CVE-2026-6310: Google Chrome Dawn Use After Free Flaw

CVE-2026-6310 Overview

CVE-2026-6310 is a Use After Free vulnerability in the Dawn component of Google Chrome prior to version 147.0.7727.101. This memory corruption flaw allows a remote attacker who has already compromised the renderer process to potentially perform a sandbox escape via a crafted HTML page. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-416 (Use After Free) and has been assigned a high severity rating by Chromium security.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation enables sandbox escape, allowing attackers with renderer process access to break out of Chrome's security sandbox and potentially execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on the victim's system.

Affected Products

• Google Chrome prior to version 147.0.7727.101
• Chromium-based browsers prior to equivalent patch level
• Dawn WebGPU implementation in affected Chrome versions

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-15 - CVE-2026-6310 published to NVD
• 2026-04-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-6310

Vulnerability Analysis

This Use After Free vulnerability exists within Dawn, Google Chrome's implementation of the WebGPU API. Dawn serves as the native implementation layer that translates WebGPU calls to underlying graphics APIs such as Vulkan, Metal, and Direct3D. The vulnerability occurs when memory is freed but a reference to that memory is retained and subsequently accessed, leading to undefined behavior.

The attack requires the attacker to have already compromised the renderer process, which means this vulnerability functions as a second-stage exploit in an attack chain. Once the renderer is compromised, the attacker can craft specific WebGPU operations through a malicious HTML page that trigger the use-after-free condition in Dawn, potentially allowing them to escape the sandbox.

The scope is changed, meaning successful exploitation can impact resources beyond the vulnerable component's security scope—specifically enabling escape from Chrome's sandboxed renderer process to the broader system context.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper memory lifecycle management in the Dawn WebGPU implementation. When certain GPU resources or objects are deallocated, references to the freed memory are not properly invalidated. Subsequent operations that attempt to access these dangling references can read or write to memory that has been reallocated for other purposes, leading to memory corruption.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring user interaction to visit a malicious webpage. However, the attack complexity is high because the attacker must first achieve renderer process compromise before this vulnerability can be exploited. The attack chain typically involves:

1. Initial compromise of the Chrome renderer process through a separate vulnerability
2. Delivery of a crafted HTML page containing malicious WebGPU operations
3. Triggering the use-after-free condition in Dawn
4. Leveraging the memory corruption to escape the sandbox

The vulnerability allows for high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the target system once sandbox escape is achieved.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-6310

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected Chrome renderer process crashes followed by unusual system behavior
• Anomalous WebGPU API calls or GPU resource allocation patterns in browser telemetry
• Chrome sandbox escape attempts logged in security monitoring tools
• Unusual child processes spawned from Chrome browser processes

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for Chrome renderer process crashes that precede suspicious system activity
• Deploy endpoint detection rules for sandbox escape behaviors associated with browser processes
• Implement network-level detection for pages serving malicious WebGPU payloads
• Track Chrome version compliance across endpoints to identify unpatched installations

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable Chrome crash reporting and analyze crash dumps for signs of exploitation
• Monitor for processes spawned by Chrome that operate outside normal sandbox constraints
• Implement browser version monitoring to ensure all instances are updated to 147.0.7727.101 or later
• Review security logs for unusual graphics driver interactions or GPU memory access patterns

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-6310

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Google Chrome to version 147.0.7727.101 or later immediately
• Enable automatic Chrome updates across all managed endpoints
• Verify patch deployment through endpoint management tools
• Consider temporarily disabling WebGPU features in high-security environments if patching is delayed

Patch Information

Google has released a security update addressing this vulnerability in Chrome version 147.0.7727.101. The patch corrects the memory lifecycle management issue in the Dawn component to prevent the use-after-free condition.

For detailed patch information, refer to the Google Chrome Desktop Update announcement. Technical details about the bug can be tracked via the Chromium Issue Tracker #497969820.

Workarounds

• Disable WebGPU functionality via Chrome flags (chrome://flags/#enable-unsafe-webgpu) as a temporary measure
• Implement enterprise Chrome policies to restrict access to untrusted websites
• Deploy network-level filtering to block known malicious domains
• Use browser isolation solutions for high-risk browsing activities

# Chrome enterprise policy to disable WebGPU (temporary workaround)
# Add to Chrome policy configuration
{
  "WebGPUExperimentalFeatures": false
}