CVE-2020-15999
CRITICALCISA KEVEPSS 99th pctlDescription
Heap buffer overflow in Freetype in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.111 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.
How to fix
This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2023-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2028-04-01.
This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2025-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2030-04-02.
This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2023-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2028-04-01.
This Ubuntu release reached end-of-life on 2025-05-31. Extended security maintenance is available until 2030-04-02.
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 99% of all known CVEs.
Google Chrome FreeType Heap Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
Google Chrome uses FreeType, an open-source software library to render fonts, which contains a heap buffer overflow vulnerability in the function Load_SBit_Png when processing PNG images embedded into fonts. This vulnerability is part of an exploit chain with CVE-2020-17087 on Windows and CVE-2020-16010 on Android.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Remediation due: 2021-11-17
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-22457 | Critical | 9.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2025-0282 | Critical | 9.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | - |
| CVE-2023-4863 | High | 8.8 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2015-3113 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2021-20038 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | - |
| CVE-2019-11043 | High | 8.7 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2020-15999?
Published advisories record a fix for 16 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2020-15999 being actively exploited?
Yes. CVE-2020-15999 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation has been observed in the wild. US federal agencies were required to remediate it by 2021-11-17. Treat it as a priority whatever its CVSS score says.
How severe is CVE-2020-15999?
CVE-2020-15999 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.6, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2020-15999 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for freetype (Amazon), freetype-debuginfo (Amazon), freetype-debugsource (Amazon), freetype-demos (Amazon), and 12 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2020-15999
Markdown
[](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2020-15999)HTML
<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2020-15999"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2020-15999.svg" alt="CVE-2020-15999"></a>This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-06-17.