Latest Chrome 88 Update Includes Important Fix for Zero-Day Vulnerability

Google Chrome Material Icon 450x450Google has released Chrome version 88.0.4324.150 with an important fix for a zero-day vulnerability in the web browser that the company says is likely to have been exploited in the wild.

Google hasn't provided specific details about the heap buffer overflow memory corruption bug known as CVE-2021-21148, and says it won't do so "until a majority of users are updated with a fix."

However, ZDNet notes that the date on which Google says the bug was reported, January 24, is just two days after Google's Threat Analysis Group reported a hacking campaign carried out by North Korean hackers against the cyber-security community.

Some of the attacks involved luring security researchers to a blog where the attackers exploited browser zero-days to run malware on the researchers' systems. On January 28, Microsoft also reported that attackers most likely used a Chrome zero-day for their attacks.

The proximity of the two events has led security researchers to suspect that it was indeed the CVE-2021-21148 zero-day that was used in the attacks. As a result, all users are being advised to use the Chrome menu bar's About Google Chrome option to upgrade their browser to the latest version as soon as possible.

Google Chrome for Mac is a free download available directly from Google's servers. Google Chrome for iOS is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...

Top Rated Comments

techpr Avatar
45 months ago
I stopped using and uninstalled Chrome in 2020. Safari and Firefox for me.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ian87w Avatar
45 months ago
Does this zero-day vulnerability only affect Chrome, or does it affect all Chromium based browsers?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macdos Avatar
45 months ago
Always these "overflows", there's no end to it, it is just like Flash.

Code in apps and OSs should be rewritten from scratch with something else than C and derivatives, something that doesn't use "pointers", something that is tight from start.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
45 months ago

What about WebKit based browsers like Safari? Is the exploit something Google added since forking for Chromium, or is it something that was separately fixed already for WebKit?
If the bug is in V8, WebKit won't be affected because WebKit's JS engine was never V8. (Chrome choosing its own JS engine happened long before it forked WebKit to Blink.)

If the bug is outside V8, it is indeed possible that WebKit is affected.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MysticCow Avatar
45 months ago

Google hasn't provided specific details about the heap buffer overflow memory corruption bug known as CVE-2021-21148, and says it won't do so "until a majority of users are updated with a fix."
"We have discovered a bug where Apple's tracking option will cause Chrome to crash, so we are trying to disable it!"

Internet irony might be lost on this one.

Curious as to what others uses as a backup browsers to Safari? I'm looking to de-google thus Chrome is out, but need a Chromium browser for the occasional website where Safari doesn't place nice.
Firefox with uMatrix and Facebook Container. It works wonders to clear the tracking gunk.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
luvbug Avatar
45 months ago
The Brave browser has already updated the stable release to this latest Chrome build. Just FYI. Edit: "latest Chromium build", which tracks the Chrome build exactly, but excludes the closed-source bits.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)