Overview
CVE-2025-13992 is a security vulnerability discovered in Google Chrome’s Navigation and Loading mechanisms, specifically affecting versions prior to 139.0.7258.66. This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to potentially bypass Chrome’s site isolation feature, a crucial security mechanism designed to prevent malicious websites from accessing sensitive data from other websites open in the same browser. The vulnerability stems from a side-channel information leakage issue exploitable via a crafted HTML page.
Technical Details
The vulnerability is categorized as a side-channel information leakage issue within Chrome’s navigation and loading processes. While the exact mechanism is detailed in the Chromium bug report (referenced below), it generally involves observing subtle variations in system behavior (e.g., timing differences, memory access patterns) during the loading of a crafted HTML page. These variations, though seemingly insignificant, can be leveraged to infer information about other processes or websites running within the browser, effectively bypassing site isolation.
Site isolation is a critical security feature in Chrome that aims to isolate different websites into separate processes, preventing one website from directly accessing the memory or data of another. By exploiting this side-channel leakage, an attacker could potentially gain unauthorized access to cross-site data, leading to information theft or other malicious activities. The crafted HTML page is the attack vector. It’s designed to trigger the side-channel effect and gather the leaked information.
CVSS Analysis
Unfortunately, the CVSS score and severity are currently listed as N/A. Given the nature of the vulnerability (bypassing site isolation), the severity is likely to be at least Medium, as indicated by Chromium’s security severity rating. A successful exploitation would likely lead to information disclosure, a significant security concern. We will update this section as soon as the official CVSS score becomes available.
Factors influencing the CVSS score would include:
- Attack Vector: Remote (network-based)
- Attack Complexity: Likely High (requires crafting a specific HTML page and understanding side-channel attack techniques)
- Privileges Required: None (attacker doesn’t need any user credentials)
- User Interaction: Requires user to visit the malicious HTML page
- Scope: Changed (impacts the security of other websites)
- Confidentiality Impact: High (potential for sensitive data leakage)
- Integrity Impact: None (no direct modification of data)
- Availability Impact: None (no direct impact on system availability)
Possible Impact
A successful exploitation of CVE-2025-13992 could have significant consequences:
- Cross-site Information Disclosure: An attacker could steal sensitive data from other websites open in the same browser session, such as login credentials, personal information, or financial data.
- Bypass of Security Measures: The vulnerability undermines Chrome’s site isolation feature, weakening the browser’s overall security posture.
- Reputational Damage: Chrome users could lose trust in the browser’s ability to protect their data.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
The primary mitigation for CVE-2025-13992 is to update Google Chrome to version 139.0.7258.66 or later. Google addressed this vulnerability in that release. Users are strongly advised to update their browsers as soon as possible to protect themselves from potential attacks.
- Automatic Updates: Chrome typically updates automatically. Ensure that automatic updates are enabled.
- Manual Update Check: Go to
chrome://settings/helpin your Chrome browser to manually check for updates. Chrome will automatically download and install any available updates. - Restart Chrome: After the update is downloaded, restart Chrome to apply the changes.
