| ###### Advisory | Malware Intelligence |
|---|---|
| ###### Malware Type | Trojan |
| ###### Threat level | Medium |
| ###### Target | Browser Extensions |
While extensions are meant to expand the capabilities of a browser, installing browser add-ons that are infected with malware can compromise the security of the computer as well as the victim. Corrupted extensions masquerade as legitimate software programs.
In a major malware-based attack, 3 million users were recently hit with 28 malicious Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge extensions. They posed as video downloader applications for platforms like Facebook, Vimeo, Instagram, VK, etc. It was detected that the malicious code was injected into these Javascript-based extensions to download further malware into the victim’s computer.
Malware capabilities:
- Produce log files for each time the victim clicks on a URL.
- Redirect the users to advertisements and phishing websites
- Steal personal data (birthday, email address, first sign-in time, last login time, device information, device name, operating system, browser details, IP address)
- Prevent detection even by skilled users in web development
Impacts
Technical Impact:
- Steal personal/ sensitive information
- Download further malware
- Control and monetize from browser traffic
Business Impact:
- Data leaks can have an adverse impact on the victims privacy.
List of infected extensions
| Direct Message for Instagram | Direct Message for Instagram |
|---|---|
| DM for Instagram | Invisible mode for Instagram Direct Message |
| Downloader for Instagram | Instagram Download Video & Image |
| App Phone for Instagram | App Phone for Instagram |
| Stories for Instagram | Universal Video Downloader |
| Video Downloader for FaceBook | Vimeo Video Downloader |
| Volume Controller | Zoomer for Instagram and FaceBook |
| VK UnBlock. Works fast. | Odnoklassniki UnBlock. Works quickly. |
| Upload photo to Instagram | Spotify Music Downloader |
| Stories for Instagram | Upload photo to Instagram |
| Pretty Kitty, The Cat Pet | Video Downloader for YouTube |
| SoundCloud Music Downloader | The New York Times News |
| Instagram App with Direct Message DM |
Mitigations
- Use real-time web page monitoring tools
- Use web-proxy filtering to block access of unwanted websites