Web Security News

Google admits Chrome was vulnerable to WebKit hack

Monday, May 18, 2009

Google said last week that it had patched a vulnerability to its Chrome web browser that could have been exploited through WebKit code.

The vulnerability was patched in an update issued May 7, but Google did not disclose the vulnerability until after Apple had fixed the same flaw in its Safari browser.

The company said in a blog post last Wednesday that its May 7 update - which arrives automatically for users of the stable version of the browser - contained a fix for CVE-2009-0945, "an issue in WebKit code that also affects Apple's Safari."

Thanks to Google's foresight, Apple was possibly spared the embarrassment of having Safari exposed to a hack that it had itself sponsored through the Pwn2Own hacking contest it promoted in March.

For the contest, a German computer science student won $15,000 after exploiting the flaw to infiltrate Apple Safari, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox.

Chrome and Safari both use the open-source WebKit rendering engine to power their browsers, although "Nils," the name given by the German student, was unable to exploit the flaw in Chrome.

Another Pwn2Own contestant, IT security professional Charlie Miller, won $5,000 for exploiting a flaw in Safari to hack a MacBook in less than 10 seconds. Apple prohibited the contest winners from providing details of the hack.
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