Chrome 96.0.4664.110 for Windows, Mac, and Linux has been issued to fix a high-severity zero-day vulnerability that has been exploited in the wild.
"Google is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2021-4102 exists in the wild," the browser vendor said in a new security advisory.
Although Google says it will take some time for this update to reach all users, it has already started rolling out Chrome 96.0.4664.110 on the Stable Desktop channel around the world.
Chrome will be automatically updated, so it may already be patched and up to date. To be sure, go to Help > About Chrome by clicking the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the browser.
If your browser isn't up to date, this action will force Chrome to check for updates and download them. After downloading Chrome version 96.0.4664.110 (or a more recent version if one is available), you'll receive a notification stating that Chrome is up to date. It's likely that you'll have to restart your browser after downloading the updated version.
An anonymous security researcher reported the zero-day bug fixed today, CVE-2021-4102, which is a use after free weakness in the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine.
Attackers frequently use after free bugs to execute arbitrary code on computers running unpatched Chrome versions or to circumvent the browser's security sandbox.
While Google stated that it had observed in-the-wild assaults exploiting this zero-day, it did not provide any additional information about these occurrences.
The announcement comes just days after Google said that it had altered the Privacy and Security settings in its current Chrome beta release in order to simplify the ability to remove data kept by websites. The business argues that the change will help web browser users better understand and manage their online privacy by providing more clarity on regulating a site's storage settings.
Many other browsers that use Chrome's open-source underpinnings, such as Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge, have yet to issue their own patches, according to Tom's Hardware.
It's unclear how many general-purpose users could be affected by this or other exploits. However, because free browsers are so easy to install and download, downloading Chrome and importing your browser data from another browser is extremely simple.\
If you don't want to use Chrome for any reason, Windows 10 Pro and Windows 11 Pro both provide Windows Sandbox, a secure "PC-within-a-PC" environment that protects your computer from external attacks.
