Description
Insufficient policy enforcement in DevTools in Google Chrome on Android prior to 148.0.7778.96 allowed a local attacker to perform privilege escalation via a malicious file. (Chromium security severity: High)
Published: 2026-05-06
Score: 7.8 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Impact

Insufficient policy enforcement in DevTools allows a local attacker who can place a malicious file on the device to gain higher privileges than their account normally permits. The flaw enables the attacker to bypass normal security boundaries through the debugging interface, giving them the ability to elevate privileges within the Chrome process. The vulnerability is classified as a high‑severity privilege escalation, meaning it can grant full control over Chrome and may allow the attacker to impact other applications that rely on elevated privileges, although that expansion is inferred from the effect on Chrome itself.

Affected Systems

Google Chrome for Android is affected in all releases prior to version 148.0.7778.96. Users running older Android Chrome versions that have not applied the latest patch are vulnerable. The fault is confined to the DevTools component of the browser and does not affect the core rendering engine directly.

Risk and Exploitability

Because the attack requires local access to the device and the ability to place a file, it is a local privilege escalation rather than remote. The EPSS score is < 1%, indicating a very low but nonzero exploitation probability, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, suggesting that it does not appear in known exploitation campaigns. The CVSS score of 7.8 denotes a high severity; an attacker with local device access can exploit this flaw to gain higher privileges within Chrome.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on May 9, 2026 at 03:45 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Apply the latest Google Chrome update (148.0.7778.96 or later) on all Android devices
  • Restrict or disable DevTools debugging on the device to prevent local file exploitation
  • Verify that the device only stores files from trusted sources and remove any untrusted or suspicious files

Generated by OpenCVE AI on May 9, 2026 at 03:45 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6250-1 chromium security update
History

Sat, 09 May 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title Local Privilege Escalation via Malicious File in Chrome DevTools on Android chromium-browser: Insufficient policy enforcement in DevTools
Weaknesses CWE-266
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Important


Thu, 07 May 2026 02:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title Local Privilege Escalation via Malicious File in Chrome DevTools on Android

Thu, 07 May 2026 00:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title Local Privilege Escalation via Insufficient DevTools Policy Enforcement in Chrome for Android
Weaknesses CWE-640

Wed, 06 May 2026 23:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Google android
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:google:chrome:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:google:android:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Google android

Wed, 06 May 2026 23:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 06 May 2026 22:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-693
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}


Wed, 06 May 2026 21:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title Local Privilege Escalation via Insufficient DevTools Policy Enforcement in Chrome for Android
Weaknesses CWE-640

Wed, 06 May 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Google
Google chrome
Vendors & Products Google
Google chrome

Wed, 06 May 2026 18:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Insufficient policy enforcement in DevTools in Google Chrome on Android prior to 148.0.7778.96 allowed a local attacker to perform privilege escalation via a malicious file. (Chromium security severity: High)
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Chrome

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-07T03:56:42.323Z

Reserved: 2026-05-05T22:59:07.726Z

Link: CVE-2026-7913

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-05-06T20:37:20.225Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-05-06T19:16:39.590

Modified: 2026-05-06T23:40:30.187

Link: CVE-2026-7913

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2026-05-05T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-7913 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-09T04:00:14Z

Weaknesses