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Netstat -vat by Sean Michael Kerner (bio)

A command line view of IT



Google's Chrome browser updated for security fixes

By Sean Michael Kerner on November 6, 2009 11:09 AM
googlechromologo.jpg
From the 'Auto-Update' files:

Google is updating the stable version of its Chrome browser to version 3.0.195.32.

The new release fixes two security issues and addresses a number of stability issues including a top crash condition and a bug that could have consumed 100 percent of a user's CPU.

On the security side, one of the fixed flaws deals with executable JavaScript warnings, or rather a lack thereof.
"The user was not warned about certain possibly dangerous file types such as SVG, MHT and XML files," Anthony Laforge Google Chrome Program Manager wrote in a blog post. "In some browsers, JavaScript can execute within these types of files. Because the JavaScript runs in the local context, it may be able to access local resources."
The other security issue fixed in Chrome 3.0.195.32 is a memory corruption condition in the Gears plugin. Gears (formerly known as Google Gears) is Google's attempt at providing offline storage for website information.

Chrome 3.0.195.32 also fixes what I consider to be a very serious bug that could have eaten up 100 percent of a user's CPU.

The flaw stems from Chrome's setInterval JavaScript function usage.
"I think the root cause of this is also behind lots of the various 100 percent CPU reports seen on various sites (gmail, nytimes, etc) since it's very easy to leak a setInterval()," A Google developer wrote in the bug report.
That's a pretty serious flaw and it affected major websites including Google's own Gmail. I always wondered why Gmail behaved so erratically on Chrome and now I know.

As opposed to every other major browser vendor, Google has an automated update process for its users. As such existing Chrome users will automatically be updated to the 3.0.195.32 version without the need to click on their own to visit Google for an update.

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