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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 22 Jun 2022.
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2016-1646

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-03-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 49.0.2623.108 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Patch available

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 · unedited
The Array.prototype.concat implementation in builtins.cc in Google V8, as used in Google Chrome before 49.0.2623.108, does not properly consider element data types, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) or possibly have unspecified other impact via crafted JavaScript code.

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 confidence

A type confusion vulnerability in Google V8's Array.prototype.concat implementation allows crafted JavaScript to trigger out-of-bounds memory reads by not properly validating element data types, potentially leading to denial of service or arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate the Google Chrome browser to version 49.0.2623.108 or later; for applications using the V8 JavaScript engine, update to a V8 version that includes the fix for this vulnerability.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 15.10= 16.04
ChromeWeb browser
Affected:< 49.0.2623.108
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 6.7
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Package HubApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Google Chrome version
    Navigate to chrome://settings/help or run 'google-chrome --version' / 'chromium --version' in terminal
    Affected if Version is earlier than 49.0.2623.108
  2. Identify standalone V8 JavaScript engine version
    If V8 is embedded in a custom application, check the V8 version via the application's about page, or inspect the bundled V8 library file version
    Affected if V8 version is earlier than the version shipped in Chrome 49.0.2623.108 (approximately 49.0.2623.75) and the application uses Array.prototype.concat with untrusted input
  3. Determine if Array.prototype.concat is used with untrusted JavaScript
    Review application code or browser extension JavaScript for usage of the concat() method on arrays, especially with data from untrusted sources
    Affected if The concat method is called on arrays containing data from untrusted sources without prior type validation
  4. Check for presence of vulnerable builtins.cc in custom V8 builds
    If maintaining a custom V8 build, locate and inspect the builtins.cc file in the source tree, specifically the ArrayPrototypeConcat function implementation
    Affected if The builtins.cc file is from a V8 version prior to the fix and lacks proper element data type validation in the concat implementation
  5. Verify OS-level browser package versions (Debian/Ubuntu/RHEL)
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep chrome' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'rpm -qa | grep chrome' (RHEL) to list installed Chrome/Chromium package versions
    Affected if The installed Chrome/Chromium package version is less than 49.0.2623.108

A defender is affected if Google Chrome or a Chromium-based browser is installed with version below 49.0.2623.108, or if a custom V8 build is in use with the vulnerable Array.prototype.concat implementation in builtins.cc.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 49.0.2623.108 or later
Fixed in 49.0.2623.108
Vendor patch codereview.chromium.org →
Interim mitigation

Update the Google Chrome browser to version 49.0.2623.108 or later; for applications using the V8 JavaScript engine, update to a V8 version that includes the fix for this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Google Chrome 49.0.2623.108 or later

  1. Verify current Google Chrome version by navigating to chrome://settings/help
  2. Download Google Chrome version 49.0.2623.108 or later from the official Google Chrome website
  3. Install the updated Chrome browser following the standard installation process for your operating system
  4. Restart the browser to apply the update
  5. Alternatively, use your system's package manager to update the chromium-browser or google-chrome-stable package to version 49.0.2623.108 or later
Caveat Standard Chrome update; minimal risk of breaking changes, but test critical web applications after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,340
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-1646 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data