Google has swiftly addressed a critical zero-day vulnerability, CVE-2025-2783, in its Chrome browser. Discovered by Kaspersky researchers Boris Larin and Igor Kuznetsov, this vulnerability allowed attackers to bypass Chrome’s sandbox protections. The flaw was located within the Mojo framework on Windows and was exploited to run malicious code on the victim’s system without any user interaction, posing a significant risk for cyber-espionage operations.
The vulnerability was actively exploited in phishing campaigns targeting Russian organizations, including media outlets, educational institutions, and government agencies.
The campaign, named Operation ForumTroll, saw attackers use personalized and short-lived malicious links to trick victims into clicking on them. Once clicked, the links would open in Chrome, initiating the malware download and triggering the attack. The exploit allowed the malware to work in tandem with a second exploit enabling remote code execution, though Kaspersky was unable to obtain details about the second exploit.
Kaspersky’s research team discovered the flaw in mid-March 2025, finding that it exploited a logical error between Chrome’s sandbox and the Windows operating system. The attackers behind this campaign used sophisticated malware, which indicated a likely state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group.
Kaspersky’s reverse-engineering of the exploit led to the report of the vulnerability to Google, which then moved to release a fix for Chrome, patching version 134.0.6998.177.
Google’s rapid response in releasing the security update disrupted the entire attack chain, blocking further infections. Users of Chrome are strongly advised to update their browsers to the latest version to ensure protection against future exploits. Kaspersky plans to release additional details about the exploit and its associated malware once more users have applied the patch. The incident highlights the growing sophistication of cyber-espionage campaigns and the critical need for timely security updates to mitigate these threats.
