CVE-2024-29987 is a medium-severity information disclosure vulnerability affecting Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) version 1.0.0. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-359 (Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor) and CWE-200 (Information Exposure). It allows an attacker to gain unauthorized access to private personal information through the browser. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.5, reflecting a network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:R). The impact is limited to confidentiality (C:H), with no impact on integrity or availability. The scope remains unchanged (S:U). The vulnerability does not require authentication but does require some form of user interaction, such as clicking a malicious link or visiting a crafted webpage. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication (April 18, 2024), and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability likely arises from improper handling of sensitive data within the browser, potentially exposing private user data to unauthorized actors, possibly through crafted web content or malicious sites exploiting browser logic flaws. Given the Chromium base, this may affect the way Edge isolates or protects user data compared to other Chromium browsers. The vulnerability is significant because Microsoft Edge is widely used in enterprise and consumer environments, and exposure of private personal information can lead to privacy violations, identity theft, or targeted phishing attacks.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to user privacy and data confidentiality. Organizations relying on Microsoft Edge for web access, especially those handling sensitive personal data (e.g., healthcare, finance, government sectors), could see unauthorized disclosure of private information. This could lead to regulatory non-compliance under GDPR, reputational damage, and potential legal consequences. Since the vulnerability requires user interaction, targeted phishing or social engineering campaigns could exploit it to harvest sensitive data from employees or customers. The lack of impact on integrity and availability means operational disruption is unlikely, but the confidentiality breach alone is critical in privacy-sensitive environments. Additionally, organizations with remote or hybrid workforces using Edge on unmanaged devices may be more exposed. The absence of known exploits suggests a window for proactive mitigation before active attacks emerge.

1. Immediate deployment of any forthcoming official patches from Microsoft is essential once available. 2. Until patches are released, organizations should enforce strict web browsing policies, including blocking access to untrusted or suspicious websites via network-level filtering and DNS filtering solutions. 3. Enhance user awareness training focused on phishing and social engineering risks, emphasizing the need to avoid clicking unknown links or visiting untrusted sites. 4. Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for unusual browser behavior or data exfiltration attempts. 5. Consider deploying browser isolation or sandboxing technologies to limit the impact of malicious web content. 6. Use Microsoft Edge’s built-in security features such as strict site isolation, disabling unnecessary extensions, and enabling tracking prevention. 7. Monitor threat intelligence feeds for any emerging exploit activity related to CVE-2024-29987. 8. For highly sensitive environments, evaluate alternative browsers temporarily until the vulnerability is fully mitigated. 9. Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions to detect and block unauthorized transmission of sensitive data from endpoints. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on layered defenses, user behavior, and monitoring tailored to this specific information disclosure risk.