CVE-2026-5281

CRITICALNVD 8.89.0
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-04-01), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 8.8 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 5 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 5%CVSS: 8.8Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · public exploitExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

Use after free in Dawn in Google Chrome prior to 146.0.7680.178 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to execute arbitrary code via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)

CVSS v3
8.8
Vendor severity
HIGHper Google (Chromium)Vendor's own band, not a CVSS rating — advisory text: (Chromium security severity: High)
EG Score
9.0(high)
EG Risk
81(Attend)
EG Risk 81/100SSVC: Attend

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity90% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Remediate soon — notable exploitation risk.
EPSS PROB
5%
EPSS %ILE
92%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

April 1, 2026

Last Modified

July 24, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated May 19, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available. Sources: cisa.
cisa Patch Available🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-5281
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

Chrome Releases: Stable Channel Update for Desktop

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2026/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_31.html

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-5281(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Affected Packages

(4 across 4 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
chromium100.0.4896.127-1 ... 99.0.4844.84-1~deb11u1 (500 versions)
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
chromium113.0.5672.126-1 ... 146.0.7680.80-1~deb13u1 (333 versions)146.0.7680.177-1~deb12u1
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
chromium138.0.7204.183-1 ... 146.0.7680.80-1~deb13u1 (99 versions)146.0.7680.177-1~deb13u1
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
chromium138.0.7204.183-1 ... 146.0.7680.80-1~deb13u1 (100 versions)146.0.7680.177-1

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 82× in last 7d / 379× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 1,342 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-15 03:40 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-09-15 03:40 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-09-15 03:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-15 03:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-09-14 23:17 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-09-14 23:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-14 19:24 UTCCISA KEV update
  8. 2026-09-14 18:54 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-09-14 18:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-14 14:30 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-09-14 14:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-14 10:06 UTCVendor advisory
  13. 2026-09-14 10:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-14 05:43 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-09-14 05:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-14 01:20 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-09-14 01:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-13 20:57 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-09-13 20:57 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-09-13 20:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-13 16:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-09-13 16:33 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-09-13 16:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-13 12:10 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-09-13 12:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-13 07:47 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-09-13 07:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-09-13 03:23 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-09-13 03:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-12 23:01 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-09-12 23:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-12 18:38 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-09-12 18:38 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-09-12 18:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-12 14:15 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-09-12 14:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-12 09:52 UTCVendor advisory
  13. 2026-09-12 09:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-12 05:29 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-09-12 05:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-12 01:06 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-09-12 01:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-11 20:43 UTCVendor advisory
  19. 2026-09-11 20:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-11 18:49 UTCCISA KEV update
  21. 2026-09-11 16:19 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-09-11 16:19 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-09-11 16:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-11 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-09-11 11:56 UTCEG score recompute
  26. 2026-09-11 11:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-09-11 07:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-09-11 03:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-09-10 22:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-09-10 19:28 UTCCISA KEV update
  31. 2026-09-10 18:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-09-10 13:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  33. 2026-09-10 09:35 UTCEG score recompute
  34. 2026-09-10 09:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-09-10 09:35 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-09-10 05:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-09-10 00:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  38. 2026-09-09 20:25 UTCVendor advisory
  39. 2026-09-09 20:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-09-09 19:08 UTCCISA KEV update
  41. 2026-09-09 16:02 UTCVendor advisory
  42. 2026-09-09 16:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-09-09 11:39 UTCVendor advisory
  44. 2026-09-09 11:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-09-09 07:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-09-09 02:52 UTCVendor advisory
  47. 2026-09-09 02:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-09-08 22:29 UTCEG score recompute
  49. 2026-09-08 22:29 UTCVendor advisory
  50. 2026-09-08 22:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-09-08 22:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-09-08 18:54 UTCCISA KEV update
  53. 2026-09-08 18:05 UTCVendor advisory
  54. 2026-09-08 18:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-09-08 13:12 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-09-08 13:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-09-08 08:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-09-08 04:23 UTCVendor advisory
  59. 2026-09-08 04:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-09-07 23:59 UTCVendor advisory
  61. 2026-09-07 23:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-09-07 19:36 UTCEG score recompute
  63. 2026-09-07 19:36 UTCVendor advisory
  64. 2026-09-07 19:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-09-07 16:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-09-07 15:13 UTCVendor advisory
  67. 2026-09-07 15:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-09-07 10:49 UTCVendor advisory
  69. 2026-09-07 10:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-09-07 06:23 UTCVendor advisory
  71. 2026-09-07 06:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-09-07 01:58 UTCVendor advisory
  73. 2026-09-07 01:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-09-06 21:34 UTCVendor advisory
  75. 2026-09-06 21:33 UTCGHSA enrichment

Publicly available exploits

(2 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (2 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCTheMalwareGuardian/CVE-2026-5281
    First seen Apr 6, 2026

    CVE-2026-5281 (Chrome Dawn WebGPU UAF) analysis, lab validation tools, and reproducible environment for vulnerable vs patched builds.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCumair-aziz025/CVE-2026-5281-Research-Toolkit
    First seen Apr 2, 2026

    Chrome WebGPU Use-After-Free (CWE-416) This toolkit is for security research and defensive verification around CVE-2026-5281. Patched Chrome version: 146.0.7680.178 Potentially vulnerable versions: anything below 146.0.7680.178

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2026-5281?
CVE-2026-5281 is a critical vulnerability published on April 1, 2026. Use after free in Dawn in Google Chrome prior to 146.0.7680.178 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to execute arbitrary code via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)
When was CVE-2026-5281 disclosed?
CVE-2026-5281 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on April 1, 2026, with the most recent update on July 24, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-5281 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2026-5281 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on April 1, 2026, affecting Google Dawn. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-5281?
CVE-2026-5281 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0.
Which products are affected by CVE-2026-5281?
CVE-2026-5281 affects Google Dawn. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2026-5281?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-5281, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2026-5281

Explore →

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2026-5281?

EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.