By mitchellleeder | August 23, 2010

Recently, Google announced it had patched 10 vulnerabilities found in its Chrome web browser; however, none of the researchers responsible for the successful bug tracking received the company's maximum reward of $3,133.

Of the 10 bugs fixed on Google's Chrome 5.0.375.125, two were considered to be "critical," while seven were labeled "high" and another was found to be "medium." Issue tracking solutions have helped countless companies rectify issues in software development projects.

Google did not release any further information pertaining to the issues with Chrome. Also, the search engine giant did not provide public access to its bug tracking database, which has become its custom in order to prevent any cyber criminals from using any of the detailed information before users have been able to upgrade their patches. Typically, Google blocks such information for up to two months.

Reportedly, two of the 10 bugs could be exploited by malicious files including SVG image files and MIME-type files. Other vulnerabilities involved creating fake address bar contents or stealing passwords.

According to a blog post from Chrome team member Jason Kersey, Google added a work-around for another critical bug detected in non-Google code. This work-around was the third in the last Chrome security updates. A recent update involved accounting for recent flaws in the Windows kernel, which would have allowed skilled cyber criminals the ability to control the system. Microsoft has had to fix three such kernel issues thus far in 2010.

The five researchers that reportedly found the bugs in Chrome received bonuses, which Google offers as part of its bug bounty program. One bug tracker found four bugs and received $4,674 for his work, while another took home $2,000 for finding a pair of vulnerabilities. No researcher received Google's maximum reward of $3,133.70, which was increased after Mozilla recently upped its maximum bug payment to $3,000. In total, Google paid the issue tracking individuals a total of more than $10,000 in bounties – a new record.

Chrome is currently the third-most used web browser in the world, according to a research report recently released by Net Applications. Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla FireFox currently rank ahead of Chrome, whose usage slipped in July for the first time in almost two years.

This latest round of patches and fixes shows the continued importance of bug and issue tracking within the software world in order to produce fully optimal and safe products.