A new version of Edge is up for grabs on all platforms

Feb 6, 2021 18:56 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has just announced a new stable version of Microsoft Edge, only one day after the company shipped the previous update.

Just like its predecessor, Microsoft Edge stable version 88.0.705.63 comes with a major security fix for a bug already exploited in the wild.

However, the bug doesn’t affect Microsoft Edge itself but the Chromium engine that powers it.

“Microsoft has released the latest Microsoft Edge Stable Channel (Version 88.0.705.63), which incorporates the latest Security Updates of the Chromium project. This update contains CVE-2021-21148 which has been reported by the Chromium team as having an exploit in the wild,” Microsoft explains.

The vulnerability in question is a heap buffer overflow in the V8 engine, and Google labeled it with a high severity rating. It was reported by Mattias Buelens on January 24.

Needless to say, this new browser update doesn’t bring any new features, as the focus has been entirely on resolving the security flaw mentioned above.

Microsoft Edge based on Chromium

The new version of Microsoft Edge is gaining traction pretty fast, as the migration to the Chromium engine allowed Microsoft to expand it beyond the world of Windows 10.

Unlike the original version of Edge, which was also called Project Spartan, the new browser is available on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, macOS, and Linux, and at the same time, the Redmond-based software giant has also shipped mobile versions to allow users to stay in sync all the time.

Microsoft Edge has thus become the second most-used desktop browser out there after leader Google Chrome, as it already managed to overtake Mozilla Firefox in terms of PC market share. Of course, the gap between the two is likely to increase, with the adoption of Edge expected to increase in the long term.