CVE-2026-95345 in Chrome
Summary
by MITRE • 09/29/2026
Use after free in Actor in Google Chrome prior to 154.0.8037.57 allowed a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/29/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-6944 represents a critical memory safety flaw within the Google Chrome browser, specifically affecting versions prior to 154.0.8037.57. This issue is classified as an out-of-bounds read or use-after-free error occurring in the Actor component of the Chromium engine. The root cause lies in improper management of object lifecycles during asynchronous operations or event handling, where a reference to a memory location remains valid after that memory has been deallocated and potentially reallocated for other purposes. When an attacker crafts a malicious HTML page designed to trigger this specific race condition or state inconsistency, the browser attempts to access data through a pointer that no longer points to a legitimate object instance. This results in undefined behavior within the execution environment of the renderer process.
From a technical perspective, use-after-free vulnerabilities are among the most dangerous classes of memory corruption bugs because they allow attackers to manipulate how the program interprets freed memory. In the context of Chromium's multi-process architecture, each tab and extension runs in its own sandboxed renderer process with restricted privileges. However, if an attacker can control what data is written into the reallocated memory space before it is accessed by the dangling pointer, they may achieve arbitrary code execution within that isolated environment. While the sandbox provides a significant layer of defense against full system compromise, breaking out of the renderer sandbox remains a primary objective for advanced persistent threats and state-sponsored actors who utilize browser exploits as an initial access vector to infiltrate internal networks or deploy further malware payloads on target systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its remote exploitability via standard web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. A user visiting a maliciously crafted website can trigger the flaw without any additional interaction beyond loading the page, depending on the specific timing conditions required by the race condition. This lowers the barrier for entry significantly compared to vulnerabilities requiring user clicks or file downloads. The Chromium security team has rated this issue as Medium severity, which typically reflects that while exploitation is possible and impactful within the sandboxed context, it may require certain environmental conditions or additional steps to achieve a full system compromise. Nevertheless, given the widespread adoption of Chrome across enterprise environments, even medium-severity vulnerabilities pose substantial risk due to their potential for automated scanning and mass exploitation campaigns targeting unpatched endpoints.
To mitigate this threat, organizations must ensure that all instances of Google Chrome are updated to version 154.0.8037.57 or later immediately upon availability. For enterprise environments utilizing managed deployment policies, administrators should verify that automatic update mechanisms are functioning correctly and not blocked by local group policy settings. Additionally, implementing application whitelisting solutions can help restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts within browser contexts, thereby reducing the attack surface even if a vulnerability is present. Security awareness training for end-users remains relevant as well, encouraging caution when visiting unfamiliar websites or clicking on suspicious links that may host exploit kits designed to leverage such memory corruption flaws.
This incident aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-416, which describes use after free errors where software continues to use a pointer after it has been freed, leading to unpredictable behavior and potential security breaches. Furthermore, the exploitation technique maps directly to MITRE ATT&CK tactic T1203, specifically sub-technique 859 for Exploitation for Client Execution, which covers attacks that target client-side software like web browsers to execute malicious code on a victim's machine. Understanding these mappings helps security teams prioritize patching efforts and configure detection rules in endpoint protection platforms to monitor for anomalous memory access patterns or suspicious process creation events originating from browser processes following the exposure window of this vulnerability.