Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

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

Update Google Chrome now to protect yourself from these severe vulnerabilities

Arif Bacchus
By

You might want to update Google Chrome as soon as you can, as Google has discovered some severe vulnerabilities in the web browser.

Google just issued a total of nine security fixes, covering all desktop versions of Chrome on all operating systems, with Chrome version 92.0.4515.159. The fixes were contributed by activists and external researchers.

Recommended Videos

Access to the actual details of the security vulnerabilities is currently being limited by Google, and TechRadar claims this is so cyber criminals do not exploit them. However, there are links to all nine of the vulnerabilities. Among the topics they cover are “type confusion in V8,” “use after free in printing,” “use after free in Extensions API,” “use after free in WebRTC,” “race in WebAudio,”  and “use after free in ANGLE.”

Related

Google will provide more information once “a majority of users are updated with a fix.”

If you’re not the technical type, then you should be aware that all these vulnerabilities cover core areas of the web browser. V8 is what’s behind the Javascript engine in the web browser, and WebRTC has a lot to do with video and audio data transfers. ANGLE, meanwhile pertains to graphics in Chrome and is yet another important area of the browser. Google will provide more information about these issues once “a majority of users are updated with a fix.”

Updating Chrome to avoid being vulnerable to these security flaws is quite easy. Usually, the browser auto updates itself, but you can manually trigger an update if you’re not getting the latest version. To do so, just click on the three dots at the top-right of your screen and then choose Help followed by About Google Chrome. You should then see a notification that an update is downloading, and you’ll be prompted to restart the web browser.

It’s not very uncommon for Google to issue updates for Chrome to patch security issues like these. Google often pays rewards out to those who find issues in Chrome and its other products. This is often referred to as “bounty hunting.” It is standard practice for other technology giants like Apple, Facebook, and even Microsoft to pay hacktivists and white hat hackers for discovering these bugs and not using them for bad purposes.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Arif Bacchus
Arif Bacchus
Computing Writer
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
Google Chrome is getting a complete overhaul for its birthday
Screenshot of Google Chrome with updated Material You design language.

To mark the 15th anniversary of its popular web browser, Google is releasing a brand new update for Chrome. The biggest change will be a redesign for the browser that will now adhere to Google’s Material You design language. There is also an update for the Chrome Web Store, alongside enhanced search features and some tweaks to Safe Browsing.

Material You is Google's unified design language, which was first introduced with Android 12. According to a blog post shared by Chrome Vice President Parisa Tabriz, Chrome will be the latest product from the company that will be getting a design overhaul featuring new icons that place a strong emphasis on legibility. On top of that, there will be fresh color palettes that will expand to the tabs and toolbar.

Read more
This Google Chrome feature may save you from malware
Google Chrome app on s8 screen.

There are probably hundreds of thousands of Google Chrome extensions out there, and with so many options to choose from, it can be hard to know whether the plugin you want to install is hiding malware nasties.

That could become a thing of the past, though, as Google is testing a feature that will warn you if an extension you installed has been removed from its Chrome Web Store.

Read more
Chrome has a security problem — here’s how Google is fixing it
Google Chrome icon in mac dock.

Google is looking to get ahead of high-severity vulnerabilities on its Chrome browser by shortening the time between security updates.

The brand hopes that more frequent updates will give bad actors less time to access and exploit n-day and zero-day flaws found within Chrome browser code.

Read more