Extension Auditor

Assess risk levels of installed browser extensions
What is Extension Auditor?
Extension Auditor is a Chrome extension that assesses the risk levels of installed browser extensions. It lists extensions that have requested excessive permissions and provides links to forums for discussing risks and identifying potentially malicious extensions.

Extension stats

Users: 290 ▲ 12
Rating: 4.00 (3)
Version: 2.0.1 (Last updated: 2023-12-06)
Creation date: 2021-03-12
Risk impact: Low risk impact
Risk likelihood: Very low risk likelihood
Manifest version: 3
Permissions:
  • management
Size: 28.60K

Other platforms

Not available on Firefox
Not available on Edge
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Extension summary

Because they're so hard to monetize, browser extensions have become major targets of exploitation by dodgy marketing firms, who pay developers to insert hidden code that collects data, injects ads, or even use the user's computing resources without authorization. Quite often, these firms would buy out the extensions and completely subvert it for their nefarious purpose.

In order for an extension to inject code on arbitrary websites, it must request this specific permission: "Read and change all your data on the websites you visit". Many extensions request this permission out of convenience, when it is not necessary for their operation.

The Extension Auditor addon will list all the extensions you currently have installed that had requested this permission, giving you a quick overview of your risk profile. It also links to discussion forums where knowledge can be shared about other risk factors such as developer reputation and ownership changes.

Occasionally, an extension will "go rogue". It is our hope that through the discussion forum, we can identify these instances and warn the users through the Auditor extension.

This extension is open-source. To contribute please visit https://github.com/ken107/extension-auditor.

User reviews

Good idea in principle but in practice there is literally no discussion taking place. I would have expected to see a list maintained of currently "rogue" Chrome extensions, followed by proof and research. However i found none of that. Shame, could be a great extension but seems to be left by the wayside
by Chris Vydas, 2023-02-15

Excellent extension. Through it I discovered that the "imagus" extension is harvesting my browsing history, which is not necessary for it to work. Portuguese (Brazil) Excelente extensão. Através dela, descobri que a extensão “imagus” está colhendo os meus históricos de navegação, o que não é necessário para a mesma funcionar.
by Matheu, 2022-07-09
View all user reviews

Extension safety

Risk impact

Extension Auditor requires very minimum permissions.

Risk likelihood

Extension Auditor has earned a good reputation and can be trusted.

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