CRX aminer
Extension icon

Secure Exam Proctor

Version 1.5.26023.31 View in Chrome Web Store

Last scanned: 3 days ago | force re-scan

Extension Details

Developer: proctorio.com
Rating: 1.1 ★ (5.6K ratings)
Users: 3,000,000

Context-Aware Verdict

CRITICAL
Overall Risk
Trust Factors:

The extension has 3 million users, indicating widespread adoption in educational institutions. Proctorio.com is a known company in the online proctoring industry, providing legitimacy to the extension. However, the extremely low rating of 1.1 out of 5 stars from 5,600+ reviews is a major red flag, suggesting significant user dissatisfaction with the extension's behavior or functionality.

Concerns:

The extensive permission set is extremely invasive, even for a proctoring tool. While exam proctoring requires monitoring capabilities, several permissions appear excessive: management (controlling other extensions), proxy settings modification, privacy settings access, and unlimited storage. The broad host permissions combined with webRequest interception creates potential for comprehensive web traffic monitoring beyond exam contexts. The unsafe WebAssembly execution policy introduces additional security risks. Most concerning is the combination of system-level access (CPU, memory, display) with network interception capabilities and clipboard modification.

Recommendations:

Given the critical risk level, install this extension only in a completely separate Chrome profile dedicated exclusively to exam-taking. Never use this profile for personal browsing or accessing sensitive accounts. Immediately remove the extension after completing required exams. Consider using a virtual machine for additional isolation. Be aware that this extension has extensive monitoring capabilities that extend far beyond typical educational software. Students should verify with their institution whether alternative proctoring methods are available, given the significant privacy and security implications of this tool.

Findings

HIGH
Broad Host Permissions
This extension has broad host permissions allowing it to access many or all websites. This could potentially be used to steal sensitive data or track browsing activity.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: clipboardWrite
This extension has the clipboardWrite permission. Can modify clipboard content. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: cookies
This extension has the cookies permission. Can access and modify browser cookies. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: downloads
This extension has the downloads permission. Can download files and access download history. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: management
This extension has the management permission. Can manage other extensions. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: privacy
This extension has the privacy permission. Can modify privacy settings. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: proxy
This extension has the proxy permission. Can control proxy settings. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: tabs
This extension has the tabs permission. Can access browser tab information and manipulate tabs. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: webNavigation
This extension has the webNavigation permission. Can track your web navigation. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: webRequest
This extension has the webRequest permission. Can intercept and modify web requests. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
Unsafe WebAssembly Execution
This extension's Content Security Policy allows 'wasm-unsafe-eval', which permits potentially dangerous WebAssembly code execution. This could be used to hide malicious code or perform CPU-intensive operations.
MEDIUM
Medium-Risk Permission: geolocation
This extension has the geolocation permission. Can access your location.
MEDIUM
Medium-Risk Permission: notifications
This extension has the notifications permission. Can show notifications.
MEDIUM
Medium-Risk Permission: storage
This extension has the storage permission. Can store data locally.
MEDIUM
Medium-Risk Permission: unlimitedStorage
This extension has the unlimitedStorage permission. Can store unlimited data locally.