CVE-2020-15999: in the CISA KEV catalogue
Google Chrome FreeType Heap Buffer Overflow Vulnerability. CISA added CVE-2020-15999 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-11-03 with a default due date of 2021-11-17. Known ransomware campaign use: Unknown. Forensic triage flag: No.
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. (CISA description)
- Vendor / product
- Google Chrome FreeType
- CWE
- CWE-787
- CISA required action
- Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- EPSS
- 64%, percentile 99 (scored 2026-11-03)
EPSS puts about 64 in 100 odds (64%) on exploitation activity being observed in the next 30 days. Its score is higher than or equal to that of 99% of scored CVEs. This is a model estimate about exploitation anywhere, not about your environment.
Vendor and reference links (from CISA)
Your own deadline under CISA BOD 26-04 depends on exposure, automatability and technical impact: work it out with the BOD 26-04 calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is CVE-2020-15999 in the CISA KEV catalogue?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-15999 (Google Chrome FreeType Heap Buffer Overflow Vulnerability) to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-11-03. CISA's default due date for it is 2021-11-17.
Is CVE-2020-15999 used in ransomware attacks?
CISA marks known ransomware campaign use as Unknown for CVE-2020-15999. That means CISA lacks confirmation, not that ransomware groups do not use it.
What should I do about CVE-2020-15999?
CISA's required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Sources
- CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (accessed 2026-11-03)
- FIRST, Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) (EPSS by FIRST; scores generated by Empirical Security)
- NVD record for CVE-2020-15999