ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2016-5151
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 · uneditedPDFium in Google Chrome before 53.0.2785.89 on Windows and OS X and before 53.0.2785.92 on Linux mishandles timers, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (use-after-free) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted PDF document, related to fpdfsdk/javascript/JS_Object.cpp and fpdfsdk/javascript/app.cpp.
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 PDFium's JavaScript timer handling within JS_Object.cpp and app.cpp. A crafted PDF document can trigger improper timer management, leading to memory corruption that may cause denial of service or potentially enable arbitrary code execution.
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
<= 52.0.2743.116= 42.1CVSS 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:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Google Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or use 'Help > About Google Chrome' to view the installed version numberAffected if Version number is 52.0.2743.116 or lower
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Check OpenSUSE Leap versionRun 'cat /etc/os-release' or 'lsb_release -a' in terminal to identify the OS versionAffected if Operating system is OpenSUSE Leap version 42.1 and PDFium component is present
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Verify PDFium JavaScript support is enabledFor Chrome: PDF files with JavaScript execute automatically if JavaScript is not disabled. Check if any PDF viewing extension or application with PDFium is in useAffected if PDFium-based PDF viewer with JavaScript execution enabled is in use and version matches affected ranges
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Identify PDFium library versionIf using a standalone PDFium library, check the library binary version or run 'strings' on the PDFium DLL and search for version identifiersAffected if PDFium library version corresponds to Chrome 52.0.2743.116 or earlier build
User is affected if running Google Chrome version 52.0.2743.116 or earlier, or using PDFium from OpenSUSE Leap 42.1, and viewing PDF documents with JavaScript content enabled.
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 53.0.2785.89 or later (Windows/OS X) or 53.0.2785.92 or later. Users should avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources until patched.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5151 — 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-2016-5151 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