Vulnerability Allowed Hijacking Chrome’s Gemini Live AI Assistant

A vulnerability in Chrome could have allowed malicious extensions to hijack the browser’s AI assistant to spy on users and exfiltrate data, Palo Alto Networks reports.

Chrome’s side panel AI assistant, called Gemini Live, was designed to help users by summarizing content in real time, automatically executing specific tasks, and aiding with the contextual understanding of the active webpage.

“By granting the AI direct, privileged access to the browsing environment, AI browsers are capable of performing complex, multi-step operations that were previously impossible or required several extensions and manual steps,” Palo Alto Networks explains.

To function as intended, the AI essentially sees what the user sees on the screen and uses the web page for context and instructions, and this expanded capability and privileged access open the door to new risks.

The vulnerability that Palo Alto Networks uncovered, tracked as CVE-2026-0628 and patched in January in Chrome 143 ...