Image via Adobe Stock
Most of the vulnerabilities cited in Google’s report carry a low to medium risk, except one…
Image via Adobe Stock
Google this week confirmed that a “critical” security flaw in its Chrome web browser could expose users to hackers. The search giant is addressing the issue by rolling out an update to fix the vulnerability.
Google sited 36 vulnerabilities but one, in particular, stood out from the rest: CVE-2021-21117 was marked as critical. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself against a possible cyber attack.
Most of the vulnerabilities cited in Google’s report carry a low to medium risk, but CVE-2021-21117 is marked as “Insufficient policy enforcement”. According to Cisecurity, the most severe vulnerabilities could allow for arbitrary code execution.
“These vulnerabilities can be exploited if a user visits, or is redirected to, a specially crafted web page. Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the browser”.
It’s not clear at this stage if hackers have used the vulnerability to gain access to user’s devices. That said, it would be in your best interest to update Google Chrome as soon as possible.
To update Google Chrome, open the desktop browser and select the three vertical dots in the top right corner, next to your profile name. Then select Update Google Chrome.
If you don’t see the Update Google Chrome option, your browser is already update and you’re using the latest version. Once updated, relaunch the browser. You can choose to restart your browser later, if you wish.
The three vertical dots will change to green if an update has been available for two days, orange if an update has been available for four days, or red if an update has been available for a week.
In addition to the above, Cisecurity recommends the following:
You should also keep your devices and networks up to date by using the latest supported versions. Use anti-virus software and scan your devices regularly to guard against malware threats and breaches.
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