- Google fixes Chrome zero-day CVE-2025-13223 in V8 engine
- The bug enabled arbitrary code execution, likely exploited by state-sponsored threat actors
- Users should update Chrome to version 142.0.7444.175/.176 across platforms
Google has fixed a troubling security flaw in its Chrome browser that was exploited in the wild as a zero-day.
In a new security advisory, Google said it fixed a type confusion vulnerability in the V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine that leads to arbitrary code execution. V8 is the browser’s JavaScript and WebAssembly engine—essentially the “brain” that reads, compiles, and executes JavaScript and WASM code on web pages.
The vulnerability is now tracked as CVE-2025-13223 and has a severity score of 8.8/10 (high). “Writing confusion in V8 in Google Chrome before 142.0.7444.175 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page,” the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) said in its explanation.
Solves the problem
As reported by Hacker NewsThe flaw was first discovered by a security researcher from Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), who did not disclose the identity of both the attackers and the victims.
However, we know from previous reports that Google’s TAG team usually monitors state-sponsored threat actors, so it’s safe to assume that this flaw was exploited by actors like North Korea, China, Russia, or Iran. Both the Lazarus Group (North Korea) and APT29 (Russia) have been observed exploiting Chrome’s flaws in the past.
This is the third type of confusion error found in the V8 this year, Hacker News added after CVE-2025-6554 and CVE-2025-10585.
Since Google by default updates automatically the next time it launches, users are most likely not required to do anything. However, if automatic updates are turned off, be sure to bring the browser to version 142.0.7444.175/.176 for Windows, 142.0.7444.176 for Apple macOS, and 142.0.7444.175 for Linux.
To check the version of Chrome you’re running, navigate to More > Help > About Google Chrome and select Restart.
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