Security Alert: Confirmed Malware

This extension was removed from the Chrome Web Store as malware. Do not install it.Extension: Template Search Newtab

CRITICAL RISKRemoved from Chrome Web Store

Template Search Newtab

ID: mhibgpmlllgfiahnikdgbfkkbggpgapd

Could be malicious

Supported Languages

🇺🇸English

Extension Info & Metadata

Status

Removed

Version

1.21.430

Size

0.06 MB

Rating

0.0/5

Reviews

Users

90,926

Type

Extension

Updated

May 4, 2021

Publisher Contextual Analysis

Trusted

Author: Template SearchView Profile
Privacy: Privacy Policy
Country: US
MX records exist: Yes
Domain exists: Yes
Is disposable: No
Is role-based: No
Mailbox exists: Yes
Address: 248 3rd Street Oakland, CA 94607 US
Website: Visit

Total Extensions

Active

Obsolete

Listed

Unlisted

Total Users

135,928

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Enjoy easy access to search for 1000s of templates by Category and web search, free on your Chrome New Tab Extension.

Template Search Newtab provides access to Template and Web Searches in your browser New tab. This extension updates your browser New Tab and provides: - Access to Online Templates - A web search box - Links to TopSites Comes with daily Newtab Prompt to show you local weather and News in a new Chrome new tab! By installing this extension, you agree to the Terms of Service (https://templatesearch.net/terms-of-service/) and Privacy Policy https://templatesearch.net/privacy-policy/) Permissions used & reasons: "Read and change your data on a number of websites" For our extension to work, we require access to these websites we own and manage. "Replace the page you see when opening a new tab" This allows us to show you our product - new tab page with free web search. "Read your browsing history" This allows us to manage browser tabs and provide relevant product specific information.

User Growth

No data available

No user growth data available for this extension

Rating Count

No data available

No rating count data available for this extension

Average Rating

No data available

No rating data available for this extension

Extracted Data

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By severity

Critical0

High3

Medium2

Low0

Versions scanned

Showing 1 of 2 scanned versions with more than one unique finding. Counts are unique findings that include each version.

Extension Version	Code Review Findings
1.20.1217.1821 Code review	5

Extension Version	Code Review Findings
1.20.1217.1821	5

Files with findings

3 distinct paths — top paths by unique finding count:

background/startup.js2
newtab/newtab.js2
background/ext.js1

S.No.	Category	Severity	File	Summary	Found in Version
1	Other	high	background/ext.js (line 71)	The extension reads a JSON configuration cookie named ext_config from templatesearch-api.com and applies every key in it as an extension variable, including syncing the guid to chrome.storage.sync. This gives the remo…	1.20.1217.1821
2	Tracking	high	background/startup.js (line 5)	A daily tracking beacon is fired to api.templatesearch-api.com carrying the user's persistent GUID, extension ID, version, partner_name, domain, region, source, and tbid. These affiliate/partner parameters expose whic…	1.20.1217.1821
3	Unauthorized Data Collection	high	newtab/newtab.js (line 37)	The newtab page acts as an unguarded postMessage bridge with no origin validation. Any message from the embedded remote iframe (tab.templatesearch-site.com) can read or write arbitrary extension storage variables, tri…	1.20.1217.1821
4	Tracking	medium	background/startup.js (line 26)	On first install, the extension registers with the API server, then immediately fetches its configuration cookie (which assigns the user a GUID) before doing anything visible to the user. The install beacon carries pa…	1.20.1217.1821
5	Unauthorized Data Collection	medium	newtab/newtab.js (line 81)	The returnMessage helper sends all responses — including top sites and internal extension variables — to the iframe using a wildcard target origin ("*"). This means the data is sent to whichever page happens to be loa…	1.20.1217.1821

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URLs

IPv4

IPv6

URLs

View the external URLs this extension communicates with to understand its network activity and data interactions.

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clients2.google.com	/service/update2/crx	https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx
tab.${	-	https://tab.${
${	-	https://${
uninstall.${	-	https://uninstall.${
api.${	-	https://api.${

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No IP addresses found

Version History

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Code Diff

Compare extension code between any two versions.

0 changed files detected

No comparable text files found between these versions.

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Browse and explore files within this extension package

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Security Alert: Confirmed Malware

Template Search Newtab

Supported Languages

Extension Info & Metadata

Publisher Contextual Analysis

Chrome Web Store Metadata

About this extension

Analytics & Metrics

User Growth

Rating Count

Average Rating

Static Code Security Analysis

Extracted Data

Code Review Findings Summary Across 2 Versions5

Versions scanned

Files with findings

Extracted Indicators (URLs and IPs)

URLs

Contextual Analysis

Version History

Version-to-Version Code Diff

Code Diff

Extension Files

User Growth

Rating Count

Average Rating