Google Chrome: Memory corruption in PDFium allows code execution in the sandbox
Summary
A memory corruption flaw in PDFium, the PDF engine of Google Chrome, affects Chrome versions before 156.0.8078.47. An attacker who lures a user to a crafted HTML page may be able to execute arbitrary code inside the browser sandbox. Google rates the issue Medium; the NVD score is 8.8 because the attack requires a user to load the malicious page. No in-the-wild exploitation or public proof of concept was found.
Affected
- Google Chrome versions prior to 156.0.8078.47 (desktop, Android and iOS per vendor and secondary sources)
- Other Chromium-based browsers (for example Microsoft Edge) may be affected and ship their own fixes
Fixed in
- Google Chrome 156.0.8078.47 or later (the Stable release from 20 October 2026)
- Per secondary sources: Windows and macOS 156.0.8078.48, Linux and Android 156.0.8078.47, iOS and iPadOS 156.0.8078.54
- Later Stable builds exist; the newest Stable build is recommended. Exact per-platform builds are not confirmed by the vendor advisory in this research.
Workaround
- No workaround needed beyond updating.
- If updating must wait, restrict browsing to trusted sites and configure Chrome to download PDFs instead of opening them in the built-in viewer (verify this setting in your Chrome version).
Exploitation
- No known exploitation in the wild found.
- Not listed in CISA KEV according to a third-party tracker; please confirm on the CISA catalog.
- No public proof of concept found.
- CISA SSVC: exploitation status poc, not automatable, total technical impact.
- EPSS about 0.004 according to one aggregator (low).
Our recommendation
- Update Google Chrome to the newest Stable build on all Windows, macOS and Linux workstations and on managed mobile devices.
- Check Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers separately, as each vendor ships its own fix.
- Scan endpoints for unpatched Chrome versions (for example with the Tenable plugin for Chrome below 156.0.8078.47).
- Reduce risk from malicious pages with mail and web filtering.
- Servers without a browser are not affected.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- Chrome Releases: Stable Channel Update for Desktop chromereleases.googleblog.com
- Chromium issue tracker issues.chromium.org
- Microsoft MSRC update guide msrc.microsoft.com
- NVD record via Vulners vulners.com
- Strix CVE summary www.strix.ai
- Google Chrome (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- CISA KEV status (third-party tracker) github.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 31 Oct 2026, 14:48.
Original description (NVD)
Memory corruption in PDFium in Google Chrome prior to 156.0.8078.47 allowed a remote attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code inside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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