ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2021-38018
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 · uneditedInappropriate implementation in navigation in Google Chrome prior to 96.0.4664.45 allowed a remote attacker to perform domain spoofing 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 · moderate confidenceGoogle Chrome prior to version 96.0.4664.45 contains an inappropriate implementation in its navigation handling that allows a remote attacker to perform domain spoofing via a specially crafted HTML page. This could enable attackers to impersonate legitimate websites by manipulating how Chrome displays the origin of a page.
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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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 click Help > About Google Chrome to display the current version numberAffected if The displayed version is earlier than 96.0.4664.45
-
Verify Chrome package version on FedoraRun 'rpm -q chrome' or 'rpm -q google-chrome-stable' in the terminalAffected if The package version is earlier than 96.0.4664.45-1
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Verify Chrome package version on DebianRun 'dpkg -l | grep google-chrome' or 'apt-cache policy google-chrome-stable' in the terminalAffected if The installed package version is earlier than 96.0.4664.45-1
You are affected if your installed Google Chrome version is less than 96.0.4664.45, as the domain spoofing vulnerability exists in the navigation handling of any earlier version.
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 address the navigation implementation flaw. Users should ensure automatic updates are enabled or manually trigger an update through the browser settings.
Chrome 96.0.4664.45 or later
- 1. Open terminal and update your system package repository: sudo dnf check-update (Fedora) or sudo apt update (Debian)
- 2. Upgrade Google Chrome to the latest version: sudo dnf upgrade google-chrome-stable (Fedora) or sudo apt upgrade google-chrome-stable (Debian)
- 3. Close all running Chrome instances
- 4. Restart Google Chrome to apply the update
- 5. Verify the installed version by navigating to chrome://settings/help - it should show version 96.0.4664.45 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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 $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-38018 — 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-2021-38018 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
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