Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the stable version of Chrome used a "kill switch" on extensions that had been installed from sources other than the Chrome Web Store. That change has not been added to the stable channel.
Google today upgraded Chrome to version 33, patching 28 security vulnerabilities.
Chrome 33 debuted notifications for Google Now, the company's digital Siri-like assistant, within the browser on Windows and Apple's OS X. Those notifications stem from the Android and iOS Google Now apps.
Along with the one feature promotion, Google patched 28 vulnerabilities in the browser, including five rated "high," the company's second-most-serious threat ranking. Three of the vulnerabilities were classified as "use-after-free" issues, a type of memory bug that in-house and external researchers have become adept at rooting out, largely by using Google's own AddressSanitizer fuzzing tool.
Seven outside researchers were paid a total of $13,500 in bounties for reporting six of the 28 flaws. So far this year, Google has paid out more than $21,000 in bug bounties.
Chrome 33 also included the most-up-to-date version of Adobe's Flash Player -- Google's browser uses an integrated edition of Flash and so updates it automatically -- that was released earlier today after reports surfaced that hackers were exploiting a critical vulnerability.
People who haven't tried Google's desktop browser can download Chrome 33 for Windows, OS X and Linux from Google's website. Current users can let the automatic updater download and install the new version.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.
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