LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

Source: github.com
189 points by mdp 2 hours ago on hackernews | 96 comments

LinkedIn Chrome Extension Fingerprinting

LinkedIn silently probes for 2,953 Chrome extensions on every page load.

Background

This repository documents every extension LinkedIn checks for and provides tools to identify them.

Data

The complete list of extensions with names and Chrome Web Store links:

chrome_extensions_with_names_all.csv

Column Description
Extension ID 32-character Chrome extension identifier
Name Extension name
URL Link to Chrome Web Store or Extpose

Scripts

fetch_extension_names.js

Fetches extension names from Chrome Web Store with Extpose fallback for removed/unavailable extensions.

# Fetch all extensions
node fetch_extension_names.js

# Fetch a subset (useful if rate limited)
node fetch_extension_names.js --offset 0 --limit 500
node fetch_extension_names.js -o 500 -l 500

# Show help
node fetch_extension_names.js --help

test_fetch.js

Test script that processes the first 3 extensions with verbose output.

Stats

  • 2,953 total extensions in LinkedIn's fingerprint list
  • ~78% found on Chrome Web Store
  • ~22% found via Extpose fallback (removed or unavailable on Chrome Web Store)

Source Files

  • chrome_extension_ids.txt - Raw list of extension IDs extracted from LinkedIn's fingerprint.js
  • fingerprint.js - LinkedIn's page script with the extensions (minified)