Description

Improper input validation in Media in Google Chrome prior to 152.0.7977.65 allowed a remote attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code outside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "9.6",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-25T21:17:47.410Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-25T21:17:47.410Z",
  "executiveSummary": "This vulnerability involves an improper input validation flaw within the Media component of Google Chrome, identified in versions prior to 152.0.7977.65.\nThe flaw allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code outside the browser sandbox context through a specially crafted HTML page.\nThe vulnerability is classified with a High severity rating due to the potential for complete system compromise and the bypass of fundamental browser security boundaries.\nSuccessful exploitation requires minimal user interaction, typically involving the victim navigating to a malicious website hosting the crafted media payload.\nThe impact is significant, as it enables remote code execution (RCE) on the underlying host operating system, effectively neutralizing the isolation provided by the Chromium sandbox.\nOrganizations and users should treat this as a critical security update requirement, prioritizing the transition to patched versions to mitigate the risk of exploitation.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper input validation performed by the Media component within the Chromium engine. When processing media-related data from a remote source, the browser fails to adequately sanitize or verify the structure and content of the input provided by an untrusted HTML document.\nThe attack flow initiates when an attacker lures a user to a malicious web page. This page contains a crafted HTML structure—likely leveraging media tags such as <video> or <audio>—designed to trigger the validation logic flaw during the parsing or rendering phase of the media stream. By supplying malformed data that violates expected internal formats, the attacker forces the media processing engine into an inconsistent state.\nOnce the validation logic is bypassed, the vulnerability likely manifests as a memory corruption issue, such as a buffer overflow, heap-based memory corruption, or an out-of-bounds access. Given the description of executing code 'outside the sandbox,' the exploit likely leverages a secondary mechanism or a race condition to achieve a sandbox escape. This suggests that the initial execution occurs within the renderer process, which then facilitates an escalation into the privileged browser process or the host system memory space.\nThe exploitation method relies on the browser's failure to enforce strict bounds checking or data integrity constraints during the handling of complex media codecs or container formats. As the media library processes the crafted input, it performs operations on memory addresses influenced by the malicious input, allowing the attacker to overwrite critical function pointers, return addresses, or data structures necessary for control flow hijacking.\nBecause the vulnerability facilitates a sandbox escape, the post-exploitation impact is severe. Once control is gained outside the sandbox, the attacker is no longer constrained by the browser's security policies and can execute arbitrary payloads, access sensitive files on the host, install persistent malware, or move laterally within the network. The exploit does not require authentication or elevated user privileges, making it a highly effective vector for remote drive-by attacks.\nThe vulnerable component is identified specifically within the browser's Media subsystem, which is responsible for handling high-bandwidth and computationally intensive data streams. The lack of robust validation in this subsystem provides a gateway for memory-based exploitation that bypasses the primary security architecture of the Chromium browser."
}