Security researchers have demonstrated a tale technique that allows a destructive web browser extension to deceive any installed add-on.
” The phenotypic extensions create a pixel perfect replica of the target’s icon, HTML popup, procedures and even temporarily disables the genuine extension, making it extremely convincing for sufferers to believe that they are providing certificates to the real extension”, SquareX in a report published last week.
The grown qualifications could then be abused by the threat actors to sabotage online transactions and gain unauthorized access to sensitive personal and financial information. The strike affects all Chromium-based online sites, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, and others.
The strategy banks on the fact that customers generally button extensions to the computer’s toolbar. In a hypothetical attack scenario, threat actors could publish a polymorphic extension to the Chrome Web Store ( or any extension marketplace ) and disguise it as a utility.
While the add-on provides the posted features so as to not arouse any suspicion, it activates the malignant features in the background by actively scanning for the presence of internet resources that relate to specific target extensions using a technique called web resource hitting.
When a suitable target expansion is identified, the assault moves to the next phase, causing it to transform into a duplicate of the reputable extension. This is accomplished by changing the renegade project’s image to fit that of the target and temporarily disabling the actual add-on via the” browser. control” API, which leads to it being removed from the sidebar.
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” The genetic modification attack is incredibly effective as it exploits the individual desire to rely on visual signals as a confirmation”, SquareX said. ” In this case, the improvement symbols on a pinned table are used to inform customers of the equipment they are interacting with”.
The findings come a fortnight after the company also another attack technique called Browser Syncjacking that makes it possible to seize control of a defendant’s system by means of a seemingly trivial website extension.