CVE-2026-34770: Electron use-after-free in powerMonitor module

CVE-2026-34770 · Severity: high · CVSS 7 · Published 2026-04-04

Electron is a popular framework used to build desktop applications like Slack, Discord, and VS Code. A flaw in how the framework handles power-related events (like computer sleep or shutdown) could cause an application to crash or allow for unauthorized memory access. This occurs when the application tries to use system resources that have already been cleaned up by the computer's memory management system.

Technologies: electron (npm). Vendors: npm.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-34770 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-34770 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-34770?
High severity, with a CVSS score of 7, published 4 April 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
electron (npm) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=38.8.6.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-34770?
Yes. electron (npm): upgrade to 38.8.6 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-34770 attacked?
It is attacked with local access, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-34770?
Check whether you run electron (npm) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • electron (npm): upgrade to 38.8.6 or later
    npm install electron@38.8.6

Technical details

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in Electron's powerMonitor module due to improper lifecycle management of native OS resources. When the native PowerMonitor object is garbage-collected, OS-level resources—specifically message windows on Windows and shutdown handlers on macOS—retain dangling references to the freed memory. An exploit is triggered when a subsequent system event, such as a session change or shutdown, attempts to dereference this memory. While not directly controllable from the renderer process, it can lead to memory corruption or arbitrary code execution in the main process. The issue is patched in versions 38.8.6, 39.8.1, 40.8.0, and 41.0.0-beta.8.

Affected products

  • ElectronJS Electron < 38.8.6, >= 39.0.0-alpha.1 < 39.8.1, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1 < 40.8.0, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1 < 41.0.0-beta.8

Identifiers

  • CVE-2026-34770
  • GHSA-jjp3-mq3x-295m

Timeline

  • 2026-04-02: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
  • 2026-04-04: disclosed: CVE published to NVD

References

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