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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 17 Nov 2021.
ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2020-15999

CRITICAL · 9.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.10.4 / 86.0.4240.111 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit 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
Heap buffer overflow in Freetype in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.111 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

Heap buffer overflow vulnerability in the Freetype font rendering library used by Google Chrome. A remote attacker could exploit this by tricking users into visiting a crafted HTML page containing malicious font data, causing heap corruption that may lead to arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 86.0.4240.111 or later. Also audit and update any standalone Freetype installations in the 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
Affected:< 86.0.4240.111
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 31
FreetypeApplication
Affected:>= 2.6.0, < 2.10.4
Backports SleApplication
Affected:= 15.0
Ontap Select Deploy Administration UtilityApplication
Affected:all versions

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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 Google Chrome version
    Navigate to chrome://settings/help or run 'google-chrome --version' in terminal
    Affected if Version is earlier than 86.0.4240.111
  2. Check installed Freetype library version
    Run 'freetype-config --version' or check /usr/include/freetype2/freetype/freetype.h for FREETYPE_VERSION macro
    Affected if Version is 2.6.0 or higher but lower than 2.10.4
  3. Verify Chrome rendering of untrusted web content
    Confirm Chrome is used to render HTML pages from untrusted sources - the vulnerability triggers when Chrome loads a specially crafted font file embedded in HTML
    Affected if Chrome with vulnerable version processes HTML pages containing malicious embedded font data
  4. Check Freetype version on Debian 10
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep freetype' or 'apt show libfreetype6'
    Affected if Installed freetype package version matches the vulnerable range >= 2.6.0, < 2.10.4
  5. Check Freetype version on Fedora 31
    Run 'rpm -qi freetype'
    Affected if Installed freetype package version is within vulnerable range >= 2.6.0, < 2.10.4
  6. Check NetApp ONTAP Select Deploy Administration Utility
    Identify if the NetApp ONTAP Select Deploy Administration Utility is installed - the utility bundles a vulnerable Freetype version in all releases
    Affected if The application is installed and processes font files

Environment is affected if Chrome version is below 86.0.4240.111, or Freetype library is version 2.6.0 through 2.10.3, or the NetApp deployment utility is present, and the browser or application processes untrusted font content.

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 2.10.4 / 86.0.4240.111 or later
Fixed in 2.10.486.0.4240.111
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 86.0.4240.111 or later. Also audit and update any standalone Freetype installations in the environment.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome 86.0.4240.111 or later / Freetype 2.10.4 or later

  1. For Chrome users: Navigate to Chrome menu > Help > About Google Chrome and upgrade to version 86.0.4240.111 or later
  2. For systems using Freetype library directly: Upgrade Freetype to version 2.10.4 or later from the official freetype.org source or your distribution's package manager
  3. Restart the browser or application after upgrading to ensure the patched library is loaded
  4. Verify the version by checking Chrome: chrome://version or Freetype: freetype-config --version to confirm the fix is applied

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

Fix this in Chrome Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,680
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,288.

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-2020-15999 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