Google Chrome launches a new browser and closes 17 security flaws

Google recently released the new Chrome versions 130.0.6723.58/59 for Windows and macOS, and 130.0.6723.58 for Linux. Google is thus closing 17 security vulnerabilities in its browser, none of which appear to have been exploited for attacks to date. Manufacturers of other Chromium-based browsers should follow suit soon.

Further reading: I got sick of Chrome’s BS and switched to Vivaldi. Here’s what happened

In the Chrome release blog, Daniel Yip lists 13 of the 17 security vulnerabilities that have been fixed, which were discovered by external security researchers and reported to Google. Google categorizes one of the vulnerabilities as high risk. This is a use-after-free vulnerability (CVE-2024-9954) in the AI module. Google categorizes the other vulnerabilities as medium or low risk. As always, Google does not provide any information about the vulnerabilities found internally.

Last week, Google released a security update for Chrome 129 to patch four vulnerabilities. Chrome usually updates itself automatically when a new version is available. You can manually trigger the update check using the menu item Help > About Google Chrome (or Settings > About Google Chrome). Google has also released Chrome 130.0.6723.58 for Android and Chrome for iOS 130.0.6723.37. The Android version fixes the same vulnerabilities as the desktop versions.

New in Chrome 130

On the What’s New page in the browser, Google advertises the advantage of the password manager included in Chrome, which allows you to use passkeys on all computers and Android devices. The security check integrated in Chrome has been given new functions. It gets carried out automatically in the background. In addition, Chrome now has AI-based real-time protection against phishing and malware. Check if Advanced Safe Browsing is activated in the settings under Privacy and Security.

Other Chromium-based browsers

The manufacturers of other Chromium-based browsers are now once again being called upon to follow suit with updates as quickly as possible. None have yet made the switch to Chromium 130. However, Brave, Microsoft (Edge), Vivaldi, and, since Monday, Opera are up to last week’s security level.

Opera 115 with Chromium 130 is not even in the beta test stage yet. As the Extended Stable Channel for Chromium version 128 ends with the release of Chrome 130 and there is none for Chromium 129, Opera must first finalize its browser version 115 in order to catch up with the main field again.