- Google issued an emergency Chrome patch for an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-2441.
- The high-severity flaw is a use-after-free bug in CSS that allows remote code execution via a malicious webpage.
- This marks the first Chrome zero-day patched in 2026, following eight similar vulnerabilities addressed by the company last year.
- Users on all platforms must immediately update their Chrome browser to version 145.0.7632.75/76 or later for protection.
On Friday, February 16, 2026, Google urgently released a security update for its Chrome browser to patch a high-severity vulnerability already being exploited by attackers in the wild. The flaw, identified as CVE-2026-2441, is a use-after-free bug within the browser’s CSS component.
Consequently, this vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside the browser’s sandbox simply by tricking a user into visiting a crafted HTML page. Google acknowledged that “an exploit for CVE-2026-2441 exists in the wild,” though it withheld specific details about ongoing attacks.
Security researcher Shaheen Fazim discovered and reported the shortcoming on February 11, 2026. This development underscores how browser-based flaws remain prime targets for malicious actors due to their ubiquitous installation and wide attack surface.
Meanwhile, this marks the first actively exploited Chrome zero-day that Google has patched this year. In 2025, the tech giant addressed eight zero-day flaws in Chrome that were either actively exploited or demonstrated publicly.
For optimal protection, users must update to Chrome versions 145.0.7632.75/76 for Windows and macOS, or version 144.0.7559.75 for Linux. Users can check their version by navigating to More > Help > About Google Chrome and then selecting Relaunch.
Furthermore, users of other Chromium-based browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi, should apply fixes as they become available.
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