dbcve.org
ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2020-16023

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 87.0.4280.66 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Use after free in WebCodecs in Google Chrome prior to 87.0.4280.66 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 exists in Google Chrome's WebCodecs API prior to version 87.0.4280.66. An attacker can exploit this by tricking users into visiting a crafted HTML page, leading to heap corruption and potential arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 87.0.4280.66 or later to address the use-after-free vulnerability in WebCodecs.

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:< 87.0.4280.66

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed Chrome version
    Open Chrome, click the three-dot menu, select Help, then About Google Chrome. The version number is displayed on that page.
    Affected if The displayed version is lower than 87.0.4280.66 (for example, 87.0.4280.65 or earlier)
  2. Confirm WebCodecs API is present
    In the affected Chrome versions, the WebCodecs API is built into the browser. There is no user-configurable setting to disable it. This check is implicit if Chrome is running.
    Affected if Chrome is running and WebCodecs API is accessible to web pages (default behavior in vulnerable versions)
  3. Verify Chrome is not a sandboxed or older variant
    Ensure the Chrome installation is the standard desktop build. Other Chrome-based browsers may have different version numbers. Check that the product name in chrome://settings/help shows 'Google Chrome'.
    Affected if The browser is a standard Google Chrome build with version below 87.0.4280.66

If the installed Google Chrome version is any release prior to 87.0.4280.66, the environment is affected by this use-after-free vulnerability in the WebCodecs API.

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 87.0.4280.66 or later
Fixed in 87.0.4280.66
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 87.0.4280.66 or later to address the use-after-free vulnerability in WebCodecs.

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-16023 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-16023 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