CVE-2020-15999
KEVGoogle Chrome FreeType Heap Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
Description
Google Chrome uses FreeType, an open-source software library to render fonts, which contains a heap buffer overflow vulnerability in the function Load_SBit_Png when processing PNG images embedded into fonts. This vulnerability is part of an exploit chain with CVE-2020-17087 on Windows and CVE-2020-16010 on Android.
Heap buffer overflow in Freetype in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.111 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.
CVSS 3.1 vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HPublishedNov 3, 2020
Last modifiedJun 17, 2026
Added to KEVNov 3, 2021
Remediation dueNov 17, 2021
References
- lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00016.htmlBroken LinkMailing List
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Nov/33Mailing ListNot Applicable
- chromereleases.googleblog.com/2020/10/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_20.htmlThird Party Advisory
- crbug.com/1139963ExploitIssue Tracking
- googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/p/rca-cve-2020-15999.htmlExploitThird Party Advisory
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/J3QVIGAAJ4D62YEJAJJWMCCBCOQ6TVL7/Release Notes
- security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-12Third Party Advisory
- security.gentoo.org/glsa/202012-04Third Party Advisory
- security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-19Third Party Advisory
- debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4824Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
- security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240812-0001/Third Party Advisory
- cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-15999US Government Resource
0 recent articles mention this CVE
84
Risk assessment · Critical
Actively exploited. Patch immediately.
- Exploitation
- Confirmed in the wild (CISA KEV)
- Federal remediation deadline
- Overdue by 1805 days
- CVSS
- 9.6 CRITICAL
- EPSS (30-day exploit probability)
- 63.9% · top 1% of all CVEs
- Weakness
- CWE-787
- Attack vector
- Network, remotely reachable
Recommended actions
- 1.Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- 2.Treat as emergency change: patch or isolate internet-facing instances first.
- 3.Review exposure: confirm which instances are reachable from the internet and restrict access until patched.
- 4.Hunt for compromise: review logs for the disclosure window, not just from the patch date.
Assessment is derived automatically from the live signals above; verify against your own asset inventory.