A zero-day vulnerability is a security vulnerability that is already being exploited ("in the wild") before a patch is available. It is especially dangerous because attackers can take advantage of it without users being protected yet.

🚨 What happened in this Chrome vulnerability?

1. Google detected a serious flaw in Chrome, identified as CVE-2026-2441.

2. The problem lies in how Chrome handles certain advanced font functions (CSSFontFeatureValuesMap): a "use-after-free" bug. This means the browser attempts to access memory that has already been freed, which can cause unexpected or dangerous behavior.

3. This bug could be exploited by attackers who created specially crafted HTML pages to trigger the vulnerability. Simply visiting these pages could cause the browser to execute arbitrary code within Chrome's "sandbox." 

4. Google confirmed that real exploits existed "out there" using this vulnerability before the patch was released. This is precisely what makes a flaw a zero-day vulnerability.

🛠️ How did Google respond?

• An emergency patch was released outside the normal update cycle.
• Google restricted technical information so fewer attackers could study the exploit while most users had not yet updated.

⚠️ What risks did this vulnerability pose?

If an attacker successfully exploits this flaw:

• It could cause browser crashes or instability.
• In more serious cases, it could execute malicious code within Chrome, potentially allowing for escalated attacks if combined with other vulnerabilities.
• The user only needed to open a specific webpage for the attack to begin, without any further steps.