CVE-2025-14765: Google Chrome Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2025-14765 Overview

CVE-2025-14765 is a use-after-free vulnerability affecting the WebGPU implementation in Google Chrome prior to version 143.0.7499.147. This memory corruption flaw allows a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption through a crafted HTML page, which could lead to arbitrary code execution within the browser context.

Critical Impact

This use-after-free vulnerability in Chrome's WebGPU component enables remote attackers to corrupt heap memory and potentially execute arbitrary code by luring victims to malicious web pages.

Affected Products

• Google Chrome versions prior to 143.0.7499.147
• Google Chrome on Microsoft Windows
• Google Chrome on Apple macOS
• Google Chrome on Linux

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-12-16 - CVE-2025-14765 published to NVD
• 2025-12-18 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-14765

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-416 (Use After Free), a memory corruption flaw where the application continues to reference memory after it has been freed. In the context of WebGPU, this occurs when GPU resources or associated objects are deallocated while still being referenced by other parts of the rendering pipeline.

WebGPU is a modern graphics API that provides high-performance GPU access for rendering and computation in web browsers. The complexity of managing GPU resource lifecycles, combined with asynchronous operations inherent to graphics programming, creates opportunities for use-after-free conditions when object lifetimes are not properly tracked.

The vulnerability requires user interaction—specifically, the victim must navigate to a malicious webpage containing specially crafted HTML and JavaScript that triggers the vulnerable code path. Once triggered, an attacker can manipulate the freed memory region, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution within the Chrome renderer process.

Root Cause

The root cause lies in improper memory lifecycle management within Chrome's WebGPU implementation. When GPU objects are destroyed or released, dangling references may persist in other components of the WebGPU subsystem. Subsequent operations that dereference these stale pointers access freed memory, creating an exploitable condition.

Use-after-free vulnerabilities in browser graphics APIs are particularly dangerous because:

• The freed memory may be reallocated and populated with attacker-controlled data
• Graphics APIs process complex data structures that can be manipulated to achieve precise memory layout control
• Successful exploitation can escape browser sandboxing in combination with other vulnerabilities

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring the attacker to host malicious content on a web server and entice the victim to visit the page. The exploitation flow involves:

1. Victim navigates to attacker-controlled webpage
2. Malicious JavaScript initializes WebGPU resources in a specific pattern
3. The script triggers resource deallocation while maintaining stale references
4. Subsequent GPU operations use the freed memory, corrupting heap structures
5. Attacker achieves code execution through controlled heap manipulation

The exploitation requires no special privileges but does require user interaction to visit the malicious page. For detailed technical information, refer to the Chromium Issue Tracker Entry.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-14765

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected Chrome renderer process crashes or instability when visiting unknown websites
• Memory corruption errors or heap-related exceptions in Chrome crash dumps
• Suspicious JavaScript patterns attempting to rapidly create and destroy WebGPU resources
• Unusual network connections initiated after visiting untrusted web content

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Chrome browser version across endpoints and alert on versions prior to 143.0.7499.147
• Deploy browser isolation solutions to contain potential exploitation attempts
• Implement network monitoring for connections to known malicious domains serving browser exploits
• Enable Chrome's built-in security features including Site Isolation and strict sandboxing

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor Chrome process behavior for signs of memory corruption exploitation
• Review browser crash telemetry for patterns indicating exploitation attempts targeting WebGPU
• Monitor for child process spawning from Chrome renderer processes which may indicate sandbox escape attempts
• Implement web content filtering to block access to recently registered or suspicious domains

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-14765

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Google Chrome to version 143.0.7499.147 or later immediately across all managed endpoints
• Enable automatic Chrome updates to ensure timely patching of future vulnerabilities
• Consider temporarily disabling WebGPU functionality in Chrome via enterprise policy if patching is delayed
• Educate users about the risks of visiting untrusted websites while systems remain unpatched

Patch Information

Google has addressed this vulnerability in Chrome version 143.0.7499.147. The fix corrects the memory lifecycle management issue in the WebGPU implementation to prevent use-after-free conditions.

Organizations should prioritize deployment of this update given the potential for remote code execution. For official patch details, see the Google Chrome Stable Update announcement.

Workarounds

• Disable WebGPU in Chrome using the command-line flag --disable-features=Vulkan,WebGPU until patching is complete
• Implement browser isolation solutions to execute untrusted web content in isolated environments
• Use network-level filtering to restrict access to potentially malicious web content
• Consider deploying alternative browsers temporarily for high-risk user populations

# Chrome enterprise policy to disable WebGPU (Windows Registry)
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
# Create REG_SZ value: CommandLineFlagSecurityWarningsEnabled = 0
# Launch Chrome with: --disable-features=Vulkan,WebGPU

# For macOS/Linux, launch Chrome with:
google-chrome --disable-features=Vulkan,WebGPU