CVE-2026-5276: Google Chrome Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2026-5276 Overview

CVE-2026-5276 is an insufficient policy enforcement vulnerability in the WebUSB component of Google Chrome. This flaw, present in versions prior to 146.0.7680.178, allows a remote attacker to obtain potentially sensitive information from process memory via a crafted HTML page. Chromium has classified this vulnerability with high security severity.

The WebUSB API enables web applications to communicate with USB devices, providing powerful functionality that requires strict security controls. When these policy enforcement mechanisms fail, attackers can craft malicious web pages that bypass intended security restrictions and extract sensitive data from browser process memory.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability to extract sensitive information from Chrome's process memory, potentially exposing confidential user data, authentication tokens, or other security-critical information simply by luring victims to a malicious web page.

Affected Products

• Google Chrome versions prior to 146.0.7680.178
• Affected on Microsoft Windows
• Affected on Apple macOS
• Affected on Linux

Discovery Timeline

• April 1, 2026 - CVE-2026-5276 published to NVD
• April 1, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-5276

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) within Chrome's WebUSB implementation. The WebUSB API is designed with strict policy controls to prevent unauthorized access to USB devices and protect sensitive operations. However, the insufficient enforcement of these policies creates an avenue for information disclosure.

The attack requires user interaction—specifically, the victim must navigate to a malicious HTML page crafted by the attacker. Once loaded, the page can leverage the policy enforcement gap to read sensitive data from Chrome's process memory that should otherwise be protected.

The vulnerability enables high-impact confidentiality breaches while not affecting system integrity or availability. This makes it particularly dangerous for environments where browser memory may contain authentication credentials, session tokens, or other sensitive information.

Root Cause

The root cause is classified as CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure), indicating that the security controls designed to enforce WebUSB policies are not functioning as intended. The policy enforcement mechanism fails to properly validate or restrict certain operations, allowing malicious web content to access memory regions that should be protected.

This type of vulnerability typically occurs when:

• Input validation in the policy enforcement layer is incomplete
• Edge cases in the WebUSB permission model are not properly handled
• Memory isolation boundaries are not consistently applied across all WebUSB operations

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker must:

1. Create a malicious HTML page containing crafted WebUSB API calls
2. Lure the victim to visit the malicious page (via phishing, malvertising, or compromised websites)
3. The crafted page exploits the policy enforcement gap to access Chrome process memory
4. Sensitive information is exfiltrated to the attacker

The vulnerability exploits the gap between intended WebUSB security policies and their actual enforcement, allowing memory reads that should be blocked by Chrome's security architecture. For detailed technical information, refer to Chromium Issue Tracker #489711638.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-5276

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual WebUSB API calls from untrusted web pages attempting to access device information
• Abnormal memory access patterns in Chrome browser processes
• Network traffic containing exfiltrated data to suspicious external destinations following WebUSB interactions
• Browser process behavior anomalies when visiting unknown or untrusted websites

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for suspicious WebUSB API usage patterns in browser telemetry and enterprise security logs
• Implement network-level detection for known malicious domains hosting exploit pages
• Deploy endpoint detection rules that flag unusual Chrome process memory access behaviors
• Enable Chrome's enhanced Safe Browsing to identify and block known malicious pages

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure SentinelOne agents to monitor Chrome browser process behavior for anomalous memory access patterns
• Enable web content filtering to block access to known malicious or untrusted domains
• Review enterprise browser policies to ensure WebUSB is disabled or restricted where not required
• Implement logging for WebUSB permission grants and usage across managed endpoints

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-5276

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Google Chrome to version 146.0.7680.178 or later immediately on all systems
• Verify Chrome auto-update is enabled and functioning across the enterprise
• Review browser access logs for potential exploitation attempts prior to patching
• Consider temporarily restricting WebUSB access via Chrome enterprise policies until patching is complete

Patch Information

Google has released a fix in Chrome version 146.0.7680.178. The patch addresses the insufficient policy enforcement in the WebUSB component. Organizations should prioritize deploying this update across all endpoints.

For official patch details, see the Google Chrome Stable Update announcement.

Workarounds

• Disable WebUSB functionality via Chrome enterprise policies using WebUsbAskForUrls and WebUsbBlockedForUrls settings
• Implement strict web filtering to block access to untrusted or potentially malicious websites
• Educate users about the risks of visiting unknown websites and clicking suspicious links
• Use browser isolation technologies to contain potential exploitation attempts

# Chrome Enterprise Policy - Disable WebUSB
# Add to Chrome policies to block WebUSB access globally
{
  "WebUsbBlockedForUrls": ["*"],
  "WebUsbAllowDevicesForUrls": []
}