ChromeWeb browser · Google
CVE-2024-7973
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 PDFium in Google Chrome prior to 128.0.6613.84 allowed a remote attacker to perform an out of bounds memory read via a crafted PDF file. (Chromium security severity: Medium)
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 PDFium (Google Chrome's PDF rendering engine) allows a remote attacker to perform out-of-bounds memory read by enticing a user to open a crafted malicious PDF file.
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
< 128.0.6613.84CVSS 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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Determine Google Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://version or use command line: google-chrome --version (Linux), /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --version (Mac), or check Help > About Google Chrome (Windows)Affected if Installed version is lower than 128.0.6613.84
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Confirm PDF viewing is enabledNavigate to chrome://settings/content and verify the 'PDF documents' setting is set to 'Open PDF files in Chrome' or check chrome://plugins for the PDF Viewer plugin is enabledAffected if PDF viewing is enabled (default behavior) - the vulnerability triggers when opening a malicious PDF in Chrome's built-in PDF viewer (PDFium)
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Verify PDFium is activeAttempt to open any PDF file in Chrome - the browser uses PDFium by default when opening PDFs directly in the browser windowAffected if PDF files open directly in Chrome (rather than downloading to an external viewer) - this means PDFium is being used and the vulnerability could be triggered
User is affected if Google Chrome version is below 128.0.6613.84 AND PDF files are opened in Chrome's built-in PDF viewer (PDFium) rather than an external application
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 · scoped128.0.6613.84
Update Google Chrome to version 128.0.6613.84 or later to patch the vulnerability. Users should avoid opening untrusted PDF files until the update is applied.
Chrome 128.0.6613.84 or later
- Open Google Chrome and navigate to Settings > Help > About Google Chrome
- Verify the current version number displayed
- If version is earlier than 128.0.6613.84, Chrome will automatically check for and download updates
- Restart Chrome after the update is installed
- Alternatively, manually download the latest Chrome from the official Google Chrome website
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Chrome
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-7973 — 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-2024-7973 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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