Google fix 9 bugs in Chrome – in time for Pwn2Own

Over the weekend Google patched nine Chrome bugs and have upgraded the browser to Version 9, which is the most stable browser they have released yet.

As well as fixing the bugs, Chrome 9 has also added support for WebGL, an API (application programming interface) that has hardware acceleration for 3D without relying on a plug in. Google Instant is a new feature which starts showing search results as soon as the user begins to type. They have also finished work on Chrome Web Store, Googles online market for browser applications.

The nine bug fixes for Chrome 9.0.597.84 vary from crash and stability fixes to a ‘ race condition in audio handling', with very little details on what was fixed. We do know that this is a bug which can be exploited to escape Chrome's Sandbox, meaning this is the second sandbox-escape they have fixed in two months.  They rate this as a ‘critical' vulnerability however which is their highest security rating possible. Other fixes were marked as ‘high' and ‘low'.

Chrome is the only major browser that isolates system processes in a sandbox, technology designed to prevent malware from escaping an application to infect the computer or even to steal information from the hard drive.

For Google, these fixes come at a very important time, as Chrome will go head to head against researchers next month at the fifth annual Pwn2Own hacking contest in Vancouver, British Columbia. The first researcher who can successfully exploit Chrome and its sandbox will win a $20,000 cash prize, which Google are funding directly.

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