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: Medium)

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-25T21:17:52.400Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-25T21:17:52.400Z",
  "executiveSummary": "This vulnerability involves improper input validation within the Media component of Google Chrome, affecting versions prior to 152.0.7977.65.\nThe flaw is classified as a remote code execution vulnerability, enabling an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution outside the browser sandbox environment.\nThe attack vector requires the victim to interact with a crafted HTML page, which leverages the flawed input handling mechanism to trigger memory corruption or logic errors.\nGiven the severity and the ability to bypass sandbox security controls, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to user systems, potentially leading to total system compromise.\nThe vulnerability does not require authentication from the victim, but relies on successful social engineering or navigation to the attacker-controlled webpage.\nChromium developers have assessed the security severity of this issue as Medium, reflecting the complexity of exploitation while acknowledging the critical nature of sandbox escapes.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the Media processing component of the Chromium browser engine. It stems from insufficient validation of inputs handled by the browser's media parser or processing pipeline. When the browser encounters malformed or specifically crafted media data within an HTML context, the improper validation logic fails to enforce strict bounds or sanitization protocols, leading to an exploitable state.\nThe root cause is identified as an input validation flaw, which likely permits the processing of unexpected data structures or values that lead to memory management errors. In many similar Chromium media vulnerabilities, this often manifests as a heap buffer overflow, use-after-free, or integer overflow during the decoding or rendering process. By supplying a specially crafted HTML page, an attacker can deliver a malicious media stream or file designed to trigger this latent instability.\nThe attack flow initiates when an end-user navigates to a compromised or attacker-controlled website. The page initiates an automated load of the malicious media object. Upon processing this object, the Media component encounters the invalid input, which precipitates a memory corruption condition. Because the vulnerability involves a bypass of the browser's sandbox—a critical security boundary designed to isolate browser-level exploits from the underlying operating system—the attacker can escalate privileges beyond the restricted sandbox process.\nSuccessfully bypassing the sandbox allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the browser process, or potentially escalate to higher system privileges depending on the underlying kernel state and operating system configuration. The vulnerability does not mandate specific user authentication; however, the requirement to visit a malicious URL serves as the primary gateway for exploitation. Post-exploitation, the attacker gains the capability to install persistent malware, access sensitive user data, or perform lateral movement within the host network.\nVersions of Google Chrome prior to 152.0.7977.65 are affected. The flaw is inherent to the parsing logic of the media handling sub-components. Exploitation relies on the browser's ability to interpret and decode media formats as requested by the Document Object Model (DOM) or embedded HTML tags. Defensive mechanisms, such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and Data Execution Prevention (DEP), may increase the complexity of successful exploitation but do not eliminate the underlying susceptibility if the bypass logic is sufficiently robust."
}