Security Resilience

CVE-2020-16010

Memory Safety in Google Chrome ≤ 86.0.4240.185

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
03 November 2020
Modified
14 January 2026
KEV Added
03 November 2021
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.064 94th percentile
Risk Priority 94 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2020-16010 is a critical-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Google Chrome. Its CVSS base score is 9.6 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability CVE-2020-16010 is a heap buffer overflow in the UI component of Google Chrome on Android in versions prior to 86.0.4240.185. It is tracked under CWEs 787 and 122 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.6.

A remote attacker who has already compromised the renderer process can exploit the flaw by delivering a crafted HTML page, potentially achieving a sandbox escape that yields high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Google's Chrome release notes direct users to update to version 86.0.4240.185 or later. The issue is also catalogued by CISA among known exploited vulnerabilities.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Heap buffer overflow in UI in Google Chrome on Android prior to 86.0.4240.185 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to potentially perform a sandbox escape via a crafted HTML page.

CWE(s)
CWE-787CWE-122
KEV Date Added
03 November 2021

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.002 Steganography Command And Control
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2021-39793Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2020-16013Same product: Google Chromeboth on KEV
CVE-2019-5825Same product: Google Chromeboth on KEV
CVE-2024-0033Same product: Google Android
CVE-2024-7973Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-7967Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-8905Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-0040Same product: Google Android
CVE-2024-0018Same product: Google Android
CVE-2024-8193Same product: Google Chrome

Affected Assets

google
chrome
≤ 86.0.4240.185

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-787

Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.7.2 Physical entry partial match
removes

References