CVE-2026-12022: Race in Safe Browsing in Google Chrome on Mac prior to 149

Synopsis

A race condition in the Safe Browsing component of Google Chrome on macOS (versions prior to 149.0.7827.115) allows a remote attacker who has already compromised the renderer process to escape the browser sandbox via a malicious file. The vulnerability is reachable over the network but requires the victim to interact with attacker-controlled content, and the CVSS vector reflects high complexity due to the prerequisite renderer compromise. Successful exploitation gives the attacker full read, write, and availability impact outside the sandbox, effectively granting host-level code execution. A patched-image rebuild at version 149.0.7827.115 is available on HarborGuard for affected environments.

HarborGuard Coverage

Exploit Conditions

• Network reachabilityRequired

  The attacker must deliver a malicious file to the victim over the network, requiring the target Chrome instance to be reachable or the user to visit attacker-controlled content.

• AuthenticationNot required

  No account credentials or login session are needed; the attack is launchable by any unauthenticated remote party.

• Victim interactionRequired

  The victim must interact with attacker-controlled content (for example, visiting a malicious page or opening a malicious file) to trigger the race condition.

• Attack complexityDetail

  Exploitation is rated high complexity because the attacker must first achieve a renderer process compromise before the race condition can be used for sandbox escape, introducing significant environmental prerequisites.

Blast Radius

• An attacker escaping the sandbox gains the ability to read arbitrary files and data accessible to the Chrome process on the host macOS system.
• Write access outside the sandbox allows the attacker to modify files, plant persistent payloads, or alter application data on the host.
• The availability impact is high, meaning the attacker can crash or disrupt the affected Chrome instance and potentially other host processes.
• Because the scope is changed (S:C in the CVSS vector), impact extends beyond the browser sandbox to other components on the same host.