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Microsoft IT

Microsoft Fixes Edge Browser Bug That Was Stealing Chrome Tabs and Data 49

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
An anonymous reader shared an news report: Microsoft has fixed an issue where its Edge browser was again misbehaving, this time by automatically importing browsing data and tabs from Chrome without consent. I personally experienced the bug last month, after I rebooted my PC for a regular Windows update and Microsoft Edge automatically opened with the Chrome tabs I was working on before the update. I asked Microsoft repeatedly to explain why this behavior had occurred for myself and many other Windows users, but the company refused to comment. Microsoft has now quietly issued a fix in the latest Microsoft Edge update.

Here's how Microsoft describes the fix: "Edge has a feature that provides an option to import browser data on each launch from other browsers with user consent. This feature's state might not have been syncing and displaying correctly across multiple devices. This is fixed."
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Microsoft Fixes Edge Browser Bug That Was Stealing Chrome Tabs and Data More

Microsoft Fixes Edge Browser Bug That Was Stealing Chrome Tabs and Data

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  • Hardly a bug. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 19, 2024 @07:09PM (#64252996)
    This was intentional behavior that they do not choose to explain to us, the Great Unwashed.
    • A reversal of the classic "it's a feature, not a bug". Turns out the reverse usage isn't just snarky, but kind of evil.

      • Yes, the "bug" was the allowing the pages of the last Chrome session (in the narrative case) to be shown as the last session tabs. The collection behavior however, I'm pretty sure, is intentional.

    • Microsoft said it themselves back in 2015. "Edge is the new Internet Explorer"

  • You mean "quietly" by putting it in the release notes and publishing it on the website like every other bug? why add BS language to make it sound like a conspiracy to hide the bug? most companies don't comment on why or how a bug occurred, especially to randoms on the internet for bugs that are mostly just annoying..

  • MS, while we're here fixing Edge, could you please have a look at how your browser cooperates with ChatGPT.

    Basically, it won't work at all. Chrome is no better. But, oh boy, ChatGPT just loves Firefox.

    Funny that. I use chrome for work, exclusively. Edge for nothing, so I wanted to sandbox the AI here. Firefox has been my main personal browser (think porn, drugs, shit posting) since reading a story on the browser on /. back in the early 2000s.\

    Am i missing something about the data ChatGPT is scraping?

  • Microsoft Fixes Bug (Score:5, Funny)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Monday February 19, 2024 @08:16PM (#64253086)

    I thought it was April first for a second.

  • Essentially MSEdge is the only option on Windows 11.

    Notifications keep recommending MSEdge many different way. It is impossible to use other browsers properly.

    We know who'll win the the long term web-browser mark share battle -- The browser recommended by the Operation System wins.

  • "Oops, we accidentally made Edge swipe competitor meta-data. Gee, how did that happen, silly us."

  • Your over payed PR department is not going to wriggle their way out of this one.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jmccue ( 834797 )

      True, but what would you expect ? In a good world, M/S would get something like a 15% fine off of full pre-tax revenue, payable now.

      So they closed the "bug", but I am sure with all the other goodies they have in Windows 11, Microsoft is not loosing anything they would get from chrome anyway.

  • I've decided to leave the program upon experiencing this Edge "bug". No way do I trust that it was an innocent mistake that's now been rectified. And as such, I have decided there are more worthy projects to dedicate my interest to.

    • I've decided to leave the program upon experiencing this Edge "bug". No way do I trust that it was an innocent mistake that's now been rectified.

      This "bug" doesn't even make sense. How could this even happen? Why would Edge be accessing **ANYTHING** that is associated with Chrome? Is Microsoft making some sort of assumption that everyone has Chrome installed on their computer? (I don't). WTF?

      • It has an "import" function, which copies your data over from Chrome on request, to make it easier to switch browsers. Most browsers have something similar, though it's often just bookmarks rather than current tabs. The bug is that it's activating on it's own, rather than when requested.

      • I've decided to leave the program upon experiencing this Edge "bug". No way do I trust that it was an innocent mistake that's now been rectified.

        This "bug" doesn't even make sense. How could this even happen? Why would Edge be accessing **ANYTHING** that is associated with Chrome? Is Microsoft making some sort of assumption that everyone has Chrome installed on their computer? (I don't). WTF?

        It was most likely a data collection routine that "accidentally" passed the collected browser history off to Edge instead of sending it straight to the mothership. Be grateful it was only your own history. It'd be lovely to accidentally open Edge in a meeting room and get Timmy's latest porn musings popping up on the projector.

  • Don't use MS browsers. I currently use Windows 11 and Server 2022 as my personal PC's and neither have Edge installed. I thought folks knew better. At least SOME folks. Geez.

    • "I thought folks knew better. At least SOME folks."

      I'd say exactly the same thing about Windows 11.

    • - Don't use MS browsers
      - Don't use MS OS
      - Don't use MS Office software ....

    • The joke is on you. You don't think you have Edge installed. If you have Windows 11, chances are that MS installed it for you in an update and never told you. Microsoft considers Edge a core component of Windows and it cannot be removed. At best you can hide it.

      • Let me introduce you to tiny11 iso. Google it. I know exactly what I have installed on my rigs. Always have, always will.

        I use the Linux virus too if that makes you feel better.

        • Let me introduce you to tiny11 iso. Google it. I know exactly what I have installed on my rigs. Always have, always will.

          So you have a customized and non-supported version of Windows 11 and you somehow expected people to use that? Your statement: "I currently use Windows 11 ." is misleading then. It should be "I currently use a non-supported and customized version of Window 11 . . ." How does your solution work for people who use official versions like people who have work computers? It does not.

          • It is very supported. Windows updates work just fine. You are mis-informed.

            • "Updates work" is not the same as your version of Windows is supported by Microsoft. It is not supported by Microsoft. Updates happen to work. If an update does not work, can you open a ticket with Microsoft and they will fix it? Or will they close out the ticket as you do not have a supported version of Windows?

              But let's go over your first statement as you express disbelief that people "knew better". However it seems you failed to understand that people using normal Windows 11 have Edge as part of the OS.

              • Like it is my problem that corporations don't know what the fuck they are doing. Just because some assholes in a corporate environment decided not to customize the install when they rolled out the images for installs does not mean you can't or have to suffer. You sound like a corporate 'yes' man who just does what some suit fuck tells you what to do. Maybe try finding a job without all the assholes.

                • Like it is my problem that corporations don't know what the fuck they are doing.

                  1) No let's go over exactly what you said. You said: "I thought folks knew better. At least SOME folks. Geez.". How would your average consumer know to install a customized and unsupported version of Windows 11 if they want to avoid Edge. Some people don't even know Edge is installed. Somehow there were supposed to know that according to you. 2) Why do you also assert that Microsoft does not know what they are doing with their own software? They fully know that what they are doing. We can all disagree with

                  • I'm not an employee. I am an independent contractor who advises dumbasses like yourself who have ego problems. If I can't decide how things are rolled out then I am at the wrong job. Sounds like you have only been an employee who had to follow the rules. I make the rules. I can make a SUPPORTED version of Windows with whatever the fuck I want in the image. Google OPK.

  • I thought Chrome was supposed to isolate every tab from the others and not leak data. How can another program access the data from Chrome without permission from inside Chrome? This sounds like Microsoft being Microsoft, but a real bug in Chrome.
    If Edge can access the browsing data in Chrome so could any other malicious code on the computer.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Dwedit ( 232252 )

      Wait, do you actually think that web browsers are shielded against other programs on Windows?

      Wait till you read about ReadProcessMemory, WriteProcessMemory, VirtualProtectEx, CreateRemoteThread, SetWindowsHookEx, etc...

    • Edge was reading Chrome's configs.

      This is not something they could do accidentally.

  • CCleaner keeps finding data in Edge, which I don't use.

  • Is Microsoft reading files on my computer? Is it uploading things to a cloud thingie they run, and scanning it there, even though I keep clicking no every two weeks when they re-ask me?

    Is it monitoring sites I go to? Even with Chrome? Is it reading keypresses, or sending screen shots up? Videos I play take 10 seconds to start playing. They didn't use to. What's going on?

  • ...By "accident".

    ...Don't you just hate it when you have a bug in your program which causes it to gobble up and parse all kind of data from 3rd part applications on the same system and keeps sending it to Microsoft? I mean, I'm sure the letters for the command you really tried to call were right next to that one on the keyboard. Happens all the time. Oopsies.

  • It is very sick behavior for a company to go snoop in someone's browsing history from a different app.

    It fits into a pattern you also see with onecloud where Microsoft believes they 'own' the person that's using their software. Why can't they just respect boundaries?

    It reminds a little of Apple that phones home which app you are opening each time you open it, and that believes they can decide for you what content should be viewable in apps.

    Or Google that stores your voice clips on their server when you use

    • Why can't these companies just behave normally? It's really time for sweeping legislation that gets these tech giants back into behaving like good citizens.

      These companies have more money than any group of citizens that are willing to fight them, and most don't worry about it even a little. Unfortunately, in the United States at the very least, that's the only metric that matters to our legislature. More money = more right = better human beings = more valuable = power. There's no room for the little guy, the end-users, in the discussion. Unless we ban together and do a kickstarter to buy a politician or fifty. And I doubt we would get enough money to even stan

  • What's the real chance this was an accident? Regardless if you like Edge or not, there was no acceptable reason that the import should be able to trigger without explicit user consent, on the device of choice. If I for some reason allow Edge to import Chrome from my phone (neither of which my phone has), that doesn't give the desktop that permission. Why would a permission bypass even exist, unless they wanted to trigger it?

    If this was really an innocent bug, then why not lay out all the details? The
  • Chrome should encrypt the save state and it can be decrypted only by chrome...

    I see, MS can always launch chrome and scrape the URL from the screen ... yeah, I see chrome cant protect itself from this ... MS owns the OS it can override all permissions and stuff.

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