A critical Use-After-Free vulnerability in Google Chrome’s PDFium component allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via malicious PDF content.

This vulnerability is a Use-After-Free (UAF) error within the PDFium engine. An attacker can exploit this by enticing a user to open a malicious PDF file, which triggers the UAF condition and may allow for remote code execution in the context of the browser.

The CVSS score of 8.8 underscores the high risk of this vulnerability, as it allows for remote code execution (RCE) with minimal user interaction. Successful exploitation could lead to full system compromise of the client machine, including theft of credentials, data exfiltration, and lateral movement within the corporate network.

Immediate Action: Ensure all instances of Google Chrome are updated to version 78.0.3904.87 or later.

Proactive Monitoring: Utilize endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for suspicious browser process behavior, such as unexpected child process creation or memory access violations.

Compensating Controls: Implement browser-based security policies that restrict the automatic rendering of PDF files or use security software that sandboxes browser-based file downloads.

Public Exploit Available: Unknown.

Organizations must enforce strict patch management for web browsers, as they represent the primary entry point for client-side attacks. Updating to the latest version of Chrome is essential to neutralize the risk posed by this PDFium memory management flaw.