CVE-2025-11458: Google Chrome Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2025-11458 Overview

A heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Sync component of Google Chrome prior to version 141.0.7390.65. This memory corruption flaw allows a remote attacker to perform an out-of-bounds memory read by convincing a user to visit a specially crafted HTML page. The vulnerability is classified as High severity by the Chromium security team and poses significant risk to confidentiality and integrity of affected systems.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this heap buffer overflow to read sensitive memory contents and potentially compromise system integrity through crafted web pages, affecting all major desktop operating systems.

Affected Products

• Google Chrome versions prior to 141.0.7390.65
• Google Chrome on Microsoft Windows
• Google Chrome on Apple macOS
• Google Chrome on Linux

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-11-06 - CVE-2025-11458 published to NVD
• 2025-11-25 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-11458

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is a heap buffer overflow (CWE-122) and out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) in the Sync component of Google Chrome. The Sync feature is responsible for synchronizing user data such as bookmarks, history, passwords, and settings across devices. Due to improper bounds checking during memory operations within this component, an attacker can craft malicious HTML content that triggers the overflow condition.

When a user visits a malicious webpage, the crafted content causes the browser to allocate a heap buffer and subsequently write or read data beyond its allocated boundaries. This out-of-bounds memory access can expose sensitive information stored in adjacent memory regions, including authentication tokens, session data, or other browser-related secrets. Additionally, the integrity impact suggests potential for memory corruption that could lead to further exploitation.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-11458 is inadequate bounds validation within the Sync component's memory handling routines. When processing certain inputs, the component fails to properly verify that data operations remain within the allocated buffer boundaries. This oversight allows attackers to craft inputs that exceed expected buffer sizes, leading to heap corruption and out-of-bounds memory access.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker must convince a victim to navigate to a malicious webpage containing specially crafted HTML content. The attack flow is as follows:

1. Attacker creates a malicious webpage with crafted HTML designed to trigger the heap buffer overflow
2. Victim is lured to visit the malicious page via phishing, social engineering, or malicious advertisements
3. Chrome's Sync component processes the malicious input without proper bounds checking
4. Heap buffer overflow occurs, allowing out-of-bounds memory read operations
5. Attacker can potentially exfiltrate sensitive data or corrupt memory to further compromise the browser

The vulnerability is exploitable across all desktop platforms where Google Chrome runs, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. For additional technical details, refer to the Chromium Issue Tracker Entry.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-11458

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected Chrome browser crashes or memory errors when visiting certain websites
• Anomalous network traffic patterns from Chrome processes to unknown external servers
• Browser Sync component logging unusual errors or exceptions
• Memory access violations detected by endpoint protection solutions

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for Chrome versions below 141.0.7390.65 deployed across the enterprise
• Implement browser version inventory and compliance checking via endpoint management tools
• Deploy web content filtering to identify and block known malicious pages targeting this vulnerability
• Enable crash reporting and analyze crash dumps for heap corruption signatures

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure SentinelOne to detect anomalous memory access patterns in Chrome processes
• Implement network monitoring to identify potential data exfiltration following browser compromise
• Enable browser telemetry collection to track version compliance and suspicious behavior
• Set up alerts for Chrome crash events that may indicate exploitation attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-11458

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Google Chrome to version 141.0.7390.65 or later immediately across all systems
• Enable automatic Chrome updates to ensure timely patching of future vulnerabilities
• Educate users about risks of clicking untrusted links and visiting suspicious websites
• Review browser extension policies to minimize attack surface

Patch Information

Google has addressed this vulnerability in Chrome version 141.0.7390.65. Organizations should prioritize updating to this version or later. The official security update details are available in the Google Chrome Stable Channel Update.

For enterprise deployments, administrators can use Google's administrative tools or third-party patch management solutions to deploy the update across managed Chrome installations.

Workarounds

• Temporarily disable the Chrome Sync feature via enterprise policy if immediate patching is not possible
• Implement strict web content filtering to block access to untrusted or newly registered domains
• Consider using browser isolation technologies for high-risk browsing activities
• Deploy network-level protections to inspect and filter malicious web content

# Enterprise Chrome policy to disable Sync (Windows Registry)
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
# Create DWORD value: SyncDisabled = 1

# Linux/macOS managed preferences
# Set "SyncDisabled": true in Chrome policy JSON