- Google Chrome has patched its first zero-day flaw of the year
- The bug allowed cyber-espionage, primarily against targets in Russia
- Kaspersky researchers thanked for finding bug, and users told to update now
Google has fixed a high-severity zero-day vulnerability in its Chrome browser that was being exploited in the wild.
In a security advisory, the company described the bug as an “incorrect handle provided in unspecified circumstances in Mojo on Windows”.
The flaw is tracked as CVE-2’25-2783, and it’s yet to be given a severity score. Google just lists it as “high” in its advisory. It was fixed with version 134.0.6998.178 that already rolled out, so make sure to double-check if you’ve already received it.
Operation ForumTroll
The company did not detail who the attackers, or the victims, are, and just said it will restrict access to bug details and links until the majority of users update their browsers. It did, however, thank two Kaspersky researchers - Boris Larin and Igor Kuznetsov, for uncovering the flaw.
In a separate report, Kaspersky said the vulnerability was being used to escape the browser’s sandbox and deploy malware against targets in Russia.
The researchers spotted it while investigating a "spike in infections" from a previously unknown malware strain, Cyberinsider reported.
The campaign involves phishing, redirecting victims to primakovreadings[dot]info. The entire campaign was dubbed Operation ForumTroll and apparently, the goal is to conduct cyber-espionage.
Kaspersky also said Operation ForumTroll attackers also used a separate vulnerability to enable remote code execution on compromised endpoints. However, patching the Chrome flaw breaks the entire infection chain.
"While research is still ongoing, but judging by the functionality of the sophisticated malware used in the attack, Kaspersky says the attackers' goal was likely espionage," Kaspersky said.
"The malicious emails contained invitations supposedly from the organizers of a scientific and expert forum, 'Primakov Readings,' targeting media outlets, educational institutions and government organizations in Russia. Based on the content of the emails, we dubbed the campaign Operation ForumTroll."
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