Upcoming Security Enhancements: Google Chrome to Embrace De-elevated Launch
In April 2019, Microsoft introduced a significant security feature to its Edge browser: the ability to detect when it is operating in Administrator mode. This functionality prompted users to restart the browser in a less privileged state, enhancing overall security during web browsing sessions.
By August of the same year, Microsoft made further enhancements by launching a new setting called “De-elevate browser on launch.”This feature automatically relaunches Edge in a non-admin mode if elevated privileges are detected, fortifying the browser’s security posture even further.
Chrome Follows Suit: New Security Update on the Horizon
Despite these advancements in Edge, it was surprising to find that Google’s Chrome browser lacked similar capabilities, even though both browsers operate on the Chromium framework. However, a recent development indicates that Google Chrome users will soon benefit from the same de-elevation feature.
Microsoft’s Principal Software Engineer Stefan Smolen has recently committed changes to Chromium Gerrit that introduce an “Automatically de-elevate users launching Chrome elevated”feature. This potentially marks a significant leap forward for Chrome’s security.
According to Smolen, the change aims to replicate the functionalities present in Edge:
This CL is based on changes we’ve had in Edge, circa 2019, which attempts to automatically de-elevate the browser when it’s run with the elevated part of a split / linked token.
This automatically attempts a relaunch once, and then if it still fails it falls back to the current behaviour (which tries to launch admin).We append a command-line switch to prevent auto-relaunch if, for whatever reason, we re-launch into admin mode again.
Important Considerations for Automation
The upcoming feature, akin to that found in Edge, will ensure that Chrome can now spontaneously relaunch without elevated permissions. However, Smolen highlighted an important exclusion: this new flag will not operate in environments where Chrome is functioning in automation mode, thereby safeguarding automation tools from disruption.
It’s worth noting that Smolen is the same engineer who initially introduced this feature to Edge back in 2019, demonstrating a continued commitment to enhancing browser security across platforms.
For more information on this update, check the original commit in Chromium Gerrit, as well as insights from Leopeva64 on X.
For further details on this development and more, visit Neowin.
Related Articles:
Microsoft Weekly: Windows 11 version 25H2 release confirmed, Windows 10 free updates available, and more
8:02
Windows 11 Updates KB5062233, KB5060843, KB5062197, KB5061090 for Setup and Recovery Released
15:17
Top 5 Desired Features for Microsoft Teams Users
7:23
Leave a Reply ▼