Ethical Hacking News
A new polymorphic attack has been discovered that allows malicious browser extensions to impersonate legitimate add-ons, potentially leading to the theft of sensitive credentials. The attack, which affects all Chromium-based web browsers, exploits human psychology to deceive users into providing their login information.
Researchers have discovered a novel attack method using polymorphic browser extensions to impersonate legitimate add-ons. The attack exploits human psychology by creating a pixel-perfect replica of the target extension's icon and workflows. Threat actors can publish a polymorphic extension on any extension marketplace, including Chrome Web Store, and deceive users into providing credentials. The attack affects all Chromium-based web browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, and others.
Researchers have uncovered a novel and highly sophisticated attack method that utilizes polymorphic browser extensions to impersonate legitimate add-ons. This technique allows malicious actors to steal sensitive credentials from unsuspecting victims, potentially leading to unauthorized access to personal and financial information.
The attack, which was recently discovered by cybersecurity firm SquareX, exploits the human tendency to rely on visual cues as a confirmation of an extension's identity. By creating a pixel-perfect replica of the target extension's icon, HTML popup, workflows, and even temporarily disabling the legitimate extension, malicious actors can convincingly deceive users into providing their credentials.
The approach is based on the common practice of pinning extensions to the browser's toolbar. Threat actors can publish a polymorphic extension to any extension marketplace, including the Chrome Web Store, and disguise it as a utility. Once installed, the add-on activates its malicious features in the background by actively scanning for web resources that correlate to specific target extensions.
Once a suitable target extension is identified, the attack moves to the next stage, causing it to morph into a replica of the legitimate extension. This is accomplished by changing the rogue extension's icon to match that of the target and temporarily disabling the actual add-on via the "chrome.management" API, which leads to its removal from the toolbar.
The polymorphic extension attack has significant implications for users who rely on visual cues to distinguish between legitimate and malicious extensions. As SquareX noted in their report, this approach is extremely powerful because it exploits the human tendency to rely on visual cues as a confirmation.
The attack affects all Chromium-based web browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, and others. This means that users who use these browsers are at risk of falling victim to this sophisticated attack method.
In addition to the polymorphic extension attack, SquareX has also disclosed another attack method called Browser Syncjacking that makes it possible to seize control of a victim's device by means of a seemingly innocuous browser extension.
The discovery of this new attack method highlights the importance of staying vigilant and taking proactive measures to protect against evolving cyber threats. Users should be aware of the potential risks associated with polymorphic extensions and take steps to verify the authenticity of any extension before installing it.
Furthermore, users can improve their browser security by regularly updating their browsers and extensions, using reputable antivirus software, and being cautious when interacting with suspicious or unfamiliar extensions.
In conclusion, the polymorphic extension attack exposed by SquareX is a highly sophisticated and powerful technique that exploits human psychology to steal sensitive credentials. Users should be aware of this risk and take proactive measures to protect themselves against this type of attack.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/New-Polymorphic-Attack-Exposed-Malicious-Browser-Extensions-Impersonate-Legitimate-Add-ons-to-Steal-Credentials-ehn.shtml
https://thehackernews.com/2025/03/researchers-expose-new-polymorphic.html
Published: Mon Mar 10 14:45:37 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
