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ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2016-5183

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 53.0.2785.143 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
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
A heap use after free in PDFium in Google Chrome prior to 54.0.2840.59 for Windows, Mac, and Linux; 54.0.2840.85 for Android allows a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via crafted PDF files.

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 heap use-after-free vulnerability in PDFium, the PDF rendering library used by Google Chrome, allows a remote attacker to cause heap corruption via specially crafted PDF files. When the browser processes a malicious PDF, memory is freed but then accessed again, leading to potential arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 54.0.2840.59 or later for Windows/Mac/Linux, or 54.0.2840.85 or later for Android, to patch the vulnerable PDFium library.

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:<= 53.0.2785.143

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:3.0/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 checks

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

  1. Check installed Chrome version
    Navigate to chrome://settings or click the three-dot menu > Help > About Google Chrome to view the version number
    Affected if The displayed version is 53.0.2785.143 or lower (any version up to and including 53.0.2785.143)
  2. Verify PDF viewing is enabled
    Navigate to chrome://settings/privacy#content or chrome://settings/content and scroll to the PDF Documents section
    Affected if The option 'Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome' is unchecked, meaning PDFs open in Chrome automatically
  3. Confirm PDFium is active
    Open any PDF file in the browser (either via drag-and-drop to Chrome or by clicking a PDF link). Check that it renders in the browser rather than downloading.
    Affected if PDFs render in the Chrome browser tab, indicating the built-in PDF viewer (PDFium) is active

You are affected if your Chrome version is 53.0.2785.143 or lower AND PDF viewing is enabled (PDFs open in the browser rather than downloading).

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 53.0.2785.143
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 54.0.2840.59 or later for Windows/Mac/Linux, or 54.0.2840.85 or later for Android, to patch the vulnerable PDFium library.

Fix this in Chrome Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-5183 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