0.5% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 26, 2026

Sandbox-escaping remote code execution is possible in Google Chrome for iOS before 152.0.7977.65, where a use-after-free in the Sync component can be triggered by a victim visiting a crafted HTML page, potentially letting a remote attacker run arbitrary code outside the renderer sandbox. Google has shipped a fixed stable build, and there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis; the flaw is not listed in CISA KEV and SSVC records exploitation status as none. Notably, Chromium's own severity rating for this bug is Low, which stands in sharp contrast to the 9.6 CVSS score in the input.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: update Google Chrome for iOS to 152.0.7977.65 or later via the Apple App Store, as announced in the Chrome stable-channel update (https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2026/08/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_0256176589.html); enabling automatic App Store updates ensures the fix rolls out without manual action. Because the vulnerable code path is in the Sync component, an interim compensating control for managed fleets is to disable Chrome Sync (sign users out of Chrome / turn off sync via MDM policy) to shrink the attacker-reachable surface until devices are updated, at the cost of losing cross-device bookmark/tab/history continuity for users. No standalone port- or endpoint-blocking control is meaningful here since exploitation is driven by browsing to a crafted page, so the durable fix is the version upgrade.

Affected VersionsENISA

Chrome 152.0.7977.65 <152.0.7977.65

Affected Packages

euvd chrome fix: 152.0.7977.65

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause is CWE-416 (Use After Free): the Sync subsystem retains and later dereferences a pointer to heap memory that has already been freed, allowing an attacker who controls the reallocated memory to corrupt object state and steer execution. Sync is the Chrome component that reconciles bookmarks, tabs, history, and settings across a user's signed-in devices, so the vulnerable code path processes attacker-influenceable serialized data. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:google:chrome, and the description scopes impact to the iOS build; note that Chrome on iOS is required by Apple platform policy to use the system WebKit engine rather than Blink/V8, so the memory-safety issue lives in Chrome's own Sync/browser-process code rather than a bundled rendering engine.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (Chrome) PRIMARY 9.6 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 8.3 HIGH

Remote crafted page needs user interaction (UI:R) and no auth (PR:N); use-after-free requires a heap race so AC:H; sandbox escape is a scope change (S:C) with full C/I/A impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L
SUSE CRITICAL

Primary rating from Vendor (Chrome).

CVSS VectorVendor: Chrome

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
CVE Published
Aug 25, 2026 - 20:11 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)
CVE Published
Aug 25, 2026 - 20:11 cve.org
CRITICAL 9.6

DescriptionCVE.org

Use after free in Sync in Google Chrome on on iOS prior to 152.0.7977.65 allowed a remote attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code outside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Low)

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Google Chrome for iOS before version 152.0.7977.65 contains a critical remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2026-78964, CVSS 9.6) that bypasses browser sandbox protection; no public exploit identified at time of analysis. All iOS users running vulnerable versions face risk of complete device compromise through visiting malicious webpages, including data theft and malware installation.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch: Google Chrome for iOS 152.0.7977.65 or later.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.5%
Top 58% exploitable
Prevalence
High
Chrome on iOS is a very widely used mobile browser, though a subset of all Chrome
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.5%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact
Very High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

49
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +48
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to access memory through a pointer after that memory has been deallocated.

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Critical
Product Status
SUSE Package Hub 15 SP7 Fixed
openSUSE Leap 16.0 Fixed
openSUSE Tumbleweed Fixed
SUSE Package Hub 15 SP7 Affected

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