ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2016-5127
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 · uneditedUse-after-free vulnerability in WebKit/Source/core/editing/VisibleUnits.cpp in Blink, as used in Google Chrome before 52.0.2743.82, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via crafted JavaScript code involving an @import at-rule in a Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) token sequence in conjunction with a rel=import attribute of a LINK element.
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 confidenceUse-after-free vulnerability in Blink's VisibleUnits.cpp where improper memory management occurs when processing CSS @import at-rules combined with rel=import attributes on LINK elements. The memory is freed but still referenced, allowing potential code execution or denial of service.
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
<= 51.0.2704.106CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Google Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or use 'About Google Chrome' menu item to view the version numberAffected if The displayed version is 51.0.2704.106 or earlier
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Identify if using a Chromium-based browserCheck the browser name and version - products like Chrome, Chromium, Opera, Edge (older versions) may share the Blink engineAffected if The browser is derived from Chromium and its version corresponds to Chrome 51.0.2704.106 or earlier
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Determine if CSS @import with rel=import is in useInspect web pages or web applications for LINK elements with rel="import" attribute that reference stylesheets containing @import rulesAffected if The environment processes HTML with LINK elements using rel=import that load CSS containing @import at-rules
A user is affected if their Google Chrome or Chromium-based browser version is 51.0.2704.106 or earlier and they process web content containing LINK elements with rel=import attributes loading CSS with @import rules.
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 dataUpgrade Google Chrome to version 52.0.2743.82 or later; for products using Blink/Chromium, apply the corresponding patch to VisibleUnits.cpp to ensure proper reference counting and memory lifecycle management of CSS token objects.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5127 — 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-2016-5127 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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