Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Use Google Chrome on Mac? You need to update now

By Fionna Agomuoh March 28, 2022

Google has sent out a necessary update for the Chrome web browser for the Mac to address a major security hole that was discovered on March 23.

The bug, called CVE-2022-1096, was documented in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system by Google developer Prudhvi Kumar Bomman, after an anonymous security researcher discovered a hole in Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine that left it vulnerable to exploits.

Google Chrome selected in an Applications list on Mac. — Digital Trends

The “zero-day bug” is considered a “high-severity weakness,” according to BleepingComputer, which is likely what led to the quick turnaround and update fix by Google.

As per Google’s policy, the company has restricted details of the bug until the update is installed by most users. According to security researchers, there is currently an exploit taking advantage of this vulnerability that still “exists in the wild.”

Google also detailed on its Chrome Releases blog that the stable channel update, version 99.0.4844.84, is now available for Mac, as well as Windows and Linux. The update will roll out in the coming days and weeks.

To check for and install the update, users can launch the Chrome browser, click Chrome menu then select About Google Chrome. After viewing the About Chrome section for an available update, if one is available, you can then click Relaunch to install the update.

Microsoft also announced a fix on March 26 after having found the exploit on its Chromium-based Edge browser. Other browsers that might be affected by the bug include Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi.

Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari are not expected to be affected by the CVE-2022-1096 bug, as these browsers run on different codebases than Google Chrome or Chromium-based Microsoft Edge. This means they are not susceptible to the same bugs.

Currently, there is no word on whether the bug has affected Chrome or Edge on mobile browsers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Computing Writer

Fionna Agomuoh is a technology journalist with over a decade of experience writing about various consumer electronics topics…

Computing

I was wrong about using Stage Manager on Mac

Stage manager in macOS Ventura.

Stage Manager is one of those software features that has had a rather bumpy road since Apple launched it in 2022. The unique multitasking feature has landed itself in a heap of criticism over its short lifespan.

I, however, was not one of these critics. I was super excited by Stage Manager and the promise it contained. It was something new and shiny, here to shake up macOS in a fresh and different way. Even after using it myself, I foresaw it fundamentally changing the way I used my Mac.

Computing

Does your Mac really need antivirus software? We asked the experts

The MacBook Air on a white table.

There’s been a long-held belief that if you own a Mac, you don’t need to use any type of antivirus software to keep your machine free of malware and other destructive code. But it turns out this may actually be more of an old wive’s tale than even the most devoted MacOS users would like to admit. Indeed, Apple has built many safeguards into its operating system, but that doesn’t always mean you’re completely safe.

We get it: Who would want to sign up for a free or paid version of another computer-adjacent thing? That being said, it never hurts to have too much protection for your Mac. This is a complex topic though, and we asked some Apple insiders to weigh in on the discourse.
Vulnerabilities in Apple’s systems
The belief that Macs are fairly resilient to malware isn’t just idle fanboy-ism. Windows PCs make up roughly 90% of the market, making them a much more attractive target to malware makers.

Computing

Google’s Incognito Mode is in trouble

Google Chrome incognito mode screenshot

Google could soon be on the hook for deleting the private data of millions of users if the proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit is approved, according to The Verge.

The settlement proposal is part of the Brown v. Google lawsuit, for which the tech giant has agreed to “destroy or de-identify” the web browsing data it has saved from people utilizing the “Incognito Mode” feature on the Google Chrome browser. Google would be responsible for deleting billions of records and making sure undeletable records are not associated with individual users.