If you use Chrome (or a Chromium-based browser like Edge), listen up: You need to install your browser's latest update. Without it, you leave your browser vulnerable to attack, which puts its data in jeopardy.

As reported by Malwarebytes Labs, Google's latest update for Chrome (version 149.0.7827.102/.103 for Windows and Mac and 149.0.7827.102 for Linux) includes patches for 74 security vulnerabilities. 17 of these vulnerabilities are rated as "Critical," while all but two of the others are rated "High." That alone would indicate this update is rather important, but there's more: One of these vulnerabilities is currently actively exploited.

Google confirmed in its update that there is an exploit in the wild for the flaw tracked as CVE-2026-11645. This flaw is an "out of bounds memory access" vulnerability affecting V8, Chrome's JavaScript engine. Hackers can exploit the flaw to have their own program read or write data outside of the memory spaces it's supposed to access. In other words, a hacker could run their own code in Chrome, as if it were something legitimate Google placed in the browser. All a hacker would need to do is trick you into clicking a link to a malicious website, and they could effectively take over your browser.

Because this flaw was exploited before Google issued the patch, it's considered a "zero-day." That's dangerous, because hackers could potentially abuse the flaw en masse before most users have a chance to update their browsers. If there is a silver lining here—besides there being an update available to patch the flaw—it's that the zero-day is limited to Chrome. Google says hackers can only run code "inside a sandbox," which means they can exploit this flaw to take over the device you're running Chrome on. Still, it's important to block attackers from exploiting this flaw in Chrome itself, as well as any other flaw on the list they may discover exploits for. As such, you should make sure Chrome is updated as soon as possible.

How to update Chrome

To check Chrome's update status, click the three-dots in the top-right corner of the window, then head to Help > About Google Chrome. Here, Chrome will look for the latest update. If it's already installed, you're set. If not, hit "Relaunch" to install the patch.

Other Chromium-based browsers may not get the update yet, but keep tabs on their update channels, too: As soon as the patch is available, install it.