The update fixes 127 vulnerabilities across Chrome. That is more than twice the number fixed in Chrome 147, making this one of the larger recent security updates for the browser.
Three of the flaws are rated critical. One is an integer overflow issue in Blink, Chrome’s HTML rendering engine. The other two are use after free flaws affecting Mobile and Chromoting, the technology behind Chrome Remote Desktop.
Google also fixed 31 high risk flaws, many of which are also use after free bugs. The rest include 66 medium risk issues and 27 low risk issues. Google says none of the patched vulnerabilities are known to be actively exploited right now, but that does not make the update less important.
Here is the main breakdown:
| Category | Number of fixes |
|---|---|
| Critical | 3 |
| High risk | 31 |
| Medium risk | 66 |
| Low risk | 27 |
| Total | 127 |
Google found 100 of the vulnerabilities internally, while outside researchers reported the rest. The company has paid $138,000 in bug bounties so far for this release.
Chrome 148 is rolling out as version 148.0.7778.96 or 148.0.7778.97 on Windows and macOS, and 148.0.7778.96 on Linux. Google has also released Chrome 148 updates for Android and iOS.
Chrome normally updates itself, but you can check manually. Open Chrome, go to Help, then About Google Chrome. The browser will check for the latest version and ask you to restart if an update is ready.
The update does not bring many visible new features. Chrome’s “What’s New” page highlights synced tab groups, though that feature was already available in the previous version. Google is also preparing vertical tabs and a fuller reading mode, but those features are not widely available yet.
For now, the main reason to install Chrome 148 is security. Even if the flaws are not being exploited yet, browser bugs can become serious quickly once details spread. Updating now is the safest move.
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