Home » Google patches third zero-day flaw in Chrome this year

Google patches third zero-day flaw in Chrome this year

by Nia Walker
2 minutes read

Google Chrome, a stalwart in the browser arena, has once again found itself under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The recent patch released by the Google Chrome team aimed to rectify a high-severity vulnerability that was being actively exploited in the wild. This incident marks the third zero-day flaw that Chrome has encountered this year alone.

The exploit, identified as CVE-2025-5419, was swiftly addressed in the latest Chrome update, version 137.0.7151.68/.69 for Windows and Mac, and 137.0.7151.68 for Linux. Despite a configuration adjustment deployed last week to mitigate the issue without necessitating a full browser update, the severity of the vulnerability warranted immediate attention.

Chrome’s reputation for robust security measures, including process sandboxes that pose significant challenges to potential attackers, makes exploits for the browser highly sought after commodities on underground markets. The complexity of breaching Chrome’s defenses to achieve remote code execution underscores the sophistication required to compromise such a fortified system.

The gravity of this latest vulnerability is underscored by the fact that it was reported to the Chrome team by Google’s Threat Analysis Group, responsible for safeguarding Google’s infrastructure against government-backed threats. The nature of the vulnerability, categorized as high severity, indicates that while it alone may not lead to remote code execution on the underlying operating system, combining it with another flaw could result in more severe consequences.

The specific vulnerability in question, described as an out-of-bounds memory read and write in Chrome’s V8 engine, which powers its JavaScript and WebAssembly functionality, poses a significant risk. Given the engine’s role in interpreting and executing code, the exploit could potentially be triggered remotely by simply visiting a compromised webpage.

In addition to addressing the critical vulnerability in the V8 engine, the latest Chrome update also resolves a medium-severity use-after-free memory bug in Blink, Chrome’s rendering engine. This bug was detected and reported by a security researcher who received a commendable $1,000 bounty for their contribution to strengthening Chrome’s defenses.

As always, it is crucial for users to ensure their browsers are up to date to benefit from the latest patches and security enhancements. While Chrome features an automatic update mechanism, users can manually check for updates by navigating to the Help > About Google Chrome menu.

In a landscape where cyber threats continue to evolve and proliferate, staying vigilant and proactive in updating software is paramount to safeguarding personal and organizational security. The swift response by the Chrome team in addressing this zero-day vulnerability underscores the importance of ongoing vigilance and collaboration in fortifying digital defenses against emerging threats.

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