Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
The Blind Spot of Extension Security: WebAssembly–JavaScript Collaborative Attacks on Chrome. |
| Authors: |
Moon, Yeongmin, Hong, Minhyuk, Park, Jeman |
| Source: |
Electronics (2079-9292); Jul2026, Vol. 15 Issue 14, p3049, 21p |
| Subject Terms: |
Malware, Computer security vulnerabilities, Source code, Internet security, Web browsers, JavaScript programming language |
| Abstract: |
Chrome extensions are increasingly exploited as an attack surface, yet existing static malware detectors share a critical blind spot: they analyze JavaScript but cannot inspect WebAssembly (Wasm) or reason across the Wasm–JS boundary. We exploit this gap by embedding malicious logic in Wasm modules while confining JavaScript to minimal glue code, rendering the core of each attack invisible to static analysis. Grounded in this collaborative architecture, we implement eight proof-of-concept attack scenarios across six categories—adware, malicious file delivery, forced redirection, keylogging, credential theft, and ransomware—as functioning Manifest V3 extensions. Evaluated against four representative static detectors, none achieves genuine detection: three register the samples as benign or raise no alert, and the fourth flags every sample only through systematic false positives on generated glue code. An analysis of 165,314 live extensions further shows that every permission our attacks require is already in widespread legitimate use, so such extensions would not be distinguishable from benign ones by permission-based screening alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: |
Complementary Index |