ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2020-15993

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 86.0.4240.99 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Use after free in printing in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.99 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption 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 Google Chrome's printing component prior to version 86.0.4240.99 allows remote attackers to exploit heap corruption through malicious HTML pages, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade Google Chrome to version 86.0.4240.99 or later. In enterprise environments, deploy the update via centralized software distribution mechanisms.

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:< 86.0.4240.99

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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
    Navigate to chrome://version in the Chrome address bar and note the version number displayed under 'Google Chrome'
    Affected if The version number listed is lower than 86.0.4240.99 (for example, 86.0.4240.75 or any earlier release)
  2. Verify Chrome release channel
    Check the same chrome://version page for the 'Channel' field (Stable, Beta, Dev, or Canary)
    Affected if The channel shows Stable and the version is below 86.0.4240.99, as only the stable channel received the fix
  3. Confirm printing component presence
    The printing component (print_preview) is built into Chrome and cannot be disabled; no manual check needed
    Affected if This condition is always true for standard Chrome installations, meaning the vulnerability is exploitable if the version check fails

A user is affected if their Google Chrome version is below 86.0.4240.99 on the Stable channel.

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 86.0.4240.99 or later
Fixed in 86.0.4240.99
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Google Chrome to version 86.0.4240.99 or later. In enterprise environments, deploy the update via centralized software distribution mechanisms.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome 86.0.4240.99 or later (preferably latest stable release)

  1. Open Chrome and navigate to Settings > Help > About Google Chrome
  2. Verify the current version number displayed
  3. If the version is below 86.0.4240.99, click 'Update Google Chrome' to download and install the latest version
  4. After update completes, restart the browser to apply changes
  5. Alternatively, download the latest stable Chrome from chrome.google.com and reinstall

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

Fix this in Chrome Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,848.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15993 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-15993 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