CVE-2026-5285
Published: 01 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-5285 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 32.1th 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-2026-5285 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the WebGL component of Google Chrome prior to version 146.0.7680.178. Published on 2026-04-01, it 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.
A remote attacker can exploit this flaw by crafting an HTML page that triggers the use-after-free condition in WebGL, enabling arbitrary code execution inside the browser's sandbox. Exploitation requires user interaction, such as visiting the malicious page, but needs no privileges or special access.
Mitigation is available via the stable channel update for Chrome desktop, which patches the issue in version 146.0.7680.178 and later, as documented in the Chrome Releases blog and Chromium issue 492228019. Security practitioners should prioritize updating affected browsers.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-17801
Vulnerability details
Use after free in WebGL 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?
The use-after-free in WebGL is directly exploited by a crafted malicious HTML page visited by the user, enabling arbitrary code execution in the browser, which maps to Drive-by Compromise.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires timely remediation of known flaws like this Chrome WebGL use-after-free via patching to version 146.0.7680.178 or later.
Deploys memory protections such as ASLR and DEP that directly counter use-after-free exploits by preventing reliable exploitation of freed memory.
Vulnerability scanning detects installations of vulnerable Chrome versions affected by this WebGL use-after-free prior to exploitation.