Google offers temporary fixes for ChromeOS device login failures

Recently, ChromeOS users took to Reddit to complain about widespread login issues after updating their devices. The problem, which affects educational platforms Clever and ClassLink, is tied specifically to ChromeOS M139, leaving students and teachers unable to sign in with their Google credentials. Now, Google has published a workaround as it scrambles to get a proper fix out the door.

In its latest update to the Google Workspace Status Dashboard, the company said that a fix was "undergoing automated testing," and that once it's done, the engineers will validate it and make it available to everyone. The problem is limited to devices running the affected ChromeOS version 16328.55.0 or Chrome browser version 139.0.7258.137.

This specific build causes authentication failures with Single Sign-On, a system millions rely on to access learning tools. The bug also breaks 2-Step Verification for some.

In the meantime, there are two options for system administrators to get their users working again. The first is to do what some admins have done already and roll the operating system back to M138. To do that, you have to follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console with an administrator account.
2. Navigate to Menu > Devices > Chrome > Settings > Device settings.
3. Select the organizational unit for the devices you want to roll back.
4. Go to Device update settings and click Auto-update settings.
5. Set "Allow devices to automatically update OS version" to "Allow updates".
6. For "Target version", select the ChromeOS version you want.
7. For "Roll back to target version", choose "Roll back OS".
8. Click "Roll back OS" and then save the changes.

The second option is to change a policy setting. Admins can modify the LoginAuthenticationBehavior setting to use "Authentication via the default GAIA flow". This basically tells ChromeOS to use Google's standard web-based login process instead of the integrated one that is currently broken. Google says to expect the next update on the situation by Thursday, 2025-08-28 17:30 US/Pacific.

Via: Bleeping Computer

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Posted Friday 29 August 2025 at 12:42 pm AEST (my time).

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