CVE-2026-106180 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 10/06/2026
Observable discrepancy in Animation in Google Chrome prior to 155.0.8059.39 allowed a remote attacker to potentially obtain cross-origin data via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/06/2026
The vulnerability identified as an observable discrepancy in animation within versions of Google Chrome prior to 155.0.8059.39 represents a significant breach in the browser's isolation mechanisms, specifically targeting the cross-origin data access controls that are fundamental to web security architecture. This flaw stems from improper handling of state during CSS animations or JavaScript-driven visual transitions, where the rendering engine fails to properly enforce boundary checks between different origins. In standard web operations, browsers utilize the Same-Origin Policy (SOP) and Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) protocols to ensure that a script loaded from one origin cannot read sensitive data from another origin unless explicitly permitted by the target server. However, in this specific instance, the animation logic allowed for an observable discrepancy that could be exploited to infer or extract cross-origin information through timing attacks or side-channel analysis rather than direct memory access.
From a technical perspective, the core issue lies in how the browser's rendering pipeline processes animated properties across different document contexts. When a crafted HTML page triggers specific animations involving elements from multiple origins, the internal state management of these animations does not correctly isolate the data streams associated with each origin. This lack of strict isolation allows an attacker to construct a scenario where subtle differences in animation timing or visual output can be measured by malicious scripts running on the attacker's domain. By carefully measuring these discrepancies, such as variations in frame rendering times or pixel values that leak information about cross-origin resources, an attacker can reconstruct sensitive data belonging to other domains. This type of attack is particularly insidious because it does not rely on traditional injection techniques but rather exploits the deterministic nature of browser rendering engines under specific animation conditions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for users who engage in activities involving multiple tabs or windows with different origins, such as online banking, email access, or corporate intranet usage. An attacker hosting a malicious webpage could potentially steal session cookies, authentication tokens, or private user data from other open tabs by leveraging the animation discrepancy to perform cross-origin information leakage attacks. This undermines the trust model of the web platform and poses a direct risk to user privacy and financial security. The severity is classified as medium within the Chromium project because while it requires social engineering elements like luring users to a crafted page, the potential for data exfiltration without explicit user interaction beyond visiting the site makes it a high-risk vector for targeted attacks or large-scale phishing campaigns that rely on background data theft rather than immediate credential harvesting.
To mitigate this risk, organizations and individual users must ensure that Google Chrome is updated to version 155.0.8059.39 or later immediately upon availability. This update contains the necessary patches to enforce stricter isolation during animation processing and corrects the state management logic that led to the observable discrepancy. For enterprise environments, it is advisable to implement automated patch management systems to ensure rapid deployment of security updates across all endpoints. Additionally, users should be educated on the risks of visiting untrusted websites, as this vulnerability requires a crafted HTML page hosted by an attacker to execute successfully. While browser-level mitigations are primary, supplementing with content security policies and restricting third-party cookie access can further reduce the attack surface for cross-origin data theft attempts.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) category CWE-200, which covers Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, specifically under subcategories related to timing side channels or improper isolation of resources. In terms of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this exploit technique corresponds to T1537, which involves Transfer Data over a Different Network Medium or Protocol, but more accurately maps to techniques involving browser-based data exfiltration through DOM manipulation and cross-origin information leakage such as those seen in previous CVEs related to Chrome's rendering engine. Understanding these mappings helps security teams categorize the threat correctly within their incident response playbooks and prioritize remediation efforts based on the specific attack vectors utilized by modern web-based threats.