I have OverSight installed on my macbook (https://objective-see.com/products/oversight.html), which lets me see which apps activate the microphone.

Up until now, everything was quiet and expected.

As of today though, Chrome (Version 78.0.3904.70) tried on several occasions to activate the microphone. It crashed when I denied the request. I have not been on any website requiring microphone use and no website is allowed microphone access.

This seems to happen in particular when I reopen the lid of my macbook and it is taken out of sleep.

This is the log entry from OverSight:

2019-10-31 19:27:22 +0000: Audio Device became active (Built-in Microphone, process: Chrome Helper, /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/Frameworks/Google Chrome Framework.framework/Versions/78.0.3904.70/Helpers/Google Chrome Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome Helper)

Any of you noticed a similar behavior?