After Google issued a zero-day exploit warning and pushed an emergency security update for all Chrome users, MetaMask and PancakeSwap urged users to update their browsers and wallet apps as soon as possible. “Chrome has published a security update with a high level of severity. Please upgrade your browser right now, “MetaMask” said in a tweet to its followers.
With nearly 21 million active monthly users, the world’s top non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet was not alone in its pleading. Decentralised exchange PancakeSwap issued a similar warning, advising users to keep their browsers up to date by updating Chrome, Chromium-based Brave, Opera, Edge, and other browsers.
The crucial update addresses a high-severity zero-day vulnerability in the Chrome browser caused by a significant hole in the app’s software security that the developers were unaware of. Google has provided few specifics about the incident, noting only that it “is aware that an attack for CVE-2022-1096 exists in the wild.” Chrome’s JavaScript engine is referred to as CVE-2022-1096.
Updates meant for a single security update are uncommon, and especially so for Google, underscoring the gravity of the situation. Because of the extreme level of secrecy surrounding the situation, it’s possible that software security issues were already exploited before the fix was released.
