Google releases an emergency security update for the Chrome browser to address the zero-day vulnerability

Researcher Salvatore Golitzia discovered the vulnerability in the browser used by about 3.6 billion people around the world, and reported it to Google.

This type of vulnerabilities is particularly worrying because it is not previously known to software developers, which means there is no protection against it.

The update for Windows, Mac, and Linux 12 includes a security fix for the vulnerability bearing the code CVE-2026-85046, and Google did not provide specific details about it to allow users time to update their browsers.

Google said in a notice about the problem: “Google is aware that an exploitation of the vulnerability CVE-2026-85046 already exists,” adding that “access to details of the vulnerability and links may remain restricted until the majority of users are updated with the fix.”

The security issue can be exploited by luring someone to visit an HTML page containing malicious code, which could give attackers control of the infected tab, allowing them to crash the system, execute malicious code, or steal sensitive data.

Google did not provide details about who is exploiting the vulnerability, the number of victims, or the targeted parties.

Earlier this year, researchers at Google's threat intelligence group discovered the first evidence of hackers using artificial intelligence to create a zero-day vulnerability.

“For the first time, the group has identified a threat actor using a zero-day exploit that we believe was developed using artificial intelligence,” the researchers wrote in a report in May. “The criminal scheme intended to use it in a large-scale exploit event, but our proactive detection may have prevented its use.”

Google advised Chrome users to protect themselves from the latest exploitation of the “zero-day” vulnerability by updating their browser through Settings, then choosing “About Chrome” and installing any available updates.