Overview
In this blog post, we delve into the details of a critical security vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-9478. This vulnerability, found in Google’s Chrome browser, specifically in the Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine (ANGLE), can potentially allow a remote attacker to exploit heap corruption via a carefully crafted HTML page. This issue affects a wide range of users, given the popularity of Google Chrome as a web browser. Its severity underscores the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and timely patch application.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-9478
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Google Chrome | Prior to 139.0.7258.154
How the Exploit Works
This vulnerability exists due to a “use after free” condition in the ANGLE component of Google Chrome. In essence, it allows for the manipulation of memory that has already been freed, hence the term “use after free”. A remote attacker can craft a malicious HTML page that triggers this condition, leading to heap corruption. This can potentially result in arbitrary code execution, allowing the attacker to compromise the system or leak data.
Conceptual Example Code
While the specifics of the exploit code are not disclosed for security reasons, an illustrative example of a malicious HTML page triggering the vulnerability might look something like this:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<script>
var angleInstance = new ANGLE();
angleInstance.free();
// Memory is freed but still used here, triggering the vulnerability
angleInstance.use();
</script>
</body>
</html>In this hypothetical example, an instance of ANGLE is created, freed, and then used again. This use after the memory has been freed is what triggers the vulnerability and leads to the potential heap corruption.
Mitigation Guidance
To protect against this vulnerability, users are advised to apply the latest vendor patch. For Google Chrome, this means updating to version 139.0.7258.154 or later. As a temporary mitigation, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used to filter out malicious traffic. However, this does not replace the necessity of applying the vendor patch to completely resolve the vulnerability.
