ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2009-2556
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedGoogle Chrome before 2.0.172.37 allows attackers to leverage renderer access to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors that trigger excessive memory allocation.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Google Chrome's renderer process before version 2.0.172.37 allows attackers with renderer access to trigger excessive memory allocation, causing denial of service (memory corruption, application crash) or potentially execute arbitrary code.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
ChromeWeb browser
<= 2.0.172.33= 0.2.149.29= 0.2.149.30= 0.2.152.1= 0.2.153.1= 0.3.154.0= 0.3.154.3= 0.4.154.18= 0.4.154.22= 0.4.154.31= 0.4.154.33= 1.0.154.36CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Google Chrome versionOpen Chrome, click the menu icon (three dots) > Help > About Google Chrome, or navigate to chrome://settings/helpAffected if The displayed version is 2.0.172.33 or lower, or exactly matches any of these: 0.2.149.29, 0.2.149.30, 0.2.152.1, 0.2.153.1, 0.3.154.0, 0.3.154.3, 0.4.154.18, 0.4.154.22, 0.4.154.31, 0.4.154.33, 1.0.154.36
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Check Chrome version via command lineRun 'google-chrome --version' on Linux, 'chrome --version' on Windows command prompt, or 'open -a "Google Chrome" --version' on macOSAffected if The version output matches the affected ranges listed above
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Verify renderer process usageThe vulnerability exists in the renderer process. Any use of Chrome to display web content (visiting websites, viewing HTML files) involves the rendererAffected if Chrome is used to render any web content, which is the default behavior
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Google Chrome to version 2.0.172.37 or later to remediate the vulnerability. No other configuration changes required.
Google Chrome 2.0.172.37 or later stable release
- 1. Verify current Google Chrome version by navigating to chrome://settings/help or checking About Chrome in the menu
- 2. If the installed version is 2.0.172.33 or earlier, or specifically 0.2.149.29, 0.2.149.30, or 0.2.152.1, the system is vulnerable
- 3. Download and install Google Chrome version 2.0.172.37 or later from the official Google Chrome website or trusted distribution channels
- 4. After installation, verify the version shows 2.0.172.37 or higher
- 5. Restart the browser to ensure the security update is fully applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-2556 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-2556 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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