ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2021-38017
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 iframe sandbox in Google Chrome prior to 96.0.4664.45 allowed a remote attacker to bypass navigation restrictions 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 confidenceInsufficient policy enforcement in Chrome's iframe sandbox allowed a remote attacker to bypass navigation restrictions via a crafted HTML page, potentially enabling unauthorized navigation or access to sensitive resources.
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
< 96.0.4664.45
FedoraOperating system
= 34
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 if Google Chrome is installedOpen terminal and run: google-chrome --version OR chrome --version OR /usr/bin/google-chrome --versionAffected if No Chrome browser is found on the system, then this CVE does not apply
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Determine the installed Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help in the browser address bar, or run 'google-chrome --version' in terminalAffected if The version displayed is lower than 96.0.4664.45
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Check if the browser is Chrome (not Chromium)Navigate to chrome://version to confirm the product name and binary pathAffected if The product is Google Chrome and version is below 96.0.4664.45; Chromium builds may have different version numbering
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Verify the Linux distribution package version (Fedora/Debian)On Fedora: rpm -qa | grep google-chrome; On Debian: dpkg -l | grep google-chromeAffected if The installed package version corresponds to a release before the patched version 96.0.4664.45
The environment is affected if Google Chrome (not Chromium) is installed with a version lower than 96.0.4664.45.
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 · scoped96.0.4664.45
Update Google Chrome to version 96.0.4664.45 or later to patch the iframe sandbox policy enforcement vulnerability.
96.0.4664.45 or later
- Check current Chrome version by navigating to chrome://settings/help
- Update Chrome to version 96.0.4664.45 or later via Chrome's built-in update mechanism
- Restart Chrome to apply the update
- For Fedora systems: run 'sudo dnf update google-chrome-stable' and restart the browser
- For Debian systems: run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade google-chrome-stable' and restart the browser
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-2021-38017 — 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-2021-38017 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