Google Enhances Chrome Agentic AI Security Against Indirect Prompt Injection Attacks
Summary
Hide ▲
Show ▼
Google is introducing new security measures to protect Chrome's agentic AI capabilities from indirect prompt injection attacks. These protections include a new AI model called the User Alignment Critic, expanded site isolation policies, additional user confirmation steps for sensitive actions, and a prompt injection detection classifier. The User Alignment Critic independently evaluates the agent's actions, ensuring they align with the user's goals. Google is also enforcing Agent Origin Sets to limit the agent's access to relevant data origins and has developed automated red-teaming systems to test defenses. The company has announced bounty payments for security researchers to further enhance the system's robustness.
Timeline
-
08.12.2025 20:00 3 articles · 1d ago
Google Introduces User Alignment Critic and Expanded Site Isolation for Chrome Agentic AI
Google is implementing new security measures to protect Chrome's agentic AI capabilities from indirect prompt injection attacks. These measures include the User Alignment Critic, which vets the agent's actions to prevent goal-hijacking and data exfiltration. The User Alignment Critic runs after the planning is complete to double-check each proposed action and provides feedback to the planning model to re-formulate its plan if an action is misaligned. Additionally, Google is expanding site isolation policies with Agent Origin Sets to limit the agent's access to relevant data origins. The agent also requires user confirmation before performing sensitive actions, such as navigating to sensitive sites or completing transactions. The new security architecture involves a layered defense approach combining deterministic rules, model-level protections, isolation boundaries, and user oversight. Google has developed automated red-teaming systems to test defenses and announced bounty payments for security researchers to identify vulnerabilities in the new system.
Show sources
- Google Fortifies Chrome Agentic AI Against Indirect Prompt Injection Attacks — www.securityweek.com — 08.12.2025 20:00
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
Information Snippets
-
Google is implementing layered defenses to protect Chrome's agentic AI capabilities from indirect prompt injection attacks.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:003 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Google Fortifies Chrome Agentic AI Against Indirect Prompt Injection Attacks — www.securityweek.com — 08.12.2025 20:00
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The User Alignment Critic is a new AI model designed to vet the agent's actions and prevent goal-hijacking and data exfiltration.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:003 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Google Fortifies Chrome Agentic AI Against Indirect Prompt Injection Attacks — www.securityweek.com — 08.12.2025 20:00
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
Google is expanding Site Isolation and same-origin policy protections with Agent Origin Sets to limit the agent's access to relevant data origins.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:003 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Google Fortifies Chrome Agentic AI Against Indirect Prompt Injection Attacks — www.securityweek.com — 08.12.2025 20:00
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The agent creates a work log and requires user confirmation before performing impactful actions, such as navigating to sensitive sites or completing transactions.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:003 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Google Fortifies Chrome Agentic AI Against Indirect Prompt Injection Attacks — www.securityweek.com — 08.12.2025 20:00
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
Google is testing these defenses using automated red-teaming systems that generate malicious sandboxed sites.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:003 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Google Fortifies Chrome Agentic AI Against Indirect Prompt Injection Attacks — www.securityweek.com — 08.12.2025 20:00
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
Google is introducing a new defense layer called 'User Alignment Critic' to protect upcoming agentic AI browsing features powered by Gemini.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:082 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The User Alignment Critic is a separate LLM model isolated from untrusted content that acts as a "high-trust system component."
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:082 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The new security architecture involves a layered defense approach combining deterministic rules, model-level protections, isolation boundaries, and user oversight.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:082 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
Google has developed automated red-teaming systems that generate test sites and LLM-driven attacks to continuously test defenses and develop new ones.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:082 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
Google has announced bounty payments of up to $20,000 for security researchers who can break the new system.
First reported: 08.12.2025 20:082 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Google Chrome adds new security layer for Gemini AI agentic browsing — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 08.12.2025 20:08
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The User Alignment Critic runs after the planning is complete to double-check each proposed action.
First reported: 09.12.2025 13:141 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The User Alignment Critic provides feedback to the planning model to re-formulate its plan if an action is misaligned.
First reported: 09.12.2025 13:141 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
Agent Origin Sets enforce that only data from a limited set of origins is available to the agent.
First reported: 09.12.2025 13:141 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The gating function determines which origins are related to the task and categorizes them into read-only and read-writable origins.
First reported: 09.12.2025 13:141 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The agent creates a work log for user observability and requests explicit approval before navigating to sensitive sites.
First reported: 09.12.2025 13:141 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
The agent checks each page for indirect prompt injections and operates alongside Safe Browsing and on-device scam detection to block potentially suspicious content.
First reported: 09.12.2025 13:141 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
-
Google will pay up to $20,000 for demonstrations that result in a breach of the security boundaries.
First reported: 09.12.2025 13:141 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Google Adds Layered Defenses to Chrome to Block Indirect Prompt Injection Threats — thehackernews.com — 09.12.2025 13:14
Similar Happenings
Emerging Security Risks of Agentic AI Browsers
A new generation of AI browsers, known as agentic browsers, is transitioning from passive tools to autonomous agents capable of executing tasks on behalf of users. This shift introduces significant security risks, including increased attack surfaces and vulnerabilities to prompt injection attacks. Security teams must adapt their strategies to mitigate these risks as the adoption of AI browsers grows.
Indirect Prompt Injection Vulnerabilities in ChatGPT Models
Researchers from Tenable discovered seven vulnerabilities in OpenAI's ChatGPT models (GPT-4o and GPT-5) that enable attackers to extract personal information from users' memories and chat histories. These vulnerabilities allow for indirect prompt injection attacks, which manipulate the AI's behavior to execute unintended or malicious actions. OpenAI has addressed some of these issues, but several vulnerabilities persist. The vulnerabilities include indirect prompt injection via trusted sites, zero-click indirect prompt injection in search contexts, and prompt injection via crafted links. Other techniques involve bypassing safety mechanisms, injecting malicious content into conversations, hiding malicious prompts, and poisoning user memories. The vulnerabilities affect the 'bio' feature, which allows ChatGPT to remember user details and preferences across chat sessions, and the 'open_url' command-line function, which leverages SearchGPT to access and render website content. Attackers can exploit the 'url_safe' endpoint by using Bing click-tracking URLs to lure users to phishing sites or exfiltrate user data. These findings highlight the risks associated with exposing AI chatbots to external tools and systems, which expand the attack surface for threat actors. The vulnerabilities stem from how ChatGPT ingests and processes instructions from external sources, allowing attackers to exploit these flaws through various methods. The most concerning issue is a zero-click vulnerability, where simply asking ChatGPT a benign question can trigger an attack if the search results include a poisoned website.
AI-targeted cloaking attack exploits AI crawlers
AI security company SPLX has identified a new security issue in agentic web browsers like OpenAI ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity. This issue exposes underlying AI models to context poisoning attacks through AI-targeted cloaking. Attackers can serve different content to AI crawlers compared to human users, manipulating AI-generated summaries and overviews. This technique can introduce misinformation, bias, and influence the outcomes of AI-driven systems. The hCaptcha Threat Analysis Group (hTAG) has also analyzed browser agents against common abuse scenarios, revealing that these agents often execute risky tasks without safeguards. This makes them vulnerable to misuse by attackers. The attack can undermine trust in AI tools and manipulate reality by serving deceptive content to AI crawlers.
Security Weaknesses Identified in AI Browsers
Security researchers at SquareX Labs have identified architectural security weaknesses in AI browsers, including Perplexity’s Comet. AI browsers integrate AI assistants to automate user tasks, but this integration introduces new cyber risks. These risks include malicious workflows, prompt injection, malicious downloads, and misuse of trusted apps. The research highlights the need for stronger safeguards as AI capabilities become standard in web browsing.
Google Gemini AI Vulnerabilities Allowing Prompt Injection and Data Exfiltration
Researchers disclosed three vulnerabilities in Google's Gemini AI assistant that could have exposed users to privacy risks and data theft. The flaws, collectively named the Gemini Trifecta, affected Gemini Cloud Assist, the Search Personalization Model, and the Browsing Tool. These vulnerabilities allowed for prompt injection attacks, search-injection attacks, and data exfiltration. Google has since patched the issues and implemented additional security measures. The vulnerabilities could have been exploited to inject malicious prompts, manipulate AI behavior, and exfiltrate user data. The flaws highlight the potential risks of AI tools being used as attack vectors rather than just targets. The Gemini Search Personalization model's flaw allowed attackers to manipulate AI behavior and leak user data by injecting malicious search queries via JavaScript from a malicious website. The Gemini Cloud Assist flaw allowed attackers to execute instructions via prompt injections hidden in log content, potentially compromising cloud resources and enabling phishing attacks. The Gemini Browsing Tool flaw allowed attackers to exfiltrate a user's saved information and location data by exploiting the tool's 'Show thinking' feature. Google has made specific changes to mitigate each flaw, including rolling back vulnerable models, hardening search personalization features, and preventing data exfiltration from browsing in indirect prompt injections.