CVE-2016-1666 – CVE-2016-1666 is a critical vulnerability in Go... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2016-1666?

CVE-2016-1666 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). CVE-2016-1666 is a critical vulnerability in Google Chrome that allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code through unknown vectors. This affects all users running Chrome versions before 50.0.2661.94. The high CVSS score indicates this vulnerability could be exploited remotely without authentication.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2016-1666 is a critical vulnerability in Google Chrome that allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code through unknown vectors. This affects all users running Chrome versions before 50.0.2661.94. The high CVSS score indicates this vulnerability could be exploited remotely without authentication.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Google Chrome

Versions: All versions before 50.0.2661.94

Operating Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All default Chrome installations are vulnerable. Chromium-based browsers may also be affected.

📦 What is this software?

Chrome by Google

Google Chrome is the world's most popular web browser, used by over 3 billion users globally across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms. As a Chromium-based browser developed by Google, Chrome dominates the browser market with approximately 65% market share, making it a critical compon...

Learn more about Chrome →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution allowing complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.

🟠

Likely Case

Browser crash/denial of service, potentially leading to memory corruption that could be leveraged for further exploitation.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact if Chrome is updated to patched version, with browser sandboxing providing some protection against full system compromise.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Web browsers are inherently internet-facing and this vulnerability could be exploited through malicious websites.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could be targeted through phishing or compromised internal websites.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

The 'unknown vectors' description suggests this may have been discovered through fuzzing or internal testing rather than active exploitation.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 50.0.2661.94 and later

Vendor Advisory: http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/2016/04/stable-channel-update_28.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Open Chrome. 2. Click menu (three dots) → Help → About Google Chrome. 3. Chrome will automatically check for updates and install if available. 4. Click 'Relaunch' to restart Chrome with the update.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable JavaScript

all

Temporarily disable JavaScript to reduce attack surface, though this breaks most websites.

chrome://settings/content/javascript → Block

Use Chrome Sandbox

all

Ensure Chrome sandbox is enabled for additional protection layers.

chrome://flags → Search 'sandbox' → Ensure enabled

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Switch to alternative browser until Chrome can be updated
Implement network filtering to block known malicious websites and restrict browser usage to trusted sites only

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Chrome version in menu → Help → About Google Chrome. If version is below 50.0.2661.94, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

On Windows: "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --version
On macOS: /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --version
On Linux: google-chrome --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Chrome version is 50.0.2661.94 or higher in About Google Chrome page.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Chrome crash reports with suspicious memory addresses
Multiple Chrome process terminations in short timeframe

Network Indicators:

Unusual outbound connections from Chrome processes
Traffic to known exploit hosting domains

SIEM Query:

source="chrome_logs" AND (event="crash" OR event="process_termination") | stats count by host, user

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2016-1666

CVSS v3 Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Published: May 14, 2016

Last Updated: April 12, 2025

🔗 References

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