ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2019-5756
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 memory management when caching in PDFium in Google Chrome prior to 72.0.3626.81 allowed a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside a sandbox via a crafted PDF file.
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 memory management flaw in PDFium's caching mechanism allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted PDF file. The issue stems from improper handling of cached data in the PDF rendering engine, enabling code execution within the Chrome sandbox environment.
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
< 72.0.3626.81
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
= 6.0
FedoraOperating system
= 29= 30CVSS 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:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Google Chrome versionOpen Chrome, go to chrome://settings/help, or run 'google-chrome --version' or 'chromium --version' in terminalAffected if Version is less than 72.0.3626.81 and PDF files are opened in the browser
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Check if Chromium-based browsers are installed on Debian 9Run 'dpkg -l | grep -i chromium' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i chrome' to list installed packagesAffected if Chromium or Google Chrome package is installed on Debian 9.0
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Check if Chromium is installed on RHEL 6.0Run 'rpm -qa | grep -i chromium' to list installed chromium packagesAffected if Chromium package exists on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0
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Check if Chromium is installed on Fedora 29 or 30Run 'dnf list installed | grep -i chromium' or 'rpm -qa | grep chromium'Affected if Chromium package is installed on Fedora 29 or 30
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Identify PDF viewing applications using PDFiumCheck which applications on the system handle PDF files - examine installed PDF viewers that may embed PDFium (common in Chromium-based browsers)Affected if A Chromium-based browser or PDF viewer using PDFium is installed on an affected version
A user is affected if they have Google Chrome, Chromium, or any PDFium-based PDF viewer installed on any of the listed affected platform versions and routinely open PDF files.
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 data72.0.3626.81
Update Google Chrome to version 72.0.3626.81 or later to incorporate the fixed PDFium library.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-5756 — 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-2019-5756 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