High

Use-after-free in Dawn in Google Chrome

IdentifiersCVE-2026-5286CWE-416· Use After Free

CVE-2026-5286 is a high-severity use-after-free vulnerability in Dawn, Chromium/Chrome’s WebGPU-related component, affecting Google Chrome versions prior to 146.0.7680.178. According to the provided content, a remote attacker can trigger the flaw by causing a target to load a crafted HTML page. The underlying weakness is a classic lifetime-management error in which memory is freed and later reused through a stale reference, creating a dangling-pointer condition that can lead to memory corruption. The available source material does not provide the specific vulnerable function or code path, only that the issue is in Dawn and is exploitable from web content.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation may allow arbitrary code execution in the context of the affected Chrome process. The provided CVSS v3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) indicates high potential impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. As with browser memory-corruption flaws, exploitation may also result in browser crashes or other instability if code execution is not achieved.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by limiting use of untrusted websites and untrusted HTML content, since exploitation requires delivery of a crafted page and user interaction. Standard browser hardening measures such as prompt browser restarts after update deployment and minimizing exposure to attacker-controlled web content can reduce risk. The provided content does not include a Dawn-specific temporary workaround for this CVE.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Update Google Chrome to version 146.0.7680.178 or later. The provided content states that versions prior to 146.0.7680.178 are affected. Chromium-based downstream browsers should also be updated once they incorporate the upstream fix if applicable.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

GoogleChromeapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

14 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

14 SOURCESView more in app

zeropath blogNews

Apr 15, 2026

Google Chrome Dawn WebGPU Use After Free: Brief Summary of CVE-2026-6310 and Its Sandbox Escape Potential - ZeroPath Blog | ZeroPath

An earlier 2026 Dawn/WebGPU use-after-free vulnerability in Chrome referenced as part of a series of related flaws patched in Chrome 146 updates.

forbesNews

Apr 3, 2026

Google Issues Zero-Day Attack Alert For 3.5 Billion Chrome Users

A high-rated use-after-free vulnerability in Chrome's Dawn component.

cvefeed high severityNews

Apr 1, 2026

CVE-2026-5286 - Google Chrome Use-After-Free Vulnerability

A high-severity use-after-free vulnerability in Dawn in Google Chrome that could allow remote code execution via a crafted HTML page.

chrome releases blogNews

Mar 31, 2026

Chrome Releases: Stable Channel Update for Desktop

A high-severity use-after-free vulnerability in Chrome Dawn.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity8