Chrome is a ubiquitous browser; a remotely triggerable RCE in the renderer can lead to endpoint compromise and wide organizational impact, warranting broad IT notification.
CVE-2026-118338
Use-after-free in Chrome Animation allows sandboxed code execution via crafted webpage
Is CVE-2026-118338 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-118338 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked.
How severe is CVE-2026-118338?
CVE-2026-118338 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-118338?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-118338. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-118338 affect?
CVE-2026-118338 affects Google Chrome < 156.0.8078.73, Chrome Desktop (Windows/macOS/Linux). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-118338?
Update Chrome to 156.0.8078.73 or later across all endpoints immediately.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Remote code execution in Chrome renderer via crafted HTML, enabling arbitrary code execution in the browser sandbox and potential endpoint compromise.
Immediate action required
- affected< 156.0.8078.73
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.