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Pearson MyLab LockDownBrowser

Version 0.1.00.116 View in Chrome Web Store

Last scanned: about 8 hours ago

Extension Details

Rating: 1.2 ★ (26 ratings)

Users: 100,000

Context-Aware Verdict

CRITICAL

Overall Risk

Trust Factors:

The extension is from Pearson, a well-known educational technology company, which provides some legitimacy. However, the extremely low rating of 1.2 out of 5 stars with 26 reviews is a major red flag indicating significant user dissatisfaction. The 100,000 user base suggests institutional deployment rather than organic adoption. The name "LockDownBrowser" indicates this is designed for exam proctoring and security monitoring.

Concerns:

The extension's permissions are extraordinarily invasive and go far beyond what's necessary for most educational tools. The combination of history access, cookie manipulation, clipboard monitoring, web request interception, and extension management capabilities creates a comprehensive surveillance system. The broad host permissions and content script injection across all websites means this extension can monitor and control virtually all browsing activity. The management permission is particularly concerning as it could disable security extensions or install additional monitoring tools.

Recommendations:

Given the critical risk level, only use this extension when absolutely required for specific educational assessments. Run it in a completely separate Chrome profile dedicated solely to exam purposes. Immediately remove the extension after completing required assessments. Never use the browser profile with this extension for personal browsing, banking, or accessing sensitive information. Consider using a separate device entirely for exam purposes if possible. The poor user ratings suggest checking with your institution about alternative proctoring solutions.

Findings

HIGH

Broad Content Script Injection

This extension can inject scripts into any website. This means it could potentially read sensitive data, modify website content, or steal credentials.

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: clipboardRead

This extension has the clipboardRead permission. Can read clipboard content. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.

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: history

This extension has the history permission. Can access your browsing 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: 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.

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.

Security Analysis Details

Required Permissions:

system.display
history
cookies
storage
notifications
webNavigation
webRequest
declarativeNetRequest
declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess
tabs
management
scripting
idle
clipboardRead
clipboardWrite
contentSettings
browsingData

Host Permissions:

http://*/*
https://*/*
<all_urls>

Embedded URLs (21 total):

https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx	https://smc-service-cloud-sdk2.respondus2.com/MONServer/drmcheck.shtml
https://smc-service-cloud-sdk2.respondus2.com	https://qa-app.respondus2.com
https://web.respondus.com/tou-helpcenter/	https://respondus.knowledgeowl.com/home
https://support.respondus.com/	http://getbootstrap.com
https://github.com/twbs/bootstrap/blob/master/LICENSE	https://github.com/h5bp/html5-boilerplate/blob/master/src/css/main.css
http://fontawesome.io	http://fontawesome.io/license
http://jqueryui.com	http://jqueryui.com/themeroller/?bgShadowXPos=&bgOverlayXPos=&bgErrorXPos=&bgHighlightXPos=&bgContentXPos=&bgHeaderXPos=&bgActiveXPos=&bgHoverXPos=&bgDefaultXPos=&bgShadowYPos=&bgOverlayYPos=&bgErrorYPos=&bgHighlightYPos=&bgContentYPos=&bgHeaderYPos=&bgActiveYPos=&bgHoverYPos=&bgDefaultYPos=&bgShadowRepeat=&bgOverlayRepeat=&bgErrorRepeat=&bgHighlightRepeat=&bgContentRepeat=&bgHeaderRepeat=&bgActiveRepeat=&bgHoverRepeat=&bgDefaultRepeat=&iconsHover=url
http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd	https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans
https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Raleway	http://fonts.cdnfonts.com/css/museo-sans-rounded
https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Tangerine	https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css
https://smc-service-cloud.respondus2.com

Raw Manifest

{
  "name": "Pearson MyLab LockDownBrowser",
  "icons": {
    "128": "assets/images/icon.png"
  },
  "action": {
    "default_icon": {
      "48": "assets/images/icon.png",
      "128": "assets/images/icon_128.png"
    },
    "default_popup": "./pages/popup/popup.html"
  },
  "author": "SDK_PEARSON_PROD",
  "version": "0.1.00.116",
  "incognito": "not_allowed",
  "background": {
    "service_worker": "background.js"
  },
  "update_url": "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx",
  "description": "LockDown Browser is a custom browser that locks down the exam environment within specific learning and assessment systems.",
  "permissions": [
    "system.display",
    "history",
    "cookies",
    "storage",
    "notifications",
    "webNavigation",
    "webRequest",
    "declarativeNetRequest",
    "declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess",
    "tabs",
    "management",
    "scripting",
    "idle",
    "clipboardRead",
    "clipboardWrite",
    "contentSettings",
    "browsingData"
  ],
  "default_locale": "en",
  "content_scripts": [
    {
      "js": [
        "assets/js/jquery-3.4.1.min.js",
        "assets/js/jquery-3.4.1.min.js",
        "contentScripts/all_control.js"
      ],
      "run_at": "document_start",
      "matches": [
        "<all_urls>"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "host_permissions": [
    "http://*/*",
    "https://*/*",
    "<all_urls>"
  ],
  "manifest_version": 3,
  "declarative_net_request": {
    "rule_resources": [
      {
        "id": "ruleset_1",
        "path": "rules_1.json",
        "enabled": true
      }
    ]
  },
  "web_accessible_resources": [
    {
      "matches": [
        "<all_urls>"
      ],
      "resources": [
        "background.js",
        "manifest.json",
        "assets/images/icon_128.png",
        "assets/images/icon.png",
        "pages/tabs/tabs.html",
        "pages/webcamstart/webcamstart.html",
        "pages/examend/examend.html"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

by ✦ Astarte

Pearson MyLab LockDownBrowser

Extension Details

Context-Aware Verdict

Findings

Security Analysis Details

Required Permissions:

Host Permissions:

Embedded URLs (21 total):

Raw Manifest

Detections

Manifest Findings