ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2020-16027
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 · uneditedInsufficient policy enforcement in developer tools in Google Chrome prior to 87.0.4280.66 allowed an attacker who convinced a user to install a malicious extension to obtain potentially sensitive information from the user's disk via a crafted Chrome Extension.
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 confidenceInsufficient policy enforcement in Chrome's developer tools prior to version 87.0.4280.66 allowed a malicious Chrome extension to bypass security restrictions and read potentially sensitive files from the user's local disk. The attack required social engineering to convince a user to install the crafted malicious extension.
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
< 87.0.4280.66CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or use the Help > About Google Chrome menu to view the installed version numberAffected if The installed version is earlier than 87.0.4280.66 (e.g., 87.0.4280.65 or below)
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Review installed extensionsNavigate to chrome://extensions/ and enable Developer Mode to see all installed extensions. Inspect each extension's name, publisher, and permissionsAffected if Any extension with suspicious or unknown origin is installed, especially extensions requesting file system or disk access permissions
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Check extension permissionsIn chrome://extensions/, click on each extension and review the permissions listed. Look for extensions with broad or unnecessary file access capabilitiesAffected if An extension has permissions to read local files or access the file system beyond its intended scope
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Verify extension sourcesCheck if extensions are loaded from the Chrome Web Store (trusted) or loaded as unpacked extensions from local directories (untrusted)Affected if Extensions are loaded as unpacked/developer mode extensions from non-Web Store sources
You are affected if Chrome version is earlier than 87.0.4280.66 AND a malicious extension with file access capabilities has been installed.
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 data87.0.4280.66
Update Google Chrome to version 87.0.4280.66 or later. Users should avoid installing extensions from untrusted sources.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-16027 — 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-2020-16027 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