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You can crash Google Chrome in 16 characters or less

An obscure bug in Google Chrome allows users to crash the web browser with only 16 characters. While probably not a security concern, it's something to be aware of on unscrupulous websites.

It's no secret that Chrome has been rising in popularity through the years, and is helped by being installed by default on Android devices. While some complain about memory consumption, most people overlook that for the usability that it provides.

As more people use the browser, more bugs are bound to be identified. The latest, identified by Andris Atteka and reported on VentureBeat, is that Chrome can be made to crash with a simple 16-character URL. The string looks harmless enough, but will cause the browser to stop working:

https://a/%%30%30

To make matters worse, if the string is part of a hyperlink, simply putting your mouse over the link will result in Chrome reporting an, "Aw, Snap!" error message, closing the page you were on. To save our readers the hassle, we avoided making a hyperlink of the offending characters.

This doesn't appear to be an issue that will allow an attacker to do anything other than be an annoyance, but it's important to note that the bug has not been fully tested and therefore there's an outside chance that it may be possible to do more than simply crash the browser.

Source: Andris Atteka via VentureBeat

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