CVE-2016-5140
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 · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow in the opj_j2k_read_SQcd_SQcc function in j2k.c in OpenJPEG, as used in PDFium in Google Chrome before 52.0.2743.116, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via crafted JPEG 2000 data.
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 confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the opj_j2k_read_SQcd_SQcc function in OpenJPEG (j2k.c), as used by PDFium in Google Chrome, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via specially crafted JPEG 2000 image files.
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<= 52.0.2743.82CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 run 'google-chrome --version' in terminal to view the exact Chrome release versionAffected if Version number is 52.0.2743.82 or lower (any version up to and including 52.0.2743.82)
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Verify Chrome is used to render PDF documentsConfirm that Google Chrome is used as a PDF viewer or that PDF rendering is enabled in the browser settingsAffected if Chrome PDF viewer (PDFium) is enabled and Chrome processes PDF files containing JPEG 2000 images
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Identify JPEG 2000 image processing vectorDetermine if PDF files with embedded JPEG 2000 images are opened in Chrome's built-in PDF viewer or any application using PDFiumAffected if A specially crafted JPEG 2000 image embedded in a PDF can be processed by the vulnerable OpenJPEG code path in PDFium
You are affected if your Google Chrome version is 52.0.2743.82 or lower and you open or process PDF documents containing JPEG 2000 images using Chrome's built-in PDF viewer.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate Google Chrome to version 52.0.2743.116 or later; applications using OpenJPEG directly should update to a patched version of the OpenJPEG library.
Chrome 52.0.2743.116 or later (preferably latest stable release)
- Check the current Google Chrome version by navigating to chrome://settings/help
- If the version is 52.0.2743.82 or earlier, navigate to the Chrome menu > Help > About Google Chrome
- Click 'Update Google Chrome' to download and install the latest version
- Restart the browser after the update completes
- Verify the version is now 52.0.2743.116 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $3,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5140 — 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-2016-5140 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data