CVE-2025-3068: Google Chrome Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2025-3068 Overview

CVE-2025-3068 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Google Chrome on Android devices. The flaw stems from an inappropriate implementation in the Intents component, which allows a remote attacker to escalate privileges via a crafted HTML page. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), indicating that the Chrome browser fails to properly validate or sanitize intent-related input, enabling attackers to abuse the intent handling mechanism.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can achieve privilege escalation on Android devices by tricking users into visiting a malicious HTML page, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive device functionality and user data.

Affected Products

• Google Chrome on Android prior to version 135.0.7049.52

Discovery Timeline

• April 2, 2025 - CVE-2025-3068 published to NVD
• April 7, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-3068

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability exists within the Intents component of Google Chrome for Android. Android Intents are messaging objects used to request actions from other app components, enabling inter-process communication. The inappropriate implementation in Chrome's intent handling allows attackers to craft malicious HTML pages that abuse the intent mechanism to perform actions with elevated privileges.

The vulnerability requires user interaction—specifically, the victim must navigate to an attacker-controlled or compromised web page containing the malicious HTML. Once triggered, the flaw enables privilege escalation, potentially allowing the attacker to bypass security controls and access protected resources or functionality on the device.

Root Cause

The root cause is an improper input validation issue (CWE-20) in Chrome's Intents implementation on Android. The browser fails to adequately validate or sanitize intent-related data processed from web content, allowing specially crafted HTML to trigger unintended privilege escalation through the Android intent system.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker must entice a victim to visit a malicious web page containing specially crafted HTML. The attack flow typically involves:

1. Attacker creates a malicious HTML page designed to exploit the intent handling flaw
2. Victim navigates to the malicious page using a vulnerable version of Chrome on Android
3. The crafted HTML triggers the inappropriate intent implementation
4. Privilege escalation occurs, potentially granting the attacker elevated access to device resources

The vulnerability does not currently have known public exploits or proof-of-concept code available. For additional technical details, refer to the Chromium Issue Tracker Entry.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-3068

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual intent activity originating from Chrome browser processes
• Unexpected privilege escalation events on Android devices running Chrome
• Anomalous network traffic to suspicious domains followed by unusual app behavior

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Chrome browser version across managed Android devices and flag any running versions prior to 135.0.7049.52
• Implement mobile device management (MDM) solutions to track browser versions and enforce updates
• Deploy network monitoring to detect connections to known malicious domains serving exploit content
• Analyze application logs for suspicious intent-related activity originating from Chrome

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for privilege escalation patterns on Android endpoints
• Enable enhanced logging for Chrome browser activity on enterprise-managed devices
• Implement web filtering to block access to known malicious sites targeting Chrome vulnerabilities

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-3068

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Google Chrome on Android to version 135.0.7049.52 or later immediately
• Enforce browser update policies across all managed Android devices
• Educate users about the risks of visiting untrusted websites
• Consider temporarily restricting Chrome usage on Android devices until patches are applied in high-security environments

Patch Information

Google has addressed this vulnerability in Chrome version 135.0.7049.52. Organizations should update all Android devices running Chrome to this version or later. The patch details are available in the Chrome Release Update.

Workarounds

• Use an alternative browser on Android devices until Chrome can be updated
• Implement web content filtering to block access to untrusted or suspicious websites
• Enable Safe Browsing features in Chrome to help detect malicious pages
• Restrict user access to potentially malicious web content through network-level controls

# Verify Chrome version on Android (via ADB)
adb shell dumpsys package com.android.chrome | grep versionName
# Expected output should show version 135.0.7049.52 or higher