# CVE-2011-2842: Race condition in n/a

> Improper lock file handling in the Chrome installer on Mac OS X allows local attackers to potentially escalate privileges via race conditions.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2011
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m272-4mcw-jcgr

## What is CVE-2011-2842?

CVE-2011-2842 is a high-severity vulnerability in Google Chrome, published on 17 Sep 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The installer in Google Chrome before 14.0.835.163 on Mac OS X does not properly handle lock files, which has unspecified impact and attack vectors.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-2842?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Google Chrome.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-2842?

No fix has been published for CVE-2011-2842 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2011-2842 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-2842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Google Chrome

- [CVE-2022-4135](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4135/): Google Chromium GPU Heap Buffer Overflow (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-16017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16017/): Google Chrome Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-16010](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16010/): Google Chrome for Android UI Heap Buffer Overflow (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-87491](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-87491/): Google Chromium V8 Out of Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-85046](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85046/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-2842 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-2842 is a high-severity vulnerability in Google Chrome, published on 17 Sep 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-2842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Google Chrome. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2842/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2842/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-2842
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-2842
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-2842

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2842/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.