Update Chrome As Soon As Possible to Protect Against This Active Vulnerability.
If you use Chrome (or a Chromium-based browser like Edge), please note: you must install the latest update for your browser. Without it, your browser becomes vulnerable to attacks, putting your data at risk.
According to Malwarebytes Labs , Google ‘s latest Chrome update (version 149.0.7827.102/.103 for Windows and Mac and 149.0.7827.102 for Linux) includes fixes for 74 security vulnerabilities. Seventeen of these vulnerabilities are rated “critical,” and all but two are rated “high-severity.” This alone indicates the importance of the update, but there are other factors at play: one of these vulnerabilities is currently being actively exploited by attackers.
In its update, Google confirmed the existence of a vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-11645. This vulnerability is an “out-of-bounds memory access” vulnerability affecting V8, Chrome’s JavaScript engine. Hackers can exploit this vulnerability to allow their own program to read or write data outside of the memory areas it should be able to access. In other words, a hacker can run their own code in Chrome as if it were legitimate Google code hosted in the browser. All a hacker needs to do is trick you into clicking a link to a malicious website, and they can effectively take control of your browser.
Because this vulnerability was exploited by attackers before Google released a patch, it is considered a “zero-day.” This is dangerous because hackers could potentially exploit it en masse before most users have time to update their browsers. If there’s one silver lining here—besides the availability of an update to fix the vulnerability—it’s that the zero-day vulnerability is limited to Chrome. Google states that hackers can only run code “inside a sandbox,” meaning they could exploit this vulnerability to take over the device you’re using Chrome on. However, it’s important to block attackers from exploiting this vulnerability within Chrome itself, as well as any other vulnerabilities on the list for which they might discover exploits. Therefore, you should update Chrome as soon as possible.
How to update Chrome
To check Chrome’s update status, click the three dots in the upper-right corner of the window, then go to “Help” > “About Google Chrome.” Chrome will find the latest update here. If it’s already installed, everything is fine. Otherwise, click “Relaunch” to install the patch.
Other Chromium-based browsers may not receive this update yet, but keep an eye on their update channels and install the patch as soon as it becomes available.