CVE-2026-14025: Google Chrome Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2026-14025 Overview

CVE-2026-14025 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Views component of Google Chrome on macOS prior to version 150.0.7871.47. A remote attacker who convinces a user to perform specific user interface gestures can trigger heap corruption through a crafted HTML page. The flaw is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free and requires user interaction to exploit. Google's Chromium team rated the underlying issue as Low severity, though the NVD assessment reflects a higher impact given the potential for heap corruption in the browser process.

Critical Impact
A remote attacker can potentially achieve heap corruption in Google Chrome on macOS by luring a user to a malicious page and inducing specific UI gestures, enabling further exploitation paths such as arbitrary code execution within the browser context.

Affected Products

Google Chrome for macOS versions prior to 150.0.7871.47
Apple macOS platforms running vulnerable Chrome builds
Chromium-derived browsers on macOS sharing the affected Views code path

Discovery Timeline

2026-06-30 - CVE-2026-14025 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-07-01 - Last updated in NVD database
2026-07-02 - EPSS score recorded at 0.316% (percentile 23.43)

Technical Details for CVE-2026-14025

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the Views subsystem of Chrome, which manages the browser's UI widget hierarchy and event dispatching on macOS. A use-after-free condition occurs when the Views code retains a pointer to a UI object after that object has been deallocated. When the freed memory is subsequently accessed during UI event handling, the browser dereferences a dangling pointer that may now reference attacker-controlled heap contents.

Exploitation is not fully automatic. The attacker must convince the target to visit a crafted HTML page and perform particular UI gestures such as clicks, drags, or focus changes that drive the vulnerable code path. Successful exploitation yields heap corruption, which attackers commonly chain with additional primitives to escape the renderer or achieve code execution within the browser process.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper object lifetime management in the Views component. A Views object is destroyed while another component retains a raw reference to it. When that reference is later dereferenced during UI event processing, the allocator may have reused the memory for attacker-influenced data, producing a type-confusion-like read or write against the heap.

Attack Vector

The attack originates over the network through a malicious or compromised web page. The attacker hosts crafted HTML and JavaScript that arranges the heap layout and triggers the vulnerable UI sequence. User interaction is required, aligning with the CVSS UI:R designation. No privileges are needed on the victim system beyond running the browser. Refer to the Google Chrome Stable Update and Chromium Issue Report #506482786 for vendor-provided technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-14025

Indicators of Compromise

Chrome renderer or browser process crashes on macOS with heap corruption signatures such as EXC_BAD_ACCESS referencing Views symbols
Unexpected child process spawns from Google Chrome.app following browsing sessions on untrusted sites
Outbound network connections from Chrome helper processes to unfamiliar domains shortly after loading crafted pages

Detection Strategies

Monitor endpoint telemetry for anomalous Chrome process behavior on macOS, including crash dumps that reference the Views component
Inventory installed Chrome versions across macOS fleets and flag any build earlier than 150.0.7871.47
Correlate browser crash events with recent navigation history to identify potentially malicious URLs

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable macOS unified logging for Chrome and forward crash reports to a centralized analytics pipeline
Track Chrome auto-update status to confirm that endpoints receive the fixed build
Alert on Chrome helper processes performing atypical file writes, code signing anomalies, or spawning shell interpreters

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-14025

Immediate Actions Required

Update Google Chrome on macOS to version 150.0.7871.47 or later on all managed endpoints
Verify Chrome auto-update is enabled and functional, and force a restart to apply the patched binary
Restrict browsing to trusted sites on any macOS endpoint that cannot be immediately patched

Patch Information

Google addressed the vulnerability in the Chrome Stable channel release documented in the Google Chrome Stable Update. The fix is included in Chrome 150.0.7871.47 for macOS. Additional engineering context is available in Chromium Issue Report #506482786. Administrators should validate deployment by checking chrome://version on representative endpoints after rollout.

Workarounds

Deploy enterprise policy to disable or limit exposure to untrusted sites until patching is complete
Use content filtering or DNS-layer controls to block known malicious domains that host exploit pages
Advise users to avoid performing prompted UI gestures on unfamiliar web pages

bash

# Verify installed Chrome version on macOS endpoints
/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --version

# Force Chrome update check via Google Software Update
/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate/GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle/Contents/Resources/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent -runMode oneshot -userInitiated YES