Google has confirmed a large number of serious vulnerabilities in its Chrome browser and Chrome users around the world should take action…

Google posted the news on its official Chrome blog, revealing that 32 security vulnerabilities have been discovered affecting Chrome on Windows, macOS, and Linux. An updated version of the browser is rolling out “over the next few days/weeks.”

Breaking down the vulnerabilities, Google rated eight as “high” risk and one designated as “critical.” Google is not disclosing full details of the vulnerabilities yet as it saves users time for the upgrade, but the top-rated threats are listed below:

• Critical – CVE-2022-1853: Use after free in indexed database. Reported by Anonymous on 05/12/2022
• High – CVE-2022-1854: Use after free in ANGLE. Reported by SeongHwan Park (SeHwa) on 2022-04-27
• High – CVE-2022-1855: use after free in messaging. Reported by Anonymous on 07/13/2021
• High – CVE-2022-1856: use after free in user education. Reported by Nan Wang(@eternalsakura13) and Guang Gong of 360 Alpha Lab on 2022-05-06
• High – CVE-2022-1857: Insufficient policy enforcement in file system API. Reported by Daniel Rhea on 2021-07-11
• High – CVE-2022-1858: Reading out of bounds in DevTools. Reported by EllisVlad on 2022-04-07
• High – CVE-2022-1859: post-release usage in Performance Manager. Reported by Guannan Wang (@Keenan7310) of Tencent Security Xuanwu Lab on 2022-05-05
• High – CVE-2022-1860: use after free in UI Foundations. Posted by @ginggilBesel on 2022-02-15
• High – CVE-2022-1861: Use after free in Sharing. Reported by Khalil Zhani on 2022-04-16

Although details are scarce, the prevalence of Use After Free (UAF) bugs remains. Twelve of the 32 vulnerabilities shared by Google are UAF (a memory exploit), bringing the total to more than 80 in 2022.

Google has released updated versions of Chrome for all platforms to combat these threats: 102.0.5005.61/62/63 for Windows and 102.0.5005.61 for macOS and Linux. To force the update immediately:

1. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner of Chrome.
2. Click on Settings > Help > About Google Chrome.
3. Wait for Chrome to find and install the update.
4. When prompted, restart Chrome (this is essential).

And it’s not something to be taken lightly. In April, Google reported that zero-day attacks (vulnerabilities actively exploited by hackers before a fix can be found) on all major platforms had more than doubled between 2020 and 2021, and 2022 is heading to another record.

Make updating Chrome the very next thing you do.

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MORE FORBESHow to Update Google ChromeBy Gordon Kelly