CVE-2026-5286
Published: 01 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-5286 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 22.9th 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 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and SC-39 (Process Isolation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-5286 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the Dawn component within Google Chrome versions prior to 146.0.7680.178. Dawn, part of the Chromium graphics stack, suffers from this memory safety issue, which carries a Chromium security severity rating of High and 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).
A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by enticing a user to interact with a crafted HTML page, such as through social engineering or malicious links. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution on the victim's system with the privileges of the Chrome renderer process.
Google addressed this issue in the stable channel update to version 146.0.7680.178, as documented in the Chrome Releases blog post at https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2026/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_31.html and the associated Chromium issue tracker entry at https://issues.chromium.org/issues/493900619. Security practitioners should prioritize updating affected Chrome installations to mitigate the risk.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-17802
Vulnerability details
Use after free in Dawn in Google Chrome prior to 146.0.7680.178 allowed a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code 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 renderer enables RCE via crafted HTML page delivered through malicious links or social engineering, directly mapping to drive-by compromise and client-side exploitation with user interaction.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly mitigates the use-after-free vulnerability by requiring timely installation of the Chrome patch to version 146.0.7680.178.
Implements memory protection mechanisms that defend against use-after-free memory corruption exploits in the Dawn graphics component.
Enforces process isolation for the Chrome renderer process, limiting the scope of arbitrary code execution from the exploited vulnerability.