surprise heartbleed headache for Google Chrome users

13470965718If you are using Google Chrome to surf the series of tubes we professionals cal the Interwebs, you need to take action to reduce the risk of getting scammed by compromised SSL certificates.  According to this post over at Net craft

However, most Google Chrome users are left in the dark, as Chrome performs neither type of check for non-EV certificates by default. Instead of conventional revocation checks, Google Chrome relies on an aggregated list of revocations, dubbed CRLSets, which are compiled by Google. The revocations from GlobalSign’s CRL have not yet appeared in Google’s CRLSets and hence Chrome users will not be warned if presented with a potentially compromised, but revoked, CloudFlare certificate.

The CRLSets deliberately do not cover all CRLs in an attempt to reduce the total size of the aggregated list. In effect, Google has traded the completeness of their revocation checking for a speed advantage over rival browsers as downloading CRLs or making OCSP requests imposes a performance penalty.

Google Chrome setting to enable revocation checking.

However, it is possible to configure Google Chrome to check for revocation. There is a checkbox in the Advanced settings menu to “Check for server certificate revocation”.

 

 

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