CVE-2026-34770 Electron: Use-after-free in PowerMonitor on Windows and macOS
Attackers can trigger a use-after-free in Electron's PowerMonitor module, potentially causing application crashes or arbitrary code execution.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-34770?
CVE-2026-34770 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Electronjs Electron, published on 3 Apr 2026. 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
Electron is a framework for writing cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Prior to versions 38.8.6, 39.8.1, 40.8.0, and 41.0.0-beta.8, apps that use the powerMonitor module may be vulnerable to a use-after-free. After the native PowerMonitor object is garbage-collected, the associated OS-level resources (a message window on Windows, a shutdown handler on macOS) retain dangling references. A subsequent session-change event (Windows) or system shutdown (macOS) dereferences freed memory, which may lead to a crash or memory corruption. All apps that access powerMonitor events (suspend, resume, lock-screen, etc.) are potentially affected. The issue is not directly renderer-controllable. This issue has been patched in versions 38.8.6, 39.8.1, 40.8.0, and 41.0.0-beta.8.
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-34770?
8 open source packages ship an affected version, including electron. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
electron npm | All versions | 38.8.6 |
electron npm | All versions | 38.8.6 |
electron npm | From 39.0.0-alpha.1 | 39.8.1 |
electron npm | From 39.0.0-alpha.1 | 39.8.1 |
electron npm | From 40.0.0-alpha.1 | 40.8.0 |
electron npm | From 40.0.0-alpha.1 | 40.8.0 |
2 more packages
electron npm | From 41.0.0-alpha.1 | 41.0.0-beta.8 |
electron npm | From 41.0.0-alpha.1 | 41.0.0-beta.8 |
Products include Electronjs Electron.
How do I fix CVE-2026-34770?
Upgrade electron to a fixed version for your release line: 38.8.6, 39.8.1, 40.8.0 or 41.0.0-beta.8.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-34770 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-34770 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Electronjs Electron
- CVE-2017-16151 Chromium Remote Code Execution in electron
- CVE-2018-1000118 Electron protocol handler browser vulnerable to Command Injection
- CVE-2026-34780 Electron: Context Isolation bypass via contextBridge VideoFrame transfer
- CVE-2026-102676 Electron: <webview> can enable Node.js integration in Web Workers despite embedder restrictions
- CVE-2026-102673 Electron drops inherited HTML sandbox restrictions for popups opened through OpenURLFromTab
Sources
Also known as GHSA-jjp3-mq3x-295m.