Two critical Chrome flaws put users at risk on malicious websites

Update September 4, 2026

Shortly after this article was published, Google released another Chrome update that patches an actively exploited flaw in the V8 JavaScript engine, tracked as CVE-2026-85046 .

Google rates the vulnerability as high severity and says an exploit already exists in the wild. An attacker could use a crafted HTML page to execute arbitrary code inside the Chrome sandbox. Because it is already being exploited, HKCERT rates the overall risk as extremely high.

After installing the latest update, Chrome should be at version 152. 0. 7977. 82/. 83 on Windows and Mac, or 152. 0. 7977. 82 on Linux.

Chrome is rolling out an update for its desktop browser. The update includes 26 security fixes, two of which Google rates as critical use-after-free vulnerabilities.

How to update Chrome

If you don’t want to wait for the rollout to reach you, manually updating is easy.

The easiest option is to allow Chrome to update automatically. But you can end up lagging behind if you never close your browser or if something goes wrong with the update.

To update manually, click the More menu (three dots), then go to Settings About Chrome . If an update is available, Chrome will start downloading it automatically. Restart Chrome to complete the update, and you’ll be protected against these vulnerabilities.

You can find an explanation of the version numbering system and step-by-step instructions in our guide: How to update Chrome on every operating system .

Technical details

Let’s look at the two critical vulnerabilities. Both are use-after-free (UAF) vulnerabilities. A use-after-free vulnerability occurs when a program attempts to access a memory location after it has been freed. That can cause crashes or, in some cases, allow an attacker to run their own code.

Chrome is rolling out an update for its desktop browser. The update includes 26 security fixes, two of which Google rates as critical use-after-free vulnerabilities.

The Stable channel has been updated to 152. 0. 7977. 75/. 76 for Windows and Mac, and 152. 0. 7977. 75 for Linux.

How to update Chrome

If you don’t want to wait for the rollout to reach you, manually updating is easy.

The easiest option is to allow Chrome to update automatically. But you can end up lagging behind if you never close your browser or if something goes wrong with the update.

To update manually, click the More menu (three dots), then go to Settings About Chrome . If an update is available, Chrome will start downloading it automatically. Restart Chrome to complete the update, and you’ll be protected against these vulnerabilities.

Chrome 152. 0. 7977. 76 is up to date

You can find an explanation of the version numbering system and step-by-step instructions in our guide: How to update Chrome on every operating system .

Technical details

Let’s look at the two critical vulnerabilities. Both are use-after-free (UAF) vulnerabilities. A use-after-free vulnerability occurs when a program attempts to access a memory location after it has been freed. That can cause crashes or, in some cases, allow an attacker to run their own code.

The first, tracked as CVE-2026-84353 , was found in Shared Tab Groups and could allow a remote attacker using social engineering to execute arbitrary code outside the browser sandbox via a crafted HTML page. Here, social engineering likely means an attacker would have to lure you to a malicious website or open an email in HTML format .