A 'deadly' security vulnerability has been discovered in the Chrome browser; clicking on it will lead to hacking.

After clicking the link, the user's system is immediately compromised, even if they don't take any further action.

Kaspersky discovers a 'deadly' security vulnerability in the Chrome browser - Photo: KASPERSKY

On April 2nd, Kaspersky announced that it had discovered and patched a critical zero-day vulnerability in the Google Chrome browser. Previously, the company had detected a wave of infections occurring when users clicked on personalized phishing links sent via email.

Kaspersky named this campaign “Operation ForumTroll,” because the attackers used emails inviting victims to participate in the “Primakov Readings” forum to carry out their scams. The main targets included media outlets, educational institutions, and government agencies in Russia.

More sophisticatedly, these malicious links only exist for a short time to avoid detection. And in most cases, the links will redirect to Primakov Readings' legitimate website to conceal their tracks after the scam is complete.

The zero-day vulnerability in Chrome is just one link in a chain of attacks, in which the attacker uses at least two exploit tools. One of these is a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability, believed to be the initial step in the attack. However, experts have not yet gathered complete information about this vulnerability.

The second step in the attack chain was exploiting a Chrome sandbox bypass vulnerability, the same vulnerability that Kaspersky discovered. Kaspersky's analysis showed that this campaign was primarily for espionage purposes. The evidence gathered indicated that the campaign was linked to an APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) hacking group.

Boris Larin, head of security research at Kaspersky's GReAT, commented: "This vulnerability is particularly dangerous compared to the dozens of zero-day vulnerabilities we've discovered over the years."

According to this expert, attackers exploit this vulnerability to bypass Chrome's sandbox protection mechanism without performing any obvious actions, as if the browser's security system were virtually nonexistent.

"Looking at the level of sophistication, it's clear this attack method was developed by highly skilled and well-resourced cybercrime groups. We recommend that all users update Google Chrome and other browsers using the Chromium platform to the latest version to avoid the risk of attack," Boris Larin advised.

Kaspersky stated that Google has acknowledged the security vulnerability and has promptly released a patch. Users should update their Google Chrome browser to avoid cybercriminals exploiting these new vulnerabilities.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phat-hien-lo-hong-bao-mat-chet-nguoi-tren-trinh-duyet-chrome-nhap-vao-la-bi-xam-nhap-20250402155243436.htm