External risk intelligence

ANGLE Use After Free in Google Chrome Allows Remote Code Execution

CVE advisorySeverity: CRITICAL (CVSS 9.6)

CVE-2026-79149

This vulnerability exists in a web browser, which is a client-side application designed to render internet-hosted content. While client-side, the product's primary function involves constant and direct exposure to arbitrary, untrusted content from the public internet, making the attack surface readily reachable through standard user interaction with web pages.

Use After Free

Google Chrome

before 152.0.7977.65

Halo Surface Signal: 4 out of 5 — likely to be public-facing.

External exposure likelihood

Horizon Alert

Summary of the vulnerability and why it matters

A security vulnerability has been identified in ANGLE, a component used in Google Chrome, that could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code. This is a critical issue that could have significant implications if exploited.

  • Flaw allows code execution via web pages.
  • Affects a widely used web browser component.
  • Confirm relevance and understand potential exposure.

Attack Path

How an attacker could exploit the issue

An attacker can trick a user into visiting a malicious webpage. When the user's browser, specifically the ANGLE component, processes this page, it can trigger a use-after-free vulnerability. This flaw could allow the attacker to execute their own code on the user's system, potentially escaping the browser's security sandbox.

  • Requires visiting a malicious page.
  • Triggers use-after-free in ANGLE.
  • Allows arbitrary code execution.

Live Threat

Current exploitation, exposure, and threat context

A use-after-free vulnerability in ANGLE, a component of Google Chrome, could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code outside the browser's sandbox. This could occur when a user visits a specially crafted HTML page.

  • Arbitrary code execution outside sandbox.
  • Visiting a malicious HTML page.
  • Compromise of user's system.

Operational Fix

Recommended remediation, mitigation, and detection steps

This vulnerability affects Google Chrome, specifically its ANGLE component, and could allow remote code execution. The primary responsibility for addressing this likely falls to the teams managing endpoint security and browser deployments, as well as potentially application owners if specific web applications are known to host malicious content. The first practical step is to identify all Chrome instances, confirm their reachability, and assess their criticality before planning remediation.

  • Endpoint security and browser management teams.
  • Verify Chrome browser exposure and criticality.
  • Coordinate updates and user communication.

Supplementary metadata

Validate whether this threat affects your internet-facing exposure.

Halo Threat Intelligence helps prioritize remediation with Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context. Start exposure validation with a free external attack surface trial.

Frequently asked questions

What is the ANGLE component in Google Chrome?

ANGLE stands for Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine. It is a critical abstraction layer within the Chromium project used by Google Chrome to translate various graphics API calls, such as OpenGL, into the native API of the user's operating system, like DirectX or Vulkan. By standardizing these graphics operations, ANGLE enables Chrome to render complex 3D web content and hardware-accelerated graphics smoothly across different hardware platforms and operating systems.

How does this CVE-2026-79149 vulnerability work?

This flaw is classified as a use-after-free weakness (CWE-416). It occurs when the software continues to use a memory location after that memory has been freed or deallocated. Because the system can reassign that memory for other purposes, an attacker can manipulate the state of the program to execute their own malicious code instead of the intended browser functions.

Does simply having Chrome open trigger this bug?

No, merely having the browser open is not enough. The vulnerability requires a specific trigger: the user must actively navigate to a specially crafted, malicious HTML page. Standard web browsing on trusted sites does not initiate the flaw; the browser must process the specific, harmful instructions embedded by an attacker within the page's code to exploit the memory mismanagement in ANGLE.

Why does Halo Surface Signal categorize this as an external threat?

Halo Surface Signal flags this as an external, reachable threat because Google Chrome is a web browser. Since browsers are designed to constantly fetch and render untrusted content from the public internet, the attack surface is inherently exposed to the web. Even though the vulnerability is client-side, the necessity of interacting with external sites makes any device running an unpatched version of the browser susceptible to remote attacks.

What is the first step to address CVE-2026-79149?

The primary step is to identify all devices within your environment where Google Chrome is installed. Once you have a list of these endpoints, prioritize confirming that the browser is updated to the version specified by Google to resolve this flaw. Coordinate with your endpoint management teams to ensure these updates are deployed, as this is the standard method for replacing the vulnerable ANGLE component code.

References