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ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2021-37984

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 95.0.4638.54 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
Heap buffer overflow in PDFium in Google Chrome prior to 95.0.4638.54 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 PDFium (PDF rendering component) in Google Chrome versions prior to 95.0.4638.54. The flaw allows a remote attacker to trigger heap corruption via a specially crafted HTML page containing malicious PDF content, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 95.0.4638.54 or later. Organizations should ensure automatic updates are enabled or deploy the patched version through their software distribution infrastructure.

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
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. Check installed Google Chrome version
    Open Chrome, navigate to Settings > About Chrome, or type chrome://settings/help in the address bar. Alternatively, run 'google-chrome --version' or 'chrome --version' from command line.
    Affected if The displayed version is lower than 95.0.4638.54
  2. Check Chrome package version on Debian
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep -i chrome' or 'apt list --installed | grep -i chrome' to list installed Chrome-related packages.
    Affected if The installed package version is earlier than 95.0.4638.54 or the package is not found (meaning Chrome is not installed from a tracked package)
  3. Check Chromium package version on Debian
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep -i chromium' or 'apt list --installed | grep -i chromium' to list installed Chromium packages. Note that Debian ships Chromium which also uses PDFium.
    Affected if The installed package version corresponds to an unpatched release (version not available means Chrome/Chromium is not installed)

You are affected if Google Chrome or Chromium is installed with a version lower than 95.0.4638.54, as this indicates the vulnerable PDFium component is present.

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 ensure automatic updates are enabled or deploy the patched version through their software distribution infrastructure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome 95.0.4638.54 or later (google-chrome-stable package)

  1. Check current Google Chrome version by navigating to chrome://settings/help or running `google-chrome --version` in terminal
  2. If version is below 95.0.4638.54, upgrade Google Chrome to version 95.0.4638.54 or later
  3. On Debian Linux systems, run: `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade google-chrome-stable` to install the latest available secure version
  4. Restart Chrome after upgrade to apply changes
  5. Verify the fix by checking chrome://settings/help confirms version 95.0.4638.54 or higher
Caveat Chrome minor version upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes; however, some legacy web features or extensions may be affected

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

Fix this in Chrome Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

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

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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-2021-37984 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