Updates for both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge have been released which address the critical CVE-2022-1096 zero-day exploit. If you use either of these web browsers, you should install the update immediately.

What we know so far

The high severity vulnerability — referred to as CVE-2022-1096 — stems from a newly-discovered “type confusion” issue with V8, Google’s open-source JavaScript engine that powers both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. The vulnerability, which affects Windows, Mac, and Linux, could allow hackers to hijack people’s web browsers and embed malicious code.

Although it didn’t elaborate, in a short blog post addressing the issue, Google stated that a known exploit currently exists in the wild, although it is not clear how many people have already been affected or how damaging this exploit is.

The vulnerability also affects Microsoft’s Chromium-based web browser Edge in the same way.

What you need to do

You can stay protected from this vulnerability by ensuring your web browser is updated to the latest version. For Google Chrome, this is version 99.0.4844.84 and for Microsoft Edge, it is version 99.0.1150.55.

To check if you have the latest version installed, within one of the web browsers, click the three vertical dots in the top right-hand corner > Settings > About Chrome/About Microsoft Edge. If you don’t already have the latest version installed, you will be presented with the option to download and install it.

How to help the online community

Due to Google remaining tight-lipped about the severity of the known exploit, the level of harm it could cause to potential victims is as yet unclear. To limit the fallout, we all need to do our part in spreading the word — especially when considering how easy it is to install the latest update and guarantee protection. If you found this article helpful and you would like to see that others are protected, please consider sharing this post.