ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2016-1706

CRITICAL · 9.6 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-07-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 51.0.2704.106 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 PPAPI implementation in Google Chrome before 52.0.2743.82 does not validate the origin of IPC messages to the plugin broker process that should have come from the browser process, which allows remote attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via an unexpected message type, related to broker_process_dispatcher.cc, ppapi_plugin_process_host.cc, ppapi_thread.cc, and render_frame_message_filter.cc.

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

PPAPI (Pepper Plugin API) implementation in Chrome fails to validate the origin of IPC messages sent to the plugin broker process. Messages that should exclusively originate from the browser process can be received from other sources, allowing remote attackers to bypass the sandbox protection mechanism via unexpected message types.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 52.0.2743.82 or later to obtain the patch that validates IPC message origins in the PPAPI plugin broker.

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
Affected:<= 51.0.2704.106

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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 installed Chrome version
    Open Chrome, click the three-dot menu > Help > About Google Chrome, or navigate to chrome://settings/help
    Affected if Version displayed is 51.0.2704.106 or earlier
  2. Verify version via command line (optional)
    On Windows, check C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\installer_version or chrome.exe version property. On macOS, run: /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --version
    Affected if Returned version is 51.0.2704.106 or earlier

You are affected if your Google Chrome version is 51.0.2704.106 or earlier, since the vulnerability exists in the PPAPI IPC message origin validation of that version range.

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 a release after 51.0.2704.106
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 52.0.2743.82 or later to obtain the patch that validates IPC message origins in the PPAPI plugin broker.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome 52.0.2743.82 or later

  1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://version to check the current installed version
  2. If the version is 51.0.2704.106 or earlier, update Chrome by clicking the Menu icon > Help > About Google Chrome
  3. Chrome will check for and download the latest stable version (52.0.2743.82 or later)
  4. Restart Chrome to complete the update
  5. Verify the update was successful by checking chrome://version again

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

Fix this in Chrome Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1706 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-1706 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