Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affected Google Chrome before 51.0.2704.63. A malicious PDF could trigger an out-of-bounds memory read in PDFium, Chrome’s PDF component. The provided sources do not show active exploitation or business impact beyond exposure from outdated Chrome handling untrusted PDFs.
Executive priority
Treat this as a legacy hygiene issue unless old Chrome builds remain in use. The urgency increases if unmanaged endpoints, kiosks, or isolated systems still process external PDFs with outdated Chrome.
Technical view
CVE-2016-10403 is insufficient validation of image data in PDFium in Google Chrome before 51.0.2704.63. The stated impact is remote out-of-bounds memory read via a crafted PDF file. No CVSS, CWE, or detailed bug data is included in the provided bundle.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to systems running Google Chrome versions before 51.0.2704.63 that can open untrusted PDF files. The sources do not identify other affected products or supported downstream packages.
Exploitation context
The bundle marks KEV as false and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. The plausible attack context is a user or system processing a crafted PDF in an affected Chrome version, but weaponization details are not provided.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sparse: the record names PDFium image-data validation and out-of-bounds read, but lacks CVSS, CWE, exploit status, and root-cause details. Do not expand affected scope beyond Chrome before 51.0.2704.63 without additional vendor evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Chrome to at least 51.0.2704.63 or a current supported release.
- Remove or isolate unsupported Chrome versions from enterprise-managed systems.
- Check Google’s advisory and bug reference for any environment-specific guidance.
- Reduce exposure to untrusted PDFs on systems that cannot be immediately updated.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Chrome versions and flag anything older than 51.0.2704.63.
- Confirm enterprise update controls are enforcing supported Chrome releases.
- Review browser telemetry for legacy Chrome installations handling PDF files.
- Document any exception systems and compensating controls.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2016-10403 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2016/05/stable-channel-update_25.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://crbug.com/602046CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.