Should you update to Brave 1.96.61?
No: install Brave 1.99.55 instead. Brave 1.96.61 is a security update Brave released on 2 Oct 2026 for Mac, Windows and Linux. It fixes 11 security flaws, 1 rated critical and 9 high by Brave.[1] None of them is known to be used in attacks.
It has since been replaced by Brave 1.97.56, released 7 Oct 2026, which includes all of its fixes. If you’re on an older version, install that instead.
Should you update?
No: install Brave 1.99.55 instead. Brave 1.99.55 came out on 4 Nov 2026 and includes every fix in Brave 1.96.61, so there’s no reason to stop at this one. Software Update offers the newest version your device can run.
Is Brave 1.96.61 still safe?
Not any more. The 7 updates since, up to Brave 1.99.55, fix 933 security flaws that Brave 1.96.61 doesn’t, and each became public the day its fix shipped. Installing it is safe: get it only from Brave’s own About Brave page, never from a link in an email, text or pop-up.
What it fixes
Brave lists 11 security flaws, 1 rated critical and 9 high by Brave.[1] The 10 critical and high ones are:
| Flaw | Severity | What Brave calls it |
|---|---|---|
CVE-2026-103628 | Critical | Out of bounds write in WebGL |
CVE-2026-103626 | High | Incorrect authorization in FileSystem |
CVE-2026-103621 | High | Integer overflow in Compositing |
CVE-2026-103630 | High | Use after free in FedCM |
CVE-2026-103625 | High | Type confusion in V8 |
CVE-2026-103624 | High | Use after free in Contextual Tasks |
CVE-2026-103629 | High | Integer overflow in Skia |
CVE-2026-103622 | High | Use after free in SVG |
CVE-2026-103623 | High | Use after free in MediaStream |
CVE-2026-103631 | High | Buffer overflow in WebRTC |
How to update, and how long it takes
A minute or two. Brave restarts and reopens your tabs.
- Open Brave and click the ☰ menu at the top right.Choose About Brave. Brave looks for the update and downloads it by itself.
- Click Relaunch.Brave closes and opens again with the same tabs.
To check it worked: ☰ menu → About Brave: it shows the version, like 1.84.135, and the Chromium it’s built on. It should say 1.97.56 or later.
1.96.60 vs 1.96.61
Brave 1.96.60, released 30 Sep 2026, fixed 32 security flaws. Brave 1.96.61 fixes 11 security flaws and includes the fixes before it, so going straight to 1.96.61 gets you both.
- Before: Brave 1.96.60, 30 Sep 2026, 32 security flaws
- After: Brave 1.97.56, 7 Oct 2026, 247 security flaws
- Brave updates, every release and the latest version
- Updates, the latest version of everything HARD tracks
References
- ^ Brave. “Brave Release v1.96.61 (Chromium 154.0.8037.98)”, 2 Oct 2026.