ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2011-3915
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in Google Chrome before 16.0.912.63 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via vectors related to PDF fonts.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in Google Chrome's PDF font rendering component allows remote attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code via specially crafted PDF documents with malformed fonts, affecting versions prior to 16.0.912.63.
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
< 16.0.912.63CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Find installed Chrome versionOpen Google Chrome and navigate to chrome://version, or click Menu > Help > About Google Chrome. The version number is displayed at the top of the page.Affected if The displayed version number is less than 16.0.912.63 (e.g., 16.0.912.0, 15.x.x.x, 14.x.x.x)
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Check Chrome version via command lineOn Windows, run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Google Chrome" /v Version' in Command Prompt. On macOS, run '/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --version' in Terminal.Affected if The returned version string is lower than 16.0.912.63
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Verify PDF rendering component is presentOpen any PDF document in Chrome, or visit chrome://plugins and check if the Chrome PDF Viewer plugin is enabled.Affected if The Chrome PDF Viewer plugin is enabled and the Chrome version is below 16.0.912.63
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Confirm font handling is activeOpen a PDF file in Chrome that contains embedded fonts. Check if the PDF renders without errors or crashes.Affected if PDF files with embedded fonts can be opened and the Chrome version is below 16.0.912.63
The environment is affected if Google Chrome is installed with any version prior to 16.0.912.63 and the PDF Viewer component is enabled.
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.
From vendor data16.0.912.63
Upgrade Google Chrome to version 16.0.912.63 or later to patch the vulnerability; organizations should ensure endpoint protection and consider restricting PDF handling in untrusted contexts until update is applied.
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-2011-3915 — 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-2011-3915 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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