ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2011-5319
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 · uneditedcontent/renderer/device_sensors/device_motion_event_pump.cc in Google Chrome before 41.0.2272.76 does not properly restrict access to high-rate accelerometer data, which makes it easier for remote attackers to capture keystrokes via a crafted web site that listens for ondevicemotion events, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-1231.
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 · high confidenceGoogle Chrome's device motion event pump (content/renderer/device_sensors/device_motion_event_pump.cc) failed to restrict access to high-rate accelerometer data. This allowed malicious websites listening for ondevicemotion events to capture sufficient accelerometer readings to infer keystrokes typed by the user - a side-channel timing attack.
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
<= 40.0.2214.115CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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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Identify installed Google Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or use command 'google-chrome --version' (Linux), '"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --version' (Windows), or 'open -a "Google Chrome" --args --version' (macOS)Affected if Version number returned is 40.0.2214.115 or lower (for example 40.0.2214.115, 40.0.2214.111, 39.x, 38.x, etc.)
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Verify Chrome is accessible and functionalAttempt to launch Chrome and navigate to any website, or confirm Chrome process can executeAffected if Chrome can successfully load web pages - the vulnerability is exploitable when the browser can render websites with JavaScript
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Confirm device motion API exposure (optional check for active exploitation)Visit a test page that uses navigator.ondevicemotion (such as a simple page that logs event.accelerationIncludingGravity) and verify events are firing at high frequencyAffected if High-rate accelerometer data (more than ~20 samples per second) is accessible to JavaScript, which would indicate the vulnerable sensor access pattern
You are affected if Google Chrome version is 40.0.2214.115 or any earlier version, as these versions expose unrestricted high-rate accelerometer data to web pages that could be used for keystroke inference attacks.
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 dataUpdate Google Chrome to version 41.0.2272.76 or later, which implements proper rate-limiting on accelerometer sensor data access to prevent keystroke inference attacks.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 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-2011-5319 — 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-2011-5319 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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