IRONSMITHINTEL
CRITICALCVSS9.6
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2020-15999|Auth: none — unauthenticated|Reboot: required|Manual only

Google Chrome FreeType Heap Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Google Chrome uses FreeType, an open-source software library to render fonts, which contains a heap buffer overflow vulnerability in the function Load_SBit_Png when processing PNG images embedded into fonts. This vulnerability is part of an exploit chain with CVE-2020-17087 on Windows and CVE-2020-16010 on Android.

Published Nov 3, 2020 · Updated May 16, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A remote attacker, without authentication, can achieve full data confidentiality loss, arbitrary modification of data, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2021-11-17 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This is a Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Google Chrome FreeType. Heap buffer overflow in Freetype in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.111 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. Exploitation requires remote network access, low attack complexity, no authentication required, and user interaction required.

📧

Phishing link

🖼

Malicious file

🔓

Server compromised

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

Endpoint Administrators
IT Security
Running chrome: v < 86.0.4240.111; freetype: 2.6.0 ≤ v < 2.10.4; debian linux: 10.0; fedora: 31; backports sle: 15.0; ontap select deploy administration utility: -
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

Active exploitation documented in the wild. Threat-research write-up: https://crbug.com/1139963

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

Apply the Vendor Patch

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

References

    1
    NVD entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-15999
    1
    CISA KEV: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-15999
PowerShell automationComing soon

No tested PowerShell script for this entry yet. We’re prioritising automation based on user demand.