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Extension Auditor

Don't sacrifice privacy for convenience. Scan your browser extensions.

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🌟 , 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.

πŸ’‘ It was eye-openingβ€”and infuriating.

As someone who cares about πŸ›‘οΈ user privacy and security, I couldn’t ignore the risks that browser extensions like Honey can pose.

πŸš€ 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.

πŸ”‘ Features

πŸ” Real-time Security Analysis: Instantly analyzes installed extensions for security considerations.

⚠️ Risk Classification: Categorizes findings into Critical, High, Medium, and Low severity levels.

πŸ›‘οΈ Permission Analysis: Detailed explanation of each extension’s permissions and their security implications.

🌐 Host Access Analysis: Identifies extensions with broad host permissions or access to sensitive domains.

πŸ“Š Comprehensive Report: Generates detailed security reports with specific findings and potential risks.

πŸ•΅οΈ Privacy Focus: Runs locally in your browser with minimal required permissions.

πŸ‘₯ Who can benefit

🌐 Everyday Internet Users: Stay informed and secure.

πŸŽ₯ Content Creators: Vet extensions before promoting them to your audience.

πŸ”’ Cybersecurity Professionals: A great starting point for pentesting browser extensions to guide deeper dynamic and runtime analysis.

πŸ” Privacy Professionals: Discern privacy concerns of using an extension and compare advertised privacy practices vs. actual use.

πŸ› οΈ How it works

Extension Auditor analyzes extensions based on several factors:

πŸ”‘ Permission Analysis: Evaluates the permissions requested by extensions and their potential security implications.

🌐 Host Access: Identifies broad host permissions that could pose privacy risks.

πŸ’» Content Script Analysis: Examines how extensions interact with web pages.

πŸ“œ Manifest Analysis: Reviews extension manifest settings for security best practices.

πŸ“ˆ Combined Risk Assessment: Calculates overall risk based on multiple security factors.

πŸ”’ Risk Rating Methodology

🚨 Critical: Highly sensitive permissions or combinations that could be dangerous if misused.

⚠️ High: Permissions that could potentially be used maliciously.

⚑ Medium: Permissions that require caution as they provide significant capabilities.

βœ… Low: Permissions with limited potential for misuse.

πŸ›‘οΈ Privacy

Extension Auditor requires only two permissions:

management: To access information about installed extensions.

tabs: To display the analysis interface.

πŸ’‘ The extension runs entirely in your browser and:

❌ Does not collect any personal data.

❌ Does not send data to external servers.

❌ Does not modify any other extensions.

❌ Does not modify webpage content.

πŸ”‘ 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.

βš™οΈ The management permission is essential for this extension because it allows us to:

πŸ“‹ List and access information about installed extensions using chrome.management.getAll().

πŸ“– Get detailed extension information using chrome.management.get(extensionId).

πŸ”„ Monitor extension lifecycle events through listeners.

We use this permission to:

πŸ“œ Get manifest details.

πŸ”‘ Check permissions.

πŸ“‚ Monitor content scripts.

πŸ›‘οΈ Analyze security settings.

πŸ”„ Track extension states (enabled/disabled).

🌐 Get host permissions.

βš™οΈ Access CSP (Content Security Policy) settings.

Without the management permission, it would be impossible to perform security analysisβ€”making this the core permission that enables the extension’s main functionality.

🌍 Let’s make browsing saferβ€”for all of us. 🌟