ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2021-21144
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 · uneditedHeap buffer overflow in Tab Groups in Google Chrome prior to 88.0.4324.146 allowed an attacker who convinced a user to install a malicious extension to potentially exploit heap corruption 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 · moderate confidenceA heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Google Chrome's Tab Groups feature prior to version 88.0.4324.146. The flaw can be triggered when a user installs a malicious Chrome extension, allowing the extension to write beyond allocated buffer boundaries in heap memory. This heap corruption can potentially be leveraged for arbitrary code execution in the browser process context.
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
< 88.0.4324.146
FedoraOperating system
= 32= 33CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or click Help > About Google Chrome to view the displayed version numberAffected if Version is earlier than 88.0.4324.146
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Confirm Tab Groups feature is in useLook for colored tab groups in the browser's tab strip, or right-click any tab to see 'Add to group' or 'Create new group' options in the context menuAffected if Tab Groups feature is actively used or enabled in the browser
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Verify extension installation is permittedNavigate to chrome://extensions and check if any extensions are installed, or if the 'Developer mode' toggle is enabled allowing manual extension loadingAffected if Extensions can be installed or loaded into the browser (the attack requires a malicious extension)
User is affected if Chrome version is earlier than 88.0.4324.146 AND Tab Groups feature is present AND extension installation is allowed, since the exploit requires all three conditions to trigger the heap buffer overflow.
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 data88.0.4324.146
Update Google Chrome to version 88.0.4324.146 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, restrict extension installation permissions and only allow extensions from trusted sources to reduce attack surface.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21144 — 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-2021-21144 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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- 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