CVE-2026-78962 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 08/26/2026
Uninitialized resource in WebXR in Google Chrome prior to 152.0.7977.65 allowed a remote attacker leveraging social engineering to potentially leak cross-origin data via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/26/2026
The vulnerability identified as an uninitialized resource issue within the WebXR implementation of Google Chrome prior to version 152.0.7977.65 represents a significant memory safety flaw that can be exploited by remote attackers through social engineering tactics. This specific defect arises when the browser fails to properly initialize certain data structures or pointers associated with Extended Reality (WebXR) APIs before they are accessed or utilized during rendering and interaction processes. In software development, particularly in complex environments like web browsers where JavaScript interacts closely with native C++ code via bindings, failure to zero out memory or correctly allocate resources can lead to the exposure of stale data residing in that memory location. This phenomenon is commonly categorized under CWE-457, which describes the use of an uninitialized variable, a classic source of information disclosure vulnerabilities in systems programming.
From an operational perspective, this flaw allows for potential cross-origin data leakage, meaning sensitive information from one web origin could be inadvertently exposed to another origin that should not have access to it. An attacker would typically craft a malicious HTML page designed to trigger the WebXR functionality while simultaneously attempting to read memory contents or state variables before they are properly reset by the browser engine. By leveraging social engineering techniques such as phishing links or deceptive websites, an adversary can coerce a victim into visiting this crafted page. Once executed within the context of Chrome's sandboxed environment, the uninitialized resource may contain remnants of previous operations, including cookies, local storage data, or other sensitive state information from different domains that were previously loaded in the same browser session.
The security severity is classified as Medium by Chromium because while the vulnerability enables a form of cross-site scripting-like attack vector for data exfiltration, it requires user interaction and specific conditions to be met successfully. The impact is primarily confidentiality-related rather than integrity or availability, although successful exploitation could lead to broader account takeovers if session tokens are leaked. This type of memory corruption issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059, specifically the execution via browser scripts component, as it relies on client-side code manipulation within a web context. It also relates to data exfiltration over an existing encrypted connection (T1048) if the stolen data is sent back to the attacker's server through standard HTTP requests initiated by the malicious script.
Mitigation for this vulnerability primarily involves updating Google Chrome to version 152.0.7977.65 or later, where the underlying WebXR implementation has been patched to ensure all resources are correctly initialized before use. For organizations managing large fleets of endpoints, deploying automated patch management solutions is critical to ensuring timely updates across all user devices. Additionally, users should be educated on recognizing social engineering attempts and avoiding interaction with untrusted web content that requests immersive XR permissions or accesses sensitive browser APIs. Implementing strict Content Security Policies (CSP) can also help mitigate the impact by restricting the sources from which scripts can load data, thereby reducing the attack surface for cross-origin data leakage even if such a vulnerability were present in other components of the browser stack.