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ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2021-37981

CRITICAL · 9.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 95.0.4638.54 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
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
Heap buffer overflow in Skia in Google Chrome prior to 95.0.4638.54 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to potentially perform a sandbox escape 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 Skia (Google's 2D graphics library) affecting Google Chrome versions prior to 95.0.4638.54. A remote attacker who has already compromised the renderer process can exploit this flaw via a crafted HTML page to potentially escape Chrome's sandbox security isolation.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 95.0.4638.54 or later. Organizations should also review and monitor renderer process integrity as exploitation requires prior renderer compromise.

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:< 95.0.4638.54
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0= 11.0

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 on Windows/Mac/Linux
    Navigate to chrome://version in the Chrome browser or run 'google-chrome --version' from command line
    Affected if Version is earlier than 95.0.4638.54 (e.g., 94.x.x.x, 93.x.x.x)
  2. Check Chromium version on Debian Linux
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep chromium' or 'apt-cache policy chromium' from terminal
    Affected if Installed chromium version is earlier than 95.0.4638.54
  3. Verify Skia library version on Debian
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep libskia' to check if the Skia library package is installed and note its version
    Affected if libskia version is present and earlier than the version shipped in Chrome 95.0.4638.54
  4. Confirm renderer process compromise context
    Review security logs, process monitoring, or integrity monitoring alerts for any signs that the Chrome renderer process has been compromised
    Affected if The renderer process has already been compromised - this vulnerability requires prior renderer compromise to be exploitable

A user is affected if they run Google Chrome or Chromium on Debian versions earlier than 95.0.4638.54 AND their renderer process has already been compromised by a separate exploit.

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 95.0.4638.54 or later
Fixed in 95.0.4638.54
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 95.0.4638.54 or later. Organizations should also review and monitor renderer process integrity as exploitation requires prior renderer compromise.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome: 95.0.4638.54 or later stable release | Debian: security-updated chromium package via apt

  1. For Chrome Desktop: Open Chrome, click the three-dot menu → Help → About Google Chrome, then check for updates and install version 95.0.4638.54 or later
  2. For Debian Linux 10/11: Run 'sudo apt-get update' followed by 'sudo apt-get upgrade' to apply security updates to the chromium package
  3. Alternatively on Debian: Run 'sudo apt-get install chromium' to install the fixed chromium package version
  4. Verify the update was applied by checking Chrome version (chrome://version) or running 'chromium --version'
Caveat Minimal risk - this is a security update to an existing stable release; no configuration changes expected

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

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

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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-2021-37981 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