What is CVE-2026-5281?

CVE-2026-5281 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-04-01.

How severe is CVE-2026-5281?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2026-5281 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2026-5281 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-04-01), indicating it is being actively exploited. 5 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Use After Free in Apple macOS

CVE-2026-5281

Use after free in Dawn in Google Chrome prior to 146.0.7680.178 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to execute arbitrary code via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published 2026-04-01 · last modified 2026-07-24.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.007 (52.4th percentile), scored 2026-10-18.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 52nd percentile — 52.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.049 · newest: 0.007 · change: -0.042

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-416 — Use After Free

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2026-04-01. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2026-04-15.

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

chromereleases.googleblog.com/2026/03/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_31.html (Vendor Advisory)
issues.chromium.org/issues/491518608 (Permissions Required, Issue Tracking)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-5281?: CVE-2026-5281 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-04-01.
How severe is CVE-2026-5281?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2026-5281 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2026-5281 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-04-01), indicating it is being actively exploited. 5 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.