Google Dawn Use-After-Free Vulnerability (CVE-2026-5281)
Severity: high · Patch status: unknown · Since 2026-04-01 · CVE-2026-5281
Google Dawn contains an use-after-free vulnerability that could allow a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to execute arbitrary code via a crafted HTML page. This vulnerability could affect multiple Chromium-based products including, but not limited to, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. CISA added CVE-2026-5281 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Apr 1, 2026, which means attackers are exploiting it in the wild.
What to do
- Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- US federal agencies must remediate by Apr 15, 2026 (BOD 22-01); treat that as the outer limit.
Sources
All live incidents on Threat Watch
