Google Issues Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users

01/07 Update below. This post was originally published on January 5Google Chrome users need to be on high alert. After a record breaking number of attacks last year, Google has already issued the first serious new upgrade warning of 2022 to all the browser’s two billion users. Google confirmed the news in a new blog post, where it revealed an eye-opening 37 security vulnerabilities have been discovered. Google has classified 10 of these vulnerabilities as posing a ‘High’ threat level with a further hack ranked as critically dangerous. Linux, macOS and Windows users are all affected and need to take immediate action.01/05 Update: Google may have pushed a major new version of Chrome to combat these threats but the update is not working well on all platforms. Spotted by 9to5Google, Chrome users on iOS are reporting that the new version is completely unusable. Fast growing reports on both Reddit and the Google Chrome Help Forum state that the browser freezing within seconds of being opened, and restarts and reinstallations do not fix it.9to5Google was also able to replicate the problem, confirming that it only began once Chrome was updated to version 97. This is the version Google released across all platforms, including Windows, macOS and Linux,though it is iPhone owners who appear to be primarily affected. Some users have found that clearing the browser's cache can fix the issue but, for most, the browser freezes too quickly to open settings and make this change. Expect Google to issue an urgent fix but, until then, iPhone owners would be advised to stay well clear of Chrome 97. Google is currently restricting information about all the new attacks to buy Chrome users time, but it has revealed the areas that these top threats are targeting:It may be a new year, but these threats follow a familiar pattern. ‘Use-After-Free’ (UAF) exploits have been the favored route of attack on Chrome for several months now and make up the majority of exploits once again. There have now been almost 50 UAF vulnerabilities found in Chrome since September. UAF vulnerabilities are memory exploits created when a program fails to clear the pointer to the memory after it is freed. Heap buffer overflow flaws also remain a popular route of attack. Also referred to as ‘Heap Smashing’, memory on the heap is dynamically allocated and typically contains program data. With an overflow, critical data structures can be overwritten which makes it an ideal target for hackers. In response to these threats, Google has released Chrome 97, a major new version of Chrome, to all users. Google warns that this release (exact version number 97.0.4692.71) “will roll out over the coming days/weeks”. This means you may not be able to protect yourself immediately. To check if you are protected, navigate to Settings Help About Google Chrome. If your Chrome browser is listed as 97.0.4692.71 or higher, you are safe.


All data is taken from the source: http://forbes.com
Article Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2022/01/07/google-chrome-hack-warning-new-attacks-exploits-upgrade-chrome-now/


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