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Use-after-free in Chrome Web Authentication

IdentifiersCVE-2026-12443CWE-416

CVE-2026-12443 is a critical use-after-free vulnerability in the Web Authentication component of Google Chrome. According to the provided content, affected versions are Google Chrome prior to 149.0.7827.155, and exploitation can be triggered via a crafted HTML page. The flaw is a memory-safety error in which freed memory is subsequently reused, creating conditions for memory corruption and potential control of program execution within the browser process.

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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 a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the targeted Chrome process when a victim visits a maliciously crafted webpage. The broader Chromium advisories also note that security issues in this release family could lead to denial of service or information disclosure, but for CVE-2026-12443 the specifically stated impact is arbitrary code execution.

Mitigation

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

No specific workaround is provided in the supplied content beyond applying the vendor patch. As a temporary risk-reduction measure, organizations can prioritize rapid browser patching, restrict exposure to untrusted web content, and use defense-in-depth controls such as browser isolation and endpoint protections, but the authoritative mitigation in the provided advisories is to update to a fixed version.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Google Chrome to version 149.0.7827.155 or later. For Chromium on Debian, the provided advisory states fixed package versions are 149.0.7827.155-1~deb13u1 for Debian stable (trixie) and 149.0.7827.155-1~deb12u1 for Debian oldstable (bookworm). Ensure the browser is restarted after updating so the patched build is loaded.
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

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

7 SOURCESView more in app
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 activity3

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES
MITRE CVE
cve.org · CVE-2026-12443
NVD
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12443
MITRE CWE · CWE-416
cwe.mitre.org