Google has apologised after its password manager stopped working properly for millions of Windows users following a glitch that left many users unable to access their saved passwords for nearly 18 hours.
The issue affected Windows users on Chrome browser version M127 and was fixed after 17 hours and 51 minutes.
According to Google, the root cause was a change in product behavior without proper feature protection. Ultimately, a faulty update broke the password manager's functionality, preventing users from accessing saved credentials.
A faulty update caused Google's password manager to malfunction
The company summarized the issue: “Affected users were unable to find passwords in Chrome’s password manager. Users can save passwords, but cannot view them.”
Various estimates indicate that between 15 and 17 million people were affected by the blackout, which lasted almost a day.
The incident also added insult to injury after many administrators were already dealing with the fallout from 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 these types of disruptions, and the outage only serves as a reminder that backup systems must 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 confirmed fix on July 25 at 09:27 US Pacific Time.
The company also issued guidance for a potential workaround during the outage, which many smaller businesses may not have been able to implement quickly. However, for some users, the bug has left a bitter taste in their mouths.
