In September 2018, Chrome 69 will begin blocking third-party software from injecting into Chrome processes. If this blocking prevents Chrome from starting, Chrome will restart and allow the injection, but also show a warning that guides the user to remove the software. Finally, in January 2019, Chrome 72 will remove this accommodation and always block code injection.
While most software that injects code into Chrome will be affected by these changes, there are some exceptions. Microsoft-signed code, accessibility software, and IME software will not be affected. As with all Chrome changes, developers are encouraged to use Chrome Beta for early testing.
Fewer crashes means more happy users, and we look forward to continuing to make Chrome better for everyone.
Posted by Chris Hamilton, Chrome Stability Team
Updated 2018-06-21: Third-party software will be blocked from injecting code into Chrome on Windows starting in Chrome 69.
An example of a redirect being blocked on a test site. The iframes embedded in the site are attempting to navigate the page to an unintended destination, but Chrome prevents the redirect and shows an infobar. When the user interacts with content, things can also go wrong. One example that causes user frustration is when clicking a link opens the desired destination in a new tab, while the main window navigates to a different, unwanted page. Starting in Chrome 68 we'll also detect this behavior, trigger an infobar, and prevent the main tab from being redirected. This allows the user to continue directly to their intended destination, while also preserving the context of the page they came from. Finally, there are several other types of abusive experiences that send users to unintended destinations but are hard to automatically detect. These include links to third-party websites disguised as play buttons or other site controls, or transparent overlays on websites that capture all clicks and open new tabs or windows.
Two types of abusive experiences where a deceptive site control appears to do one thing, but has a different behavior when clicked. One looks like a play button on a video but sends the user to an unwanted download when clicked (left), and the other looks like a close button but instead opens unwanted pop-up windows (right). Similar to how Google Safe Browsing protects users from malicious content, starting in early January Chrome's pop-up blocker will prevent sites with these types of abusive experiences from opening new windows or tabs. To help site owners prepare for this change, today we're also launching the Abusive Experiences Report alongside other similar reports in the Google Search Console. Site owners can use the report to see if any of these abusive experiences have been found on their site and improve their user experience. Otherwise, abusive experiences left unaddressed for 30 days will trigger the prevention of new windows and tabs. Together, these protections will dramatically improve users' web browsing experiences while still allowing them access to all that the web has to offer. Posted by Ryan Schoen, Product Manager
Update 2018-06-07: The two protections described above that prevent unwanted redirects and unwanted tabs or windows are now scheduled to be released with Chrome 68. The timeline for expanding Chrome's pop-up blocker remains unchanged, as it already launched in January.
