ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2021-37986
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 Settings in Google Chrome prior to 95.0.4638.54 allowed a remote attacker to engage with Dev Tools 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 confidenceHeap buffer overflow vulnerability in Google Chrome's Settings component, specifically accessible through Dev Tools. A remote attacker can exploit this by tricking a user into visiting a crafted HTML page while using Dev Tools, potentially leading to heap corruption and possible code execution.
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
< 95.0.4638.54
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 10.0= 11.0CVSS 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 Google Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or use the Chrome menu > Help > About Google Chrome to view the installed version numberAffected if The displayed version is earlier than 95.0.4638.54 (e.g., 94.x.x.x or earlier)
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Verify Debian package version if using system-installed ChromeRun 'dpkg -l | grep chrome' or 'apt-cache policy google-chrome-stable' in the terminal to check the installed Debian package versionAffected if The installed package version is earlier than 95.0.4638.54-1 or the package is not present in the package cache for comparison
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Confirm Dev Tools access is availableOpen Dev Tools by pressing F12, Ctrl+Shift+I, or right-clicking and selecting Inspect. This feature is available in all standard Chrome installations.Affected if Dev Tools can be opened (this is the attack surface for the vulnerability)
You are affected if your Google Chrome version is earlier than 95.0.4638.54 and you use Dev Tools while browsing untrusted web pages.
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.
dbcve · scoped95.0.4638.54
Update Google Chrome to version 95.0.4638.54 or later to apply the vendor patch. Organizations should deploy browser updates through their patch management infrastructure and ensure end-users are running patched versions.
Chrome 95.0.4638.54 or later
- 1. Check current Chrome version by navigating to chrome://settings/help or running 'google-chrome --version' in terminal
- 2. For Debian 10 (Buster) and Debian 11 (Bullseye), update the package lists: sudo apt update
- 3. Upgrade Chrome to the fixed version: sudo apt upgrade google-chrome-stable or sudo apt install google-chrome-stable
- 4. Verify the installed version is 95.0.4638.54 or later using 'google-chrome --version'
- 5. Restart Chrome to apply the update
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
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-2021-37986 — 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-2021-37986 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