Internet Browsers in 2025: Performance, Security, and Enterprise Challenges

As internet browsers become increasingly central to our digital lives, a growing body of research reveals persistent challenges in performance, security, and enterprise management. This comprehensive analysis examines the key issues facing modern browsers in 2025 and their implications for users and organizations.

Performance and Resource Management Challenges

Browser performance remains a critical concern, with fundamental architectural limitations impacting user experience. As detailed in MDN's browser architecture guide, single-threaded architectures and latency bottlenecks persist, causing delays in rendering and responsiveness despite advancements in parallel processing.

Memory management issues are particularly severe, with Chrome profiles and lingering extensions causing memory leaks that consume up to 13GB of RAM even after tab closure. CPU performance is equally concerning, with Chrome's "Browser" process triggering spikes to 90%+ during page loads, freezing sessions for 3–5 seconds. Meanwhile, Interaction Next Paint (INP) delays plague modern browsers due to JavaScript bottlenecks, requiring advanced optimization techniques to mitigate input lag.

Security Vulnerabilities and Exploits

Browser security faces unprecedented challenges in 2025. The CVE-2025-4664 vulnerability enables attackers to steal OAuth tokens via insecure referrer policies, bypassing multi-factor authentication. As noted in Indusface's analysis, cross-site scripting (XSS), DNS poisoning, and man-in-the-middle attacks exploit browser vulnerabilities to hijack sessions and deploy malware.

Zero-day exploits remain particularly concerning, with critical vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-7971 (V8 engine type confusion) enabling ransomware deployment via phishing, bypassing Chrome's sandbox protections.

Privacy and Compliance Issues

Privacy challenges have become increasingly complex. Strict privacy settings like blocking third-party cookies frequently break website functionality, forcing users to choose between protection and usability. Meanwhile, browser-level cookie controls clash with GDPR's explicit consent requirements, complicating compliance for websites using cross-site tracking.

User Experience and Compatibility Problems

Browser performance issues extend to basic usability. Universal slowdowns on Windows 10 see browsers taking 20+ seconds to launch due to conflicting background processes and cache overload. Cross-browser compatibility remains challenging, with legacy systems and JavaScript engine disparities causing rendering inconsistencies in AJAX and Fetch API implementations.

Enterprise and Organizational Risks

Enterprise environments face unique challenges. Standard browsers lack centralized control for enforcing TLS protocols, exposing organizations to lateral attacks via misconfigured extensions. Enterprise software failures highlight dependencies on network speed and hardware capabilities, disrupting critical workflows.

Looking Ahead

The internet browser landscape in 2025 faces a complex set of challenges: performance overload from memory leaks and CPU spikes, a security crisis marked by zero-day exploits and cross-site attacks, privacy-compliance tensions, legacy system fragmentation, and enterprise vulnerabilities. These issues underscore the urgent need for architectural overhauls in resource management, standardized security protocols, and GDPR-aligned privacy controls to meet the evolving demands of the web ecosystem.