Widespread Chrome usage; RCE via V8 could affect many organizations; highly newsworthy.
CVE-2026-9973
Out-of-bounds write in Chrome V8 enables remote code execution via crafted HTML page.
Is CVE-2026-9973 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-9973 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. EPSS currently estimates a 0.31% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-9973?
CVE-2026-9973 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-2026-9973?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-9973. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-9973 affect?
CVE-2026-9973 affects Google Chrome (V8) < 148.0.7778.216. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-9973?
Update to 148.0.7778.216+ immediately
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
RCE in Chrome sandbox via crafted HTML page; attacker can execute arbitrary code.
Patch when possible
- affected< 148.0.7778.216
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.