Microsoft Edge 107: New Sidebar, New Policies and Security Updates

Two days after Chrome 107 was released, Microsoft released Edge 107 with some security improvements and enhanced features. The Microsoft Edge 107 browser can be downloaded on Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Android devices .

If you are using Microsoft Edge, you will automatically get the updated version with Windows Update. Alternatively, you can go to Menu > Help & Feedback > About Microsoft Edge to check for updates manually.

Let’s discuss the improvements and fixes in detail.

Edge 107 Release Summary

  • Complete Release Build: 107.0.1418.24
  • Release status: Stable/Final
  • Release Date: Monday, October 27th, 2022
  • Compatibility: Windows 1110, 8.1, 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
  • Previous BuildEdge 106
  • Bug Fixes: 8. More information about security fixes can be found here.

Microsoft Edge 107

In Edge 107, Eight vulnerabilities have been fixed, and two new features have been added, including an improved sidebar and a flexible Edge startup policy.

Improved Sidebar

The new sidebar enables the user to open a new website or app in the sidebar pane. The sidebar pane will remain visible while you browse in the main window. This can be helpful if you want to keep one site open and on top of the browser all the time.

I’m a hard-core Vivaldi user and am a little disappointed to see the sidebar implementation in Edge 107. It might be a positive step in the right direction, but Vivaldi’s sidebar seems way ahead of Edge’s sidebar in terms of features and ease of use.

Edge sidebar
Edge sidebar

For enterprise users, the following items are enabled in the sidebar by default:

  • Search
  • Discover
  • Office.com
Vivaldi sidebar
Vivaldi sidebar

HubsSidebarEnabled, ExtensionInstallBlockList, and ExtensionInstallForceList policies can be used by administrators to control the Edge sidebar’s availability. Each sidebar app’s extension ID can be found at edge://sidebar-internals.

New policies

For Edge 107, a brand-new policy has been introduced. Users can add and remove URLs to open when the Edge browser starts with the RestoreOnStartupUserURLsEnabled policy while maintaining a mandatory list of sites specified by the administrator.

The following list of policies have been added in Edge 107:

  1. HubsSidebarEnabled – Turn sidebar on or off by default.
  2. ExtensionInstallBlockList – Prevent users from installing specific extensions in the browser.
  3. ExtensionInstallForceListEdgeWorkspacesEnabled – Install some extensions silently on the computer.
  4. RestoreOnStartupUserURLsEnabled – Configure which URLs should open when Edge is started.
  5. EventPatchEnabled – Re-enable the event.path API until Edge 115.
  6. EnhanceSecurityModeBypassIntranet – Enhanced security mode configuration for intranet zone sites.
  7. InternetExplorerIntegrationLocalHhtFilAllowed – Open local mhtml files in IE mode by default.
  8. LinkedAccountEnabled – Enable the linked account feature.
  9. PerformanceDetectorEnabled – Enable performance detector.
  10. RestoreOnStartupUserURLsEnabled – Allow users to add and remove their own sites during startup when the RestoreOnStartupURLs policy is configured.
  11. DefaultShareAdditionalOSRegionSetting – Set the default “share additional operating system region” setting
  12. WebSelectEnabled – Web Select Enabled
  13. WebSQLAccess – Force WebSQL to be enabled
  14. WebSQLNonSecureContextEnabled – Force WebSQL in non-secure contexts to be enabled

The following policies have been deprecated and are obsolete:

MicrosoftOfficeMenuEnabled – Allow users to access Microsoft Office menu.

BuiltinCertificateVerifierEnabled – Checks if the built-in certificate verifier is used to verify server certificates.

Security Enhancements

The following eight security vulnerabilities have been fixed in Edge 107:

  1. CVE-2022-3661: Insufficient data validation in Extensions
  2. CVE-2022-3660: Inappropriate implementation in Full screen mode
  3. CVE-2022-3657: Use after free in Extensions
  4. CVE-2022-3656: Insufficient data validation in File System
  5. CVE-2022-3655: Heap buffer overflow in Media Galleries
  6. CVE-2022-3654: Use after free in Layout
  7. CVE-2022-3653: Heap buffer overflow in Vulkan
  8. CVE-2022-3652: Type Confusion in V8

Download Edge 107

If you are using Microsoft Edge, you will automatically get the updated version with Windows Update. Alternatively, you can go to Menu > Help & Feedback > About Microsoft Edge to check for updates manually.

However, if you want to download Edge 107 for offline installation, you can visit the following page which lists several methods to download and upgrade your Microsoft Edge browser.

Download Microsoft Edge Browser.

Conclusion

New versions of Edge are improving every day. To make Edge more usable, secure, and privacy-focused, I wish Microsoft would include all features found in Google Chrome and Vivaldi browsers.

Microsoft Edge Update History

Edge VersionRelease DateFeatures & improvements
Edge 12223-Feb-24Addresses 11 vulnerabilities, fixes hiding the sidebar button in the top menu, rebrands “Web capture” to “Screenshot”
Edge 12125-Jan-24Addresses 6 vulnerabilities, organizational branding policies in Edge for Business, added AVIF and AV1 support, e-tree in Wallets, new website typo protection policies
Edge 1207-Dec-23Addresses 8 vulnerabilities, introduces new policies, no new features
Edge 1192-Nov-23Addresses 16 vulnerabilities, improves split-screen restore, ability to manage sidebar app auto-launch, “Always show sidebar” option placed under Copilot settings
Edge 11813-Oct-23Addresses 15 vulnerabilities, and introduces AI-powered Find on Page.
Edge 11715-Sep-23Addresses 14 vulnerabilities, includes More Tools deprecations and unload event deprecation, includes support for Microsoft Edge for Business for BYOPC via Intune.
Edge 11621-Aug-23Addresses 23 vulnerabilities, introduces split screen, ability to drop files across devices, and ability to attach Edge sidebar to desktop.
Edge 11521-Jul-23Microsoft Edge management service, rounded tabs, mouse gestures, split screen view.
Edge 1135-May-23Basic Enhanced Security Mode was removed, shifted to EdgeUpdater on macOS, and introduced new policies, addresses 2 security vulnerabilities.
Edge 1126-Apr-23Introduced Browser Essentials in place of the Performance Hub, improvements to enhanced security mode and some policies.
Edge 11113-Mar-23Bing copilot in the toolbar, auto-hiding sidebar, hover over the sidebar to expand, and policy to clear IE mode history on browser exit.
Edge 1109-Feb-23Introduces Immersive Reader policies, Azure Active Directory synchronization, Drop feature to share files, and several security updates.
Edge 10913-Jan-2314 security updates, 8 new policies, and 2 deprecated policies.
Edge 1085-Dec-22Important security fixes, a new policy to disable Web Select amongst others.
Edge 10727-Oct-22Improved sidebar, new policies, and security fixes.
Edge 1063-Oct-22Improved web defense and increased the maximum number of search results to 4
Edge 1052-Sep-22Improvements to IE mode and enhanced security
Edge 1045-Aug-22Support to import data and enhanced security on the web
Edge 10323-Jun-22Improvements for online and web gaming
Edge 10231-May-22With reverse image search and security improvements
Edge 1001-Apr-22Sends 3-digit user agent string, PDF updates, and hardware-enforces stack protection
Edge 993-Mar-22Custom primary password and PDF navigation
Edge 984-Feb-22Edge Bar, reduced resource consumption
Edge 976-Jan-22Auto-citation, endpoint data loss prevention (DLP)
Edge 9610-Dec-21Super duper secure mode, typosquatting
Edge 9015-Apr-21SSO, PDF printing
Edge 894-Mar-21Vertical Tabs, Sleeping Tabs, Startup Boost
Edge 8821-Jan-21Password generator, transparent privacy controls
Microsoft Edge history
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Usman Khurshid is a seasoned IT Pro with over 15 years of experience in the IT industry. He has experience in everything from IT support, helpdesk, sysadmin, network admin, and cloud computing. He is also certified in Microsoft Technologies (MCTS and MCSA) and also Cisco Certified Professional in Routing and Switching.

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