In a significant development for cybersecurity, a public proof-of-concept (PoC) has been unveiled for CVE-2026-2441, a critical zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome’s Blink CSS engine. This vulnerability, actively exploited in the wild, was first reported by security researcher Shaheen Fazim on February 11, 2026, prompting Google to release an emergency patch within two days.
Understanding the Chrome Zero-Day Vulnerability
Identified as Chrome’s inaugural zero-day vulnerability for 2026, CVE-2026-2441 resides in the CSSFontFeatureValuesMap component of Chrome’s Blink rendering engine. The root cause is traced to an iterator invalidation flaw within the FontFeatureValuesMapIterationSource, where a raw pointer to an internal HashMap becomes dangling. When the HashMap undergoes rehashing during iteration, a use-after-free condition is triggered, leading to potential exploitation.
Google’s solution involves replacing the raw pointer with a deep copy of the HashMap, thereby isolating the iterator from rehashing issues. This fix has been rolled out across various platforms, with Chrome versions 145.0.7632.75 and later for Windows and macOS, and 144.0.7559.75 and later for Linux being secured against this threat.
Mechanics and Impact of the PoC
The released PoC demonstrates the vulnerability through three distinct methods: using an entries() iterator with mutation loops, a for…of loop combined with concurrent deletion and heap spraying, and a requestAnimationFrame-based approach for layout recalculation mid-iteration. Each method also employs heap grooming tactics to enhance exploit predictability.
Unpatched Chrome versions experience crashes in the renderer process, indicating memory access violations. While the immediate threat is confined to the Chrome renderer sandbox, it permits arbitrary code execution, information disclosure, credential theft, and session hijacking. Coupled with a sandbox escape vulnerability, this exploit could form part of a full system compromise, similar to past campaigns involving NSO Pegasus and Intellexa Predator.
Urgent Recommendations and Future Outlook
The vulnerability can be exploited via drive-by downloads, necessitating no more than a visit to a compromised webpage. Consequently, it poses a risk for malvertising, watering hole, and spear-phishing attacks. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added CVE-2026-2441 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, underscoring the need for immediate action.
Users are strongly advised to update Chrome to the latest versions specified by Google. For those using Chromium-based browsers like Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi, vendor-specific patches should be applied promptly. Additionally, administrators are encouraged to enable Site Isolation via chrome://flags/#site-isolation-trial-opt-out and ensure all endpoints are running the latest Chrome version to mitigate risks.
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