π , I had a wake-up call.
And as it turns out, this is exactly the motivation I needed to create something that solves this and empowers everyday users to take back control of their data privacy.
π‘ It was eye-openingβand infuriating.
As someone who cares about π‘οΈ user privacy and security, I couldnβt ignore the risks that browser extensions like Honey can pose.
π So, I built... Introducing: Extension Auditor
Extension Auditor is a browser extension that helps users understand and evaluate the security implications of their installed browser extensions.
It provides real-time security analysis and risk assessment of extensions based on their permissions, capabilities, and potential security impacts.
π Features
π Real-time Security Analysis: Instantly analyzes installed extensions for security considerations.
β οΈ Risk Classification: Categorizes findings into Critical, High, Medium, and Low severity levels.
π‘οΈ Permission Analysis: Detailed explanation of each extensionβs permissions and their security implications.
π Host Access Analysis: Identifies extensions with broad host permissions or access to sensitive domains.
π Comprehensive Report: Generates detailed security reports with specific findings and potential risks.
π΅οΈ Privacy Focus: Runs locally in your browser with minimal required permissions.
π₯ Who can benefit
π Everyday Internet Users: Stay informed and secure.
π₯ Content Creators: Vet extensions before promoting them to your audience.
π Cybersecurity Professionals: A great starting point for pentesting browser extensions to guide deeper dynamic and runtime analysis.
π Privacy Professionals: Discern privacy concerns of using an extension and compare advertised privacy practices vs. actual use.
π οΈ How it works
Extension Auditor analyzes extensions based on several factors:
π Permission Analysis: Evaluates the permissions requested by extensions and their potential security implications.
π Host Access: Identifies broad host permissions that could pose privacy risks.
π» Content Script Analysis: Examines how extensions interact with web pages.
π Manifest Analysis: Reviews extension manifest settings for security best practices.
π Combined Risk Assessment: Calculates overall risk based on multiple security factors.
π Risk Rating Methodology
π¨ Critical: Highly sensitive permissions or combinations that could be dangerous if misused.
β οΈ High: Permissions that could potentially be used maliciously.
β‘ Medium: Permissions that require caution as they provide significant capabilities.
β Low: Permissions with limited potential for misuse.
π‘οΈ Privacy
Extension Auditor requires only two permissions:
management: To access information about installed extensions.
tabs: To display the analysis interface.
π‘ The extension runs entirely in your browser and:
β Does not collect any personal data.
β Does not send data to external servers.
β Does not modify any other extensions.
β Does not modify webpage content.
π Permissions Explained
A permission is either one of a list of known strings, such as activeTab, or a match pattern giving access to one or more hosts. Remove any permission that is not needed to fulfill the single purpose of your extension.
βοΈ The management permission is essential for this extension because it allows us to:
π List and access information about installed extensions using chrome.management.getAll().
π Get detailed extension information using chrome.management.get(extensionId).
π Monitor extension lifecycle events through listeners.
We use this permission to:
π Get manifest details.
π Check permissions.
π Monitor content scripts.
π‘οΈ Analyze security settings.
π Track extension states (enabled/disabled).
π Get host permissions.
βοΈ Access CSP (Content Security Policy) settings.
Without the management permission, it would be impossible to perform security analysisβmaking this the core permission that enables the extensionβs main functionality.
π Letβs make browsing saferβfor all of us. π