MetaMask & PancakeSwap Urge Users to Update Wallets And Browsers

The move came after Google issued an emergency security update for Chrome users.

MetaMask and PancakeSwap have called on users to update their browsers and wallet apps to the latest version as soon as possible after Google released a zero-day exploit warning, pushing an emergency security update for all Chrome users.

โ€œChrome has released a high severity security update. Please take the time to update your browser now,โ€ MetaMask tweeted to its followers.ย 

The worldโ€™s leading non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet with approximately 21 million active monthly users was not alone in the imploration.

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Decentralized exchange PankeSwap shared a similar warning, encouraging users to stay safe by updating Chrome and Chromium-based Brave, Opera, Edge, and other browsers to the newest versions.ย 

Google Issues Zero-Day Exploit Warning

Google urged users on Windows, macOS and Linux to update their Chrome web browsers to the 99.0.4844.84 version as soon as possible.ย 

The urgent update fixes a high severity zero-day vulnerability in the Chrome browser arising from a critical flaw in the app’s software security which the software developers did not previously know existed.ย 

Google has not revealed many details on the event, simply stating that it โ€œis aware that an exploit for CVE-2022-1096 exists in the wildโ€. CVE-2022-1096 refers to Chromeโ€™s JavaScript engine.

Updates intended for a single security fix are rare and particularly unusual for Google, further alluding to the seriousness of the matter. The high level of secrecy on the matter also implies that software security flaws haveย  alreadyย been exploited prior to the patch.

A day before the announcement, Googleโ€™s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) disclosed that a North Korean hacker had set out to exploit Chrome in an attempt to target U.S. based fintech, IT, and media industries.

Chromium-based Browsers Also At Risk

While Googleโ€™s emergency update addressed Chrome browsers only, there could be a wider range of affected platforms with browsers like Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave and Vivaldi all being built on the same Chromium codebase developed by Google.ย 

Google Chromeย is currently the most used web browser in the world, accounting for the majority share of browser usage at 64.67%, as of October 2021. Over 3.2 billion people worldwide use the tech giant’s browser app.

Edge, Firefox and Opera continue to trail leading browsers Chrome and Safari, each accounting for 5% of the global user market.

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Simona Ram

Simona Ram is the senior journalist at DailyCoin, focusing on in-depth investigations of the cryptocurrency sector. Simona has minor holdings in Bitcoin.

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