Google announced the block of code injection from third-party applications into the Chrome browser. Developers have 14 months to update their code.

Google continues to improve security of its product and services, the IT giant announced the for blocking third-party applications from injecting code into the Chrome browser.

The decision of the company will have a significant impact on many applications from third-party, including antivirus and security software that use to inject code into the browser processed to intercept cyber threats.

“Roughly two-thirds of Windows Chrome users have other applications on their machines that interact with Chrome, such as accessibility or antivirus software.” states the blog post published on Google Chromium.

“In the past, this software needed to inject code in Chrome in order to function properly; unfortunately, users with software that injects code into Windows Chrome are 15% more likely to experience crashes”

The tech giant will introduce the security improvements in three main phases over a 14-months plan.

Below the plan

Phase 1:

In April 2018, starting with Chrome 66 will begin showing users a warning after a crash, alerting them that third-party software attempted to inject code into the browser and providing suggestions on possible fixes or instructions to remove that software.

Phase 2:

Starting from July 2018, Chrome 68 will begin blocking third-party software from injecting into Chrome processes.

If this blocking prevents the Chrome browser from starting, it will restart and allow the injection. Google experts decided that in this scenario, the browser will show a warning that guides the user to remove the software.

Phase 3:

In January 2019, Chrome 72 will remove the warning and will block code injection by default.

Google will allow some exceptions for Microsoft-signed code, accessibility software, and IME (Input Method Editor) type-assist software.

“While most software that injects code into Chrome will be affected by these changes, there are some exceptions. Microsoft-signed code, accessibility software, and IME software will not be affected. As with all Chrome changes, developers are encouraged to use Chrome Beta for early testing.” continues Google.

According to the search giant, fewer crashes means more happy users and the company is committed in giving the users a better experience.

Developers of Windows software that works with Chrome are encouraged to switch Chrome channels and test their code through the Beta channel that allow to test it on next versions of the browser.

Developers can start using new modern Chrome features such as browser extensions or the Native Messaging API, instead of the code injection.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Chrome, code injection)

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