Google Chrome/Microsoft Edge Chromium version 78.0.x error “Aw, Snap! Something went wrong while displaying this webpage.” when using Endpoint Protection
Situation
When launching Google Chrome version 78.0.x or later, the message “Aw Snap! Something went wrong while displaying this webpage.” is present if any version of Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) is installed with the Application Control feature on Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10 RS1. This issue also affects Microsoft Edge Chromium version 78.0.x with an error message of “Page cannot be displayed”.
Chrome and Chromium are also impacted when installed on any Operating System (OS) with a SEP version older than 14.2.
Environment
- Browser versions
- Google Chrome 78.0.x (October 2019)
- Microsoft Edge Chromium 78.0.x
- Windows Server 2012, 2016 and Windows 10 RS1 with any version of SEP installed.
- Any Windows OS with a SEP version older than 14.2 installed.
Error
In the Google Chrome browser:
Aw Snap! Something went wrong while displaying this webpage.
In the Microsoft Edge Chromium browser:
Page Cannot be displayed.
Cause
In version 78.0.x of Google Chrome (chrome.exe) and 78.0.x of Microsoft Edge Chromium, Microsoft’s Code Integrity feature is enabled. SEP Application Control technology is not compatible with this feature in Chrome/Chromium.
Solution
On any OS other than Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10 RS1, SEP can be upgraded to 14.2 or later to address the incompatibility.
If upgrading SEP is not an option, or the OS is one of those listed above, the incompatibility can be worked around by adding an Application Control exception for Chrome (Chrome.exe) and/or Microsoft Edge Chromium (MSEdge.exe).
Alternative options also include running Chrome with Code Integrity disabled:
Chrome.exe –disable-features=RendererCodeIntegrity
Or by setting the following regkey value to 0:
Key: HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome
Name: RendererCodeIntegrityEnabled
Type: DWORD (32-bit)
Value: 0