Google fixed 19 flaws in its Chrome Web browser yesterday (Feb. 28), a week before a hackers from around the world will try to crack into it as part of an annual contest.
The updated Chrome 9.0.597.107 tackles 16 vulnerabilities rated “high” by Google and three rated “medium,” Computerworld reported.
None of the flaws was labeled “critical,” a ranking that would leave the popular browser’s “sandbox” security feature — designed to quarantine flaws before they spread through a system — open to exploit.
Chrome’s shiny new version comes just eight days before Pwn2Own, the annual hacking contest at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Pwn2Own will pit contestants’ hacking skills against major operating systems and Web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. Last year, Chrome was the only browser to emerge unscathed.
Whoever successfully exploits Chrome will walk away with $20,000 and a new CR-48 Chrome OS notebook computer.
Google paid $14,000 to independent security researchers for discovering the newly patched bugs.
The updated version of Chrome can be downloaded from Google’s website or by clicking “About Google Chrome” in Chrome’s dropdown menu.
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