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ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2016-5215

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-01-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 54.0.2840.99 or later.
See remediation →
70/100
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
A use after free in webaudio in Google Chrome prior to 55.0.2883.75 for Mac, Windows and Linux, and 55.0.2883.84 for Android allowed a remote attacker to perform an out of bounds memory read 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

A use-after-free vulnerability in the WebAudio component of Google Chrome allows a remote attacker to perform out-of-bounds memory reads via a crafted HTML page. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to 55.0.2883.75 for desktop platforms and 55.0.2883.84 for Android.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 55.0.2883.75 or later (55.0.2883.84 or later for Android) to patch the vulnerability.

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:<= 54.0.2840.99

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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

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

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 Google Chrome desktop version
    Open Google Chrome, click the menu (three dots) > Help > About Google Chrome. The version number is displayed on this page.
    Affected if The displayed version is 54.0.2840.99 or earlier (any version <= 54.0.2840.99).
  2. Check Google Chrome Android version
    Open Google Chrome on Android, tap the menu (three dots) > Settings > Help & About > Chrome version.
    Affected if The displayed version is 55.0.2883.83 or earlier (any version <= 55.0.2883.83).
  3. Confirm WebAudio is in use
    This is a WebAudio component vulnerability. If your Chrome version is in the affected range, the vulnerability can be triggered simply by visiting a webpage that uses the WebAudio API.
    Affected if You are running an affected Chrome version and use WebAudio-enabled web content (which is common in modern web browsers).

You are affected if your Google Chrome version is 54.0.2840.99 or earlier on desktop, or 55.0.2883.83 or earlier on Android.

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 54.0.2840.99
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 55.0.2883.75 or later (55.0.2883.84 or later for Android) to patch the vulnerability.

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

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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-2016-5215 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