CVE-2026-5280
Published: 01 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-5280 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Google Chrome. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Drive-by Compromise (T1189); ranked at the 31.3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning) and SI-16 (Memory Protection).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-5280 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the WebCodecs component of Google Chrome versions prior to 146.0.7680.178. This flaw allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside the browser's sandbox via a crafted HTML page. The vulnerability 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 High severity by Chromium security standards.
A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by tricking a user into visiting a malicious website or interacting with a crafted HTML page, requiring no privileges but user interaction. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution within the sandboxed environment, potentially leading to high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.
Mitigation involves updating Google Chrome to version 146.0.7680.178 or later, as detailed in the Chrome Releases stable channel update advisory at https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2026/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_31.html and the associated Chromium issue tracker at https://issues.chromium.org/issues/491515787.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-17793
Vulnerability details
Use after free in WebCodecs in Google Chrome prior to 146.0.7680.178 allowed a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside a sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Use-after-free in Chrome WebCodecs enables RCE via crafted HTML page on malicious site, directly mapping to drive-by compromise (T1189) and exploitation for client execution (T1203).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Timely flaw remediation through updating Google Chrome to version 146.0.7680.178 or later directly eliminates the use-after-free vulnerability in WebCodecs.
Memory protection safeguards such as ASLR and DEP prevent unauthorized code execution resulting from use-after-free memory corruption in the browser sandbox.
Vulnerability scanning detects the presence of CVE-2026-5280 in vulnerable Chrome versions, enabling proactive remediation.