CVE-2026-121114
Description
An use after free flaw was found in the TabStrip component of the Chromium browser.
Upstream bug(s):
Statement
Red Hat Product Security rates the severity of this flaw as determined by the Google Chrome Security Advisory.
Mitigation
--- CME Mitigation Guidance (2026-11-04) ---
Disclaimer: The following mitigation solutions are provided as a courtesy, pending the application of an official patch. This content was generated utilizing AI tools in conjunction with data from https://cmetaxonomy.org. Customers are advised to independently evaluate and test these temporary mitigations within their own infrastructure.
The highest-value action is to enforce forward-edge Control Flow Integrity to prevent control-flow hijacking via dangling TabStrip pointers during tab management operations: upgrade to Google Chrome 157.0.8103.38+ (or the fixed Chromium builds), which corrects TabStrip object lifecycle management to eliminate access to freed memory during tab rendering and management operations, closing crafted HTML page. Until patched, this is a concern on Chromium and Google Chrome installations across all platforms rendering untrusted web content, so restrict user browsing to trusted domains and avoid opening untrusted URLs or crafted web pages. As a compensating measure, enable ASLR to randomize userspace memory layout and disrupt gadget chain targeting, enforce non-executable memory protections via the NX/XD bit across heap and data pages to block payload execution, compile with full RELRO and PIE to randomize the binary base address and render the Global Offset Table read-only, and deploy an EDR agent to monitor and flag anomalous endpoint processes executing outside the browser sandbox. These controls limit blast radius and contain exploitation, but they do not fix the underlying use-after-free defect — apply the upstream patch to fully remediate.
Highest-impact CME: CME-113 Control Flow Integrity (CFI / Shadow Call Stack) (high)
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory
The use of previously freed memory may corrupt valid data, if the memory area in question has been allocated and used properly elsewhere.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If chunk consolidation occurs after the use of previously freed data, the process may crash when invalid data is used as chunk information.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
Read operations on freed memory can sometimes leak sensitive information instead of causing a crash
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If malicious data is entered before chunk consolidation can take place, it may be possible to take advantage of a write-what-where primitive to execute arbitrary code. If the newly allocated data happens to hold a class, in C++ for example, various function pointers may be scattered within the heap data. If one of these function pointers is overwritten with an address to valid shellcode, execution of arbitrary code can be achieved.
Frequently Asked Questions
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