Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-0438

Memory Safety in Google Chrome ≤ 132.0.6834.83

Published
15 January 2025
Modified
21 April 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0046 38th percentile
Risk Priority 64 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2025-0438 is a high-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Google Chrome. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 38th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-0438 is a stack buffer overflow vulnerability in the Tracing component of Google Chrome versions prior to 132.0.6834.83. The flaw, classified under CWE-121, enables potential stack corruption when a remote attacker supplies a crafted HTML page. It carries a Chromium security severity rating of High and a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating significant risk due to its network accessibility and high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

A remote attacker with no privileges can exploit this vulnerability by tricking a user into visiting a malicious website or interacting with a crafted HTML page. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution through stack corruption, compromising the victim's browser instance and potentially the underlying system, depending on the attacker's payload and the user's context.

Google's stable channel update advisory at https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2025/01/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_14.html details the patch in Chrome 132.0.6834.83, recommending users update to this version or later to mitigate the issue. Additional technical details are available in the Chromium issue tracker at https://issues.chromium.org/issues/384186539.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Stack buffer overflow in Tracing in Google Chrome prior to 132.0.6834.83 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit stack corruption via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: High)

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-16418Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-4068Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-6707Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-4069Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-6997Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-0703Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-6705Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-3169Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2024-3175Same product: Google Chrome
CVE-2023-0134Same product: Google Chrome

Affected Assets

google
chrome
≤ 132.0.6834.83

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.

Secure-engineering principles include bounds-checked coding and safe buffer handling that avoid introducing the flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121

References