by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – KASPERSKY reports it has identified and helped patch a sophisticated zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome that allowed attackers to bypass the browser’s sandbox protection system.
In mid-March 2025, Kaspersky detected a wave of infections triggered when users clicked personalised phishing links delivered via email.
After clicking, no additional action was needed to compromise their systems.
Once Kaspersky’s analysis confirmed that the exploit leveraged a previously unknown vulnerability in the latest version of Google Chrome, Kaspersky swiftly alerted Google’s security team.
A security patch for the vulnerability was released on March 25.
Kaspersky researchers dubbed the campaign “Operation ForumTroll”, as attackers sent personalised phishing emails inviting recipients to the “Primakov Readings” forum.
“This vulnerability stands out among the dozens of zero-days we’ve discovered over the years,” said Boris Larin, principal security researcher at Kaspersky GReAT.
“The exploit bypassed Chrome’s sandbox protection without performing any obviously malicious operations– it’s as if the security boundary simply didn’t exist. The technical sophistication displayed here indicates development by highly skilled actors with substantial resources.”
Kaspersky has advised all users to update their Google Chrome and any Chromium-based browser to the latest version to protect against this vulnerability.
– CAJ News