# CVE-2017-5078: Command injection in Google Chrome prior to 59.0.3071.86 for Linux, Windows and Mac

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary commands via crafted HTML pages due to insufficient input validation in Chrome's mailto handling.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mvv4-2gfv-gwc4, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-5078

## What is CVE-2017-5078?

CVE-2017-5078 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Google Chrome, published on 27 Oct 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Insufficient validation of untrusted input in Blink's mailto: handling in Google Chrome prior to 59.0.3071.86 for Linux, Windows, and Mac allowed a remote attacker to perform command injection via a crafted HTML page, a similar issue to CVE-2004-0121. For example, characters such as * have an incorrect interaction with xdg-email in xdg-utils, and a space character can be used in front of a command-line argument.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-5078?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Google Chrome, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-5078?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-5078 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-5078 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-2017-5078 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-5078 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Google Chrome, published on 27 Oct 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-5078 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-2017-5078/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5078/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5078
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5078
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-5078

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5078/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.