Google Chrome updated to version 78 a few days ago and some users have been experiencing 'Aw, Snap!' crashes instead of the promised features.

This disruption occurs when launching the web browser on systems with an outdated version of Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP).

Mar 20, 2019 at 2:46 PM Chrome updates automatically, but it waits until the browser is closed and opened again. Tell all the computers to reboot overnight and the update will be applied next time the user starts Chrome. You can do this with a script or using an MSP. Updating Google Chrome to the latest version is quick and free. Here is how: Open Chrome on your computer. In the top right corner, select More; Here, choose Update Google Chrome. If you do not see this option, then it means that you are up to date, and have the latest version. Once the update has finished, Relaunch Google Chrome.

Incompatibility problem

• On October 31, 2019, Google disclosed two serious vulnerabilities for the Google Chrome browser. If you are using Chrome on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computers, you should run the browser update immediately.
• The Chrome team is excited to announce the promotion of Chrome 78 to the beta channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. Chrome 78.0.3904.21 contains our usual under-the-hood performance and stability tweaks, but there are also some cool new features to explore - please head to the Chromium blog to learn more!

Since the release of the newest Google Chrome on Tuesday, a large number of users started to complain that they could not use it.

When starting Chrome, users would see the 'Aw Snap!' message specific to a page crash.

Most of the reports came from users that did not have the latest version of Symantec Endpoint Protection installed. An investigation from both Google and Symantec confirmed this to be true.

In a blog post on Thursday, Symantec explains that the problem is an incompatibility between the Application Control technology in its product and Microsoft's Code Integrity feature enabled in Chrome browser.

Microsoft Edge Chromium is also impacted by this issue but the browser has not been officially released so the user base affected is limited.

The solutions

Up To Date Chrome Version

Symantec details that systems affected by this problem are Windows Server 2012, 2016, and Windows 10 RS1 with any version of SEP installed.

Any other Windows operating systems running a version of SEP older than 14.2 are also impacted. On these, updating to the latest SEP should fix the issue.

A workaround exists for all other cases and it consists of adding an Application Control exception for the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge Chromium executables (Chrome.exe and MSEdge.exe).

An alternative to this is to run Chrome with the Code Integrity feature disabled, which can be achieved in two ways:

Google Chrome Update 2019 Download

or by setting a registry key to 0:

Since a swarm of users reported the 'Aw Snap!' crash problem, Google investigated as well, its conclusion being that an update to SEP 14.2 or above would do away with the incompatibility.

Disabling the protection in Chrome through the RendererCodeIntegrityEnabled policy in the browser is listed as a solution, too, albeit not a recommended one because it's purpose is to protect the browser process.

Some users already reported that updating SEP to the latest version allowed them to use Google Chrome as before.

Update [10/30/2019]: Google updated its original alert about the possible cause of 'Aw Snap!' crashes in Chrome 78. The same issue has been spotted on systems with PC Matic, Print Audit, and Palo Alto Networks' Traps.

As a result, the Code Integrity feature has been disabled in the web browser until the software providers and Google work out a way to improve compatibility. This is a temporary measure expected to be reverted in the near future, says Craig Tumblison, Chrome support manager.