Google has apologized after its password manager malfunctioned for millions of Windows users following a glitch that left many users unable to access their saved passwords for nearly 18 hours.
The problem affected Windows users on the M127 version of the Chrome browser and was fixed after 17 hours and 51 minutes.
According to Google, the root cause was a change in product behavior without proper feature guard. Ultimately, a faulty update disrupted the password manager’s functionality, preventing users from accessing saved credentials.
Faulty update caused Google password manager malfunction
The company summarized the problem: “Impacted users were unable to find passwords in Chrome’s password manager. Users can save passwords, however it was not visible to them.”
Various estimates posit that 15-17 million individuals had been affected by the near-day-long outage.
Furthermore, the incident added insult to injury after many administrators were already dealing with the aftermath of a problematic CrowdStrike update that also affected Microsoft devices.
The global nature of the malfunction highlighted the risks associated with relying on browser-based password managers. While password managers are crucial for online security, they are not immune to such disruptions, and the outage only serves as a reminder that backup systems should be in place.
In its incident report, Google apologized for the outage and added that affected users should restart their browsers to restore functionality following the fix confirmed on July 25 at 09:27 US/Pacific.
The company also issued guidance for a potential workaround during the outage, which many smaller companies may not have been able to do quickly. However, for some users, the error has left a bitter taste in their mouths.