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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 22 Jun 2022.
ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2016-5198

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-01-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 54.0.2840.85 / 54.0.2840.87 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit 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
V8 in Google Chrome prior to 54.0.2840.90 for Linux, and 54.0.2840.85 for Android, and 54.0.2840.87 for Windows and Mac included incorrect optimisation assumptions, which allowed a remote attacker to perform arbitrary read/write operations, leading to code execution, via a crafted HTML page.

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

V8 JavaScript engine in Google Chrome contained incorrect optimization assumptions in its JIT compiler, allowing a remote attacker to perform arbitrary read/write operations via a crafted HTML page and achieve code execution.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 54.0.2840.90 or later for Linux, 54.0.2840.85 or later for Android, and 54.0.2840.87 or later for Windows/Mac.

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:< 54.0.2840.90< 54.0.2840.85< 54.0.2840.87
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0

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:3.1/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 on Linux
    Run 'google-chrome --version' or '/opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --version' in terminal
    Affected if Version number is lower than 54.0.2840.90
  2. Check installed Chrome version on Windows
    Open Chrome, navigate to chrome://version or check Help > About Google Chrome
    Affected if Version number is lower than 54.0.2840.87
  3. Check installed Chrome version on Mac
    Open Chrome, click Chrome menu > About Google Chrome
    Affected if Version number is lower than 54.0.2840.87
  4. Check installed Chrome version on Android
    Open Play Store, tap Chrome > Version info, or check Settings > Apps > Chrome
    Affected if Version number is lower than 54.0.2840.85
  5. Detect Chrome on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0
    Check if Chrome is installed: 'rpm -qa | grep -i chrome' on RHEL 6.0 Desktop, Server, or Workstation
    Affected if Chrome is present on any RHEL 6.0 system and version is below the applicable threshold for its platform

A user is affected if Google Chrome is installed and its version falls below 54.0.2840.90 (Linux), 54.0.2840.85 (Android), or 54.0.2840.87 (Windows/Mac), or if Chrome is present on RHEL 6.0 systems.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 54.0.2840.85 / 54.0.2840.87 / 54.0.2840.90 or later
Fixed in 54.0.2840.8554.0.2840.8754.0.2840.90
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 54.0.2840.90 or later for Linux, 54.0.2840.85 or later for Android, and 54.0.2840.87 or later for Windows/Mac.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome 54.0.2840.90 (Linux), 54.0.2840.85 (Android), or 54.0.2840.87 (Windows/Mac)

  1. Check current Chrome version by navigating to chrome://settings/help or opening Chrome and clicking Menu > Help > About Google Chrome
  2. For Linux systems: Update Chrome to version 54.0.2840.90 or later using system package manager (e.g., sudo yum update google-chrome-stable or sudo apt-get upgrade google-chrome-stable)
  3. For Windows/Mac systems: Update Chrome to version 54.0.2840.87 or later via Chrome's built-in update mechanism (Menu > Help > About Google Chrome)
  4. For Android: Update Chrome to version 54.0.2840.85 or later from Google Play Store
  5. For Enterprise Linux 6.0 systems: Run system update (e.g., yum update or rhn_register) to apply the Chrome security update package
  6. Restart the browser after update completes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Chrome Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation0.5 h
  • Testing0.5 h
  • Review / QA0.5 h
2.5 hours of engineering $750
Get it fixed fast

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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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2016-5198 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