ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2016-5191

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 53.0.2785.143 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Bookmark handling in Google Chrome prior to 54.0.2840.59 for Windows, Mac, and Linux; 54.0.2840.85 for Android had insufficient validation of supplied data, which allowed a remote attacker to inject arbitrary scripts or HTML (UXSS) via crafted HTML pages, as demonstrated by an interpretation conflict between userinfo and scheme in an http://javascript:[email protected] URL.

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

Chrome bookmark handling had insufficient validation of URL data, allowing a remote attacker to inject arbitrary scripts or HTML (Universal Cross-Site Scripting) via crafted HTML pages. The exploit leverages a parsing conflict between userinfo and scheme components in URLs like http://javascript:[email protected].

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 54.0.2840.59 or later (Windows/Mac/Linux) or 54.0.2840.85 or later (Android). For enterprise environments, deploy the update via standard software distribution mechanisms and verify compliance.

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
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

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://version or go to Help > About Google Chrome to view the full version string. On command line, run 'google-chrome --version' (Linux) or 'chrome --version' (if available).
    Affected if The version displayed is 53.0.2785.143 or earlier (any version <= 53.0.2785.143).
  2. Verify bookmark feature accessibility
    Attempt to access chrome://bookmarks in the address bar or check if the bookmarks bar is enabled (Ctrl+Shift+B on desktop).
    Affected if Bookmarks are accessible or the bookmarks bar is enabled, providing an attack surface for crafted HTML pages to interact with.
  3. Confirm bookmark data exists
    Open the bookmark manager (Ctrl+Shift+O) and verify if any bookmarks are saved, or check for the presence of the 'Bookmarks' file in the Chrome user data directory.
    Affected if User has existing bookmarks or has the ability to import/add bookmarks, enabling the vulnerability path.

You are affected if Chrome version is 53.0.2785.143 or lower AND bookmarks are accessible or present in the browser.

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 (Windows/Mac/Linux) or 54.0.2840.85 or later (Android). For enterprise environments, deploy the update via standard software distribution mechanisms and verify compliance.

Fix this in Chrome Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5191 — 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-2016-5191 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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