After installing the Windows 11 22H2 KB5027231 cumulative update that was released last week, Malwarebytes released a fix for a known issue that broke Google Chrome on the systems of its customers.
The company confirmed on Wednesday user reports that the Google Chrome user interface would no longer appear after this month’s Patch Tuesday cumulative updates were deployed.
After installing the KB5027231 update, Malwarebytes’ anti-exploit module prevents the web browser from loading or crashing, resulting in the conflict with Google Chrome.
As a temporary workaround, Malwarebytes advised customers who were affected by this known issue to remove Chrome from their product’s list of protected applications.
On modern Windows 11 systems, the conflict with the Chrome web browser has now been resolved by Malwarebytes.
According to the statement made by the company, “This fix enables Chrome as a protected application for all Windows 11 devices but does not apply our Anti-exploit code to all Chrome processes.”
“Upgrade to a Version of the Component: Version 1.0.2047 of Malwarebytes: 4.5.31.270 to get this fix. Over time, this update occurs automatically. Open Malwarebytes and select Settings > About > Check for updates to manually update.”
Customers who used the workaround are advised by Malwarebytes to re-enable the anti-exploit protection for Chrome once the fix is installed. The company claims that the update will be applied automatically to new installations.
You must do the following in order to re-enable Chrome as a protected application in your Malwarebytes product:
Start up Malwarebytes.
Click the Settings wheel in the top right.
Select the tab for security.
Click Manage protected applications under Exploit Protection.
Switch on Google Chrome (and its extensions).
Click Finish.
The same Windows 11 update would also break Google Chrome on systems protected by Cisco and WatchGuard EDR and antivirus solutions, as further reported by BleepingComputer last week.
The web browser would not open if the Cisco Secure Endpoint and WatchGuard exploit prevention engines were enabled following installation of KB5027231, as confirmed by WatchGuard staff and user reports.
One Windows administrator stated, “We deploy Secure Endpoint 8.1.7 to our few thousand devices, and we started receiving a mountain of reports this morning that Google Chrome would not appear on the screen after attempting to open it.”
“I found that killing the Secure Endpoint service or uninstalling Secure Endpoint will allow Chrome to open again after a little trial and error.”
On affected Windows 11 systems, affected customers are advised to turn off anti-exploit protection or set Chrome as the default browser from Settings > Select Default Browser. A fix has not yet been released by Cisco and WatchGuard.
Requests for additional information on this matter have yet to be answered by spokespersons for Cisco and Microsoft.
