Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-3538

Memory Safety in Google Chrome ≤ 145.0.7632.159

Published
04 March 2026
Modified
11 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0050 40th percentile
Risk Priority 64 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-3538 is a high-severity External Control of Assumed-Immutable Web Parameter (CWE-472) vulnerability in Google Chrome. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 40th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

CVE-2026-3538 is an integer overflow vulnerability in the Skia graphics library within Google Chrome versions prior to 145.0.7632.159. The flaw enables a remote attacker to potentially perform out-of-bounds memory access via a crafted HTML page. It is associated with CWE-472 and CWE-191, carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), and is rated Critical by Chromium security.

A remote attacker without privileges can exploit this vulnerability by luring a user to interact with a malicious website hosting a crafted HTML page. Exploitation requires user interaction, such as visiting the page, but no authentication. Successful attacks could lead to out-of-bounds memory access with high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Mitigation involves updating to Google Chrome 145.0.7632.159 or later, as detailed in the stable channel update announced on the Chrome Releases blog at https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2026/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop.html. Additional technical details are available in the Chromium issue tracker at https://issues.chromium.org/issues/484983991.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Integer overflow in Skia in Google Chrome prior to 145.0.7632.159 allowed a remote attacker to potentially perform out of bounds memory access via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Critical)

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2026-3914Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-9882Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-4679Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-10924Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-3536Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-10921Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-10892Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-11152Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

google
chrome
≤ 145.0.7632.159

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and static/dynamic analysis directly find integer underflow defects before code is released.

SI-10 directly requires validation of all inputs, eliminating the assumption that client-supplied parameters remain immutable.

Security engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer underflow during subtraction.

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.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent integer underflow defects via input validation, bounds checking, and static analysis.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis can surface underflow flaws after they are introduced.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching can remediate known underflow bugs once they are discovered in deployed software.

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.

prevents

Secure coding standards require server-side verification of client-supplied data, eliminating the root cause of external control of immutable parameters.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance will detect parameter tampering vulnerabilities before deployment.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and integrity checks that directly prevent external tampering of assumed-immutable parameters.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for validation of all inputs, including hidden fields, mitigating CWE-472.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.

none

Information access restriction can limit which parameters users may influence, providing a secondary layer of defense.

References