14 DAY TRIAL // Google has released a new major version of its Google Chrome browser which addresses a flurry of vulnerabilities and accounts for the biggest security payout yet.
The new Chrome 13.0.782.107 patches a total of 30 security flaws, 14 of which are rated as high, nine as medium and seven as low. No critical vulnerabilities have been addressed in this release, but these are relatively rare in Chrome.
The credits list is filled with familiar names such as Sergey Glazunov, kuzzcc, miaubiz, Martin Barbella or Aki Helin, all of whom are regular Chrome security contributors.
Miaubiz was the top paid researcher in this release earning $7,500 in rewards for one medium and seven high vulnerabilities.
Sergey Glazunov earned $3,000 for two high vulnerabilities, but also discovered two medium ones which weren't rewarded. Google pays more when researchers also assist developers to create patches.
Kuzzcc found six vulnerabilities, four rated as low and two as medium. He only earned $500 for one of the medium-rated flaws which he discovered together with researcher Mario Gomes.
Martin Barbella earned $2,000 for two high-impact security holes and Aki Helin $500 for a similarly rated one in the PDF plug-in. Other researchers were rewarded with $500 or $1000 for the vulnerabilities they identified, except for members of the Chrome security team.
"Thanks again to all the security researchers we work with. There are $17,000 of rewards in this patch, which is possibly the best haul yet," said Google Chrome engineer Anthony Laforge.
The previous largest payout for a single release was registered in January when security vulnerabilities fixed in Chrome 8.0.552.334 earned their reporters a total of $14,500.
The latest version Google Chrome for Windows can be downloaded from here. The latest version Google Chrome for Linux can be downloaded from here. The latest version Google Chrome for Mac can be downloaded from here.