ChromeWeb browser · Google

CVE-2026-4458

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 146.0.7680.153 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
Use after free in Extensions in Google Chrome prior to 146.0.7680.153 allowed an attacker who convinced a user to install a malicious extension to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted Chrome Extension. (Chromium security severity: High)

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

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the Chrome Extensions component prior to version 146.0.7680.153. An attacker must convince a user to install a malicious Chrome extension, which can then trigger a use-after-free condition leading to potential heap corruption. The vulnerability has high severity rating due to the potential for code execution.

MitigationUpdate Google Chrome to version 146.0.7680.153 or later. Additionally, restrict extension installation permissions and educate users about installing only trusted extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

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:< 146.0.7680.153

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 Google Chrome version
    Open chrome://settings/help in the browser address bar, or run 'google-chrome --version' (Linux) or 'chrome --version' (Windows) from command line
    Affected if The displayed version is lower than 146.0.7680.153
  2. Verify Extensions are enabled
    Navigate to chrome://extensions and confirm the 'Developer mode' toggle or extension enable/disable controls are accessible and extensions can be installed
    Affected if Extensions feature is enabled (this is the default state) and the Chrome version is vulnerable
  3. Review installed extensions
    Navigate to chrome://extensions and examine the list of installed extensions for any unknown, untrusted, or recently installed malicious-looking extensions
    Affected if Any untrusted or suspicious extension is installed and the Chrome version is vulnerable

You are affected if your Google Chrome version is below 146.0.7680.153 and you have extensions enabled or have installed any extension, since the vulnerability triggers during extension handling.

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 146.0.7680.153 or later
Fixed in 146.0.7680.153
Interim mitigation

Update Google Chrome to version 146.0.7680.153 or later. Additionally, restrict extension installation permissions and educate users about installing only trusted extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

Recommended fix High confidence

Chrome version 146.0.7680.153 or later

  1. Open Google Chrome on your computer
  2. Click the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner
  3. Select 'Help' and then 'About Google Chrome'
  4. Chrome will check for updates automatically
  5. If version 146.0.7680.153 or later is available, click 'Update Google Chrome'
  6. Restart the browser to complete the update
  7. Verify the update by going to Help > About Google Chrome and confirm the version number is 146.0.7680.153 or higher
Caveat Chrome stable channel updates are generally backward-compatible; however, very old extensions or web apps may require updates for compatibility with newer Chrome versions

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-4458 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-4458 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