CVE-2026-13782: Google Chrome Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2026-13782 Overview

CVE-2026-13782 is a use-after-free vulnerability [CWE-416] in the Browser process of Google Chrome versions prior to 150.0.7871.47. A remote attacker who has already compromised the renderer process can exploit this flaw to escape the Chrome sandbox by serving a crafted HTML page. Chromium has rated the security severity as Critical. The issue affects Chrome installations across Windows, macOS, and Linux. Google released a fix in the Stable channel update for desktop.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows a sandbox escape from the renderer to the Browser process, granting the attacker code execution outside the renderer sandbox and full access to the user's operating system context.

Affected Products

Google Chrome prior to 150.0.7871.47
Chrome on Microsoft Windows
Chrome on Apple macOS and Linux

Discovery Timeline

2026-06-30 - CVE-2026-13782 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-07-02 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-13782

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a use-after-free condition [CWE-416] within the Browser process component of Google Chrome. The Browser process is the privileged parent process that mediates access between sandboxed renderer processes and operating system resources. When the Browser process references memory that has already been freed, an attacker can influence the contents of that memory to hijack control flow or corrupt privileged state. Because this defect resides outside the renderer sandbox, it becomes a viable second stage for a full sandbox escape chain.

The attack requires that the renderer process is already compromised, indicating this is a chained exploitation scenario. The EPSS score is 0.293% (percentile 21.035) as of 2026-07-02, reflecting the specialized preconditions required.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper object lifetime management in the Browser process. A code path retains or later dereferences a pointer to an object after it has been released, allowing the freed slot to be reallocated with attacker-controlled data. See the Chromium Issue Tracker Entry for technical details once public.

Attack Vector

Exploitation proceeds in two stages. First, the attacker compromises the renderer through a separate vulnerability while the victim visits a crafted HTML page. Second, the attacker triggers the use-after-free in the Browser process through inter-process communication (IPC) messages, replacing the freed object with controlled data to achieve sandbox escape. No authentication or user interaction beyond visiting a malicious page is required.

No public proof-of-concept exploit is currently available. Refer to the Google Chrome Desktop Update for release-level details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-13782

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected Chrome Browser process crashes with heap corruption signatures in Windows Error Reporting or macOS CrashReporter logs
Chrome child processes spawning unusual child binaries such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, bash, or osascript
Outbound connections from chrome.exe to previously unseen or low-reputation domains immediately after page loads
Creation of persistence artifacts (scheduled tasks, LaunchAgents, registry Run keys) shortly after Chrome browsing activity

Detection Strategies

Hunt for process ancestry where the Chrome Browser process is the parent of interpreters, script hosts, or LOLBins
Monitor for anomalous file writes into user profile directories by Chrome child processes
Alert on Chrome version telemetry reporting builds older than 150.0.7871.47 across the fleet

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest browser process telemetry and crash dumps into a centralized data lake for correlation with web browsing activity
Track Chrome auto-update health and flag endpoints where the browser has not restarted to apply the patched build
Correlate DNS and HTTP telemetry with endpoint process events to identify drive-by exploitation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-13782

Immediate Actions Required

Update Google Chrome to version 150.0.7871.47 or later on all Windows, macOS, and Linux endpoints
Force a Chrome restart to complete the update, since staged updates do not apply until the browser is relaunched
Inventory all Chromium-based browsers and embedded WebViews and apply vendor patches derived from the same upstream fix

Patch Information

Google released the fix in the Stable channel update for desktop covering Chrome 150.0.7871.47. Administrators should deploy the update through enterprise management (Group Policy, Jamf, Intune, or package managers) and verify version compliance across the fleet. See the Google Chrome Desktop Update for the vendor advisory.

Workarounds

Restrict browsing to trusted sites via enterprise web filtering until patching is verified across the environment
Enforce Site Isolation and disable unnecessary Chrome extensions to reduce renderer attack surface
Apply application allowlisting to prevent Chrome child processes from spawning script interpreters or shells

bash

# Verify Chrome version on Linux/macOS endpoints
google-chrome --version

# Windows: query installed Chrome version via registry
reg query "HKLM\Software\Google\Update\Clients\{8A69D345-D564-463C-AFF1-A69D9E530F96}" /v pv

# Enterprise policy to enforce auto-update (Windows GPO registry key)
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Update" /v UpdateDefault /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f