Google Chrome 91 released with new features, security improvements

Google has released Chrome 91 today, May 25th, 2021, to the Stable desktop channel, and it includes security improvements, the ability to copy and paste files into web pages, and new developer features.

Chrome 91 fixes 32 security vulnerabilities, with eight being marked as 'High' severity.

Today, Google promoted Chrome 91 to the Stable channel, Chrome 92 as the new Beta version, and Chrome 93 will be the Canary version.

Windows, Mac, and Linux desktop users can upgrade to Chrome 91 by going to Settings -> Help -> About Google Chrome. The browser will then automatically check for the new update and install it when available.

Clipboard: read-only files support

This Google Chrome brings a very useful feature for webmail users as they can now copy and paste a file into an email message to have it automatically be attached.

"Chrome supports files via DataTransfer for drag and drop, but not for clipboard," explains Google's status page for this feature.

"It is useful for users to be able to use clipboard keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V for a task such as attaching a file to an email rather than only drag and drop."

Continued NAT Slipstreaming protection

Chrome 91 includes additional protection from NAT Slipstreaming attacks by blocking port 10080, which Firefox has already blocked since November 2020.

NAT Slipstreaming attacks abuse a router's Application Level Gateway (ALG) feature to gain access to any port on an internal network, potentially allowing threat actors to gain access to services that are normally secured by the router.

When determining if the port should be blocked, developers found that Amanda backup software and VMWare vCenter utilize the port but would not be affected by the block.

Other developer changes in Chrome 91

This release brings numerous new APIs, trials, and changes to Google Chrome. Below we have listed the main developer changes:

For more details, be sure to check out the Chrome 91 status page.