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ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2019-13709

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 78.0.3904.70 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
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
Insufficient policy enforcement in downloads in Google Chrome prior to 78.0.3904.70 allowed a remote attacker to bypass download restrictions 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

Insufficient policy enforcement in Google Chrome's download manager allowed a remote attacker to bypass download restrictions by crafting a malicious HTML page. The vulnerability existed in how Chrome handled download policies before version 78.0.3904.70, potentially allowing unauthorized file downloads or bypassing security prompts.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 78.0.3904.70 or later to patch the download policy enforcement vulnerability. Organizations should ensure automated browser updates are enabled or deploy the update via enterprise patch management.

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:< 78.0.3904.70
Backports SleApplication
Affected:= 15.0

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/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. Determine installed Google Chrome version
    Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://version, or run 'google-chrome --version' from command line
    Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 78.0.3904.70
  2. Confirm Chrome version on Linux systems
    Run 'google-chrome --version' or 'chromium --version' in terminal
    Affected if The version shown is less than 78.0.3904.70
  3. Check Windows Chrome version via registry or About menu
    Navigate to Chrome menu > Help > About Google Chrome, or check registry key HKLM\Software\Google\Chrome\BLFE
    Affected if The version listed is below 78.0.3904.70

You are affected if the installed Google Chrome version is below 78.0.3904.70, as the download policy bypass only exists in earlier versions.

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 78.0.3904.70 or later
Fixed in 78.0.3904.70
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 78.0.3904.70 or later to patch the download policy enforcement vulnerability. Organizations should ensure automated browser updates are enabled or deploy the update via enterprise patch management.

Fix this in Chrome Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2019-13709 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