RESEARCHERS have uncovered a dangerous zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome.
"Zero-days" are flaws that have not yet been patched by software developers.
This means that they can be fully exploited by hackers and cybercriminals.
Specifically, attackers could exploit them to access sensitive data, crash browsers, install malware, and more.
They often stem from unknown issues and are dangerous until coders can fix the problem.
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Once a solution patch is written and used, the exploit is no longer called a zero-day exploit.
THE CHROME FLAW
Tracked as CVE-2024-0519, the vulnerability is classified as a high-severity bug.
It is causing an “out-of-bounds memory access” issue in Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine.
The vulnerability was already being actively exploited before Google patched it.
Google promptly released an update for Chrome following the discovery of the zero-day.
The update is version 120.0.6099.224/225 for Windows and 120.0.6099.234 for Mac.
HOW TO STAY SAFE
To protect yourself from the zero-day vulnerability, you should update your Chrome browser immediately,
First head to your device and open the Chrome browser.
At the top right, click the three-dot menu icon and then tap on Settings.
On the left, click About Chrome – while here, Chrome will check for updates and download them automatically.
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If and when an update is ready, click "Relaunch to update" to apply it.
ADDITIONAL TIPS
There are a few things you can do to protect your device from malware and vulnerabilities.
For starters, only install apps from the Google Play Store – this will help to ensure that the apps you download are safe.
Be careful when clicking on links in emails or text messages as these often lead to phishing websites.
It helps a lot to use a security app with malware protection on your device