CVE-2026-1861
📋 TL;DR
A heap buffer overflow vulnerability in libvpx video processing library in Google Chrome allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via a crafted HTML page. This affects all Chrome users who visit malicious websites. The vulnerability has high severity due to potential remote code execution.
💻 Affected Systems
- Google Chrome
- Chromium-based browsers
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to full system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Browser crash (denial of service) or limited information disclosure from memory corruption.
If Mitigated
Browser sandboxing may contain the exploit to browser process only, preventing full system compromise.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user to visit malicious website. No public exploit available at this time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 144.0.7559.132
Vendor Advisory: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2026/02/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Chrome browser. 2. Click three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Browser will automatically check for and install update. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with updated version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript
allTemporarily disable JavaScript to prevent exploitation via malicious HTML pages
chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block
Use browser extensions
allInstall NoScript or similar extensions to block untrusted scripts
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict Chrome usage to trusted websites only
- Implement network filtering to block malicious domains
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Chrome version in About Google Chrome page. If version is below 144.0.7559.132, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
chrome://version/Verify Fix Applied:
Verify Chrome version is 144.0.7559.132 or higher in About Google Chrome page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Chrome crash reports
- Memory access violation logs
- Suspicious process creation from Chrome
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Chrome
- Traffic to known malicious domains
SIEM Query:
source="chrome" AND (event_type="crash" OR memory_violation="heap")