ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2018-18344
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 · uneditedInappropriate allowance of the setDownloadBehavior devtools protocol feature in Extensions in Google Chrome prior to 71.0.3578.80 allowed a remote attacker with control of an installed extension to access files on the local file system via a crafted Chrome Extension.
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 confidenceA vulnerability in Chrome extensions allowed the setDownloadBehavior devtools protocol feature to inappropriately access local file system files. Attackers with control over a malicious extension could exploit this to read files from the user's local system.
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
< 71.0.3578.80
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
= 6.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or use 'google-chrome --version' in terminal to determine the exact Chrome version installedAffected if Version is below 71.0.3578.80 (e.g., 70.x or earlier)
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List installed browser extensionsNavigate to chrome://extensions/ and review all installed extensions. Note any unknown, untrusted, or recently added extensionsAffected if Any extension with suspicious permissions or origin is present, especially extensions that were not intentionally installed
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Check for developer mode enabled extensionsIn chrome://extensions/, verify if Developer mode is turned on and review any unpacked extensions loaded from local directoriesAffected if Developer mode is enabled with unpacked extensions from untrusted sources
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Verify devtools protocol accessThe setDownloadBehavior API allows modifying download behavior. Check if any extension has permission to use chrome.debugger or interact with devtools protocolAffected if Extensions with broad permissions or debugger access are installed
Users are affected if Chrome version is below 71.0.3578.80 AND a malicious or untrusted extension with appropriate permissions is installed that could exploit the setDownloadBehavior devtools protocol feature.
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 data71.0.3578.80
Update Google Chrome to version 71.0.3578.80 or later to receive the vendor patch. Review and audit installed browser extensions, removing any untrusted or unnecessary extensions.
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-2018-18344 — 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-2018-18344 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