Google has issued an emergency update for its Chrome browser after discovering a highly serious cyber-security vulnerability that has already been exploited by hackers.
The flaw was identified by researcher Salvatore Gulizia, who reported the issue to Google. Chrome is one of the world’s most widely used web browsers, with approximately 3.6 billion users globally.
Google classified the issue as a zero-day vulnerability, meaning the security flaw was previously unknown to software developers and had already been targeted by attackers before a fix was available.
The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2026-85046, is addressed through an update for Chrome users on Windows, macOS and Linux. The release includes 12 security fixes related to the issue.
Google has not disclosed detailed technical information about the vulnerability, aiming to give users sufficient time to install the security update and protect their systems.
“Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2026-85046 exists in the wild,” Google said in an advisory about the issue.
“Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix.”
The security flaw is understood to potentially be exploited by persuading a user to visit an HTML page containing malicious code. This could allow attackers to gain control of the affected browser tab.
If successfully exploited, the vulnerability could enable attackers to crash systems, execute malicious code or access sensitive information, making it particularly important for Chrome users to install the latest update.
