Operation ForumTroll: APT attack with Google Chrome zero-day exploit chain


In mid-March 2025, Kaspersky technologies detected a wave of infections by previously unknown and highly sophisticated malware.

In all cases, infection occurred immediately after the victim clicked on a link in a phishing email, and the attackers’ website was opened using the Google Chrome web browser. No further action was required to become infected. All malicious links were personalized and had a very short lifespan. However, Kaspersky’s exploit detection and protection technologies successfully identified the zero-day exploit that was used to escape Google Chrome’s sandbox. Kaspersky researchers quickly analyzed the exploit code, reverse-engineered its logic, and confirmed that it was based on a zero-day vulnerability affecting the latest version of Google Chrome, which was then reported to the Google security team.

Read more…
Source: Kaspersky


Sign up for our Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.


Related:

  • Byakugan – The Malware Behind a Phishing Attack

    April 4, 2024

    In January 2024, FortiGuard Labs collected a PDF file written in Portuguese that distributes a multi-functional malware known as Byakugan. The PDF image shows a blurred table and asks the victim to click the malicious link on the PDF file to see the content. Once the link is clicked, a downloader is downloaded. The downloader drops ...

  • The Illusion Of Privacy: Geolocation Risks In Modern Dating Apps

    April 4, 2024

    Dating apps traditionally utilize location data, offering the opportunity to connect with people nearby, and enhancing the chances of real-life meetings. Some apps can also display the distance of the user to other users. This feature is quite useful for coordinating meetups, indicating whether a potential match is just a short distance away or a kilometer ...

  • LazyStealer: Sophisticated does not mean better

    April 4, 2024

    In the first quarter of 2024, researchers from Positive Technologies Expert Security Center (PT ESC) detected a series of attacks targeting government organizations in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia. The research team could not find any links to known groups that used the same techniques. The main goal of the attack was stealing ...

  • Why the threat of a ‘nightmare’ Chinese supercomputer just got a step closer

    April 4, 2024

    A cyber security official at the US State Department had noticed something unusual. An internal IT security system, nicknamed “Big Yellow Taxi”, had flagged unusual activity on its corporate Microsoft account. The tech team quickly raised its concerns to Microsoft, hopeful that the alert was just a false positive. What rapidly emerged, however, was that a ...

  • UK: Parliamentary staff warned of dangers after suspected sexting honeytrap attacks

    April 4, 2024

    Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, has held talks with parliamentary staff following suspected sexting honeytrap attacks targeting MPs, staffers and political journalists. At least 12 men working in and around Parliament, including a serving minister and other MPs, have been targeted on WhatsApp in a suspected spear phishing attack. Attackers contacted their victims under the ...

  • Chaos Ransomware Operator Gives Up Decryption Tool for Free

    April 3, 2024

    The SonicWall CaptureLabs threat research team have been recently tracking ransomware created using the Chaos ransomware builder. The builder appeared in June 2021 and has been used by many operators to infect victims and demand payment for file retrieval. The sample SonicWall researchers analyzed lead them to a conversation with the operator who freely gave up the ...