Is ext.to dangerous? It caused librewolf to ask for firewall permissions
fedilink
88
Is ext.to dangerous? It caused librewolf to ask for firewall permissions

I’ve never seen any website cause a firewall permission request

This isn’t a website asking for permission. It’s the browser exe itself.

This seems like the bare minimum permissions for a web browser.

lazynooblet
link
fedilink
English
741Y

Windows asks for this permission when a program needs to accept unsolicited incoming network requests. Not something a browser normally requires.

Unless you’re doing a P2P video/voice call.

@waigl@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
81Y

Too bad this windows firewall dialog is really sparse on details. We really have no way have telling whether that is normal permissions or not.

@shneancy@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
61Y

when my browser asks me for a firewall pass and i haven’t directly and intentionally prompted that to happen i click “no”

Nix
creator
link
fedilink
English
7
edit-2
1Y

Ive never gotten this request before though and ive been browsing for a while. I didn’t accept it and the browser continues working fine. Doesnt seem standard

Do the dev tools show anything interesting? Networking calls, etc?

Nix
creator
link
fedilink
English
41Y

Im not really knowledgeable enough to be able to spot whats interesting.

Although something strange about it is if I try to stream something on ext.to with Inspect Element open it automatically closes the stream player and refreshes the page every time. So its impossible to view the networking tab and see what the player causes to show up

taanegl
link
fedilink
English
341Y

Assuming you’ve gotten LibreWolf from a proper, verified source (GitHub, package manager like chocolatey), then there shouldn’t be any issues.

But, to be on the safe side, check out your extensions and also plugins to verify nothing untowards has snuck it’s way on to your system.

You could of course go into the Windows firewall, note what permissions LibreWolf has, then allow it and check again to see what was added.

But, chances are, LibreWolf (don’t use it myself) asked to access either magnet links or other ports other than 443 or 80. If LibreWolf has built-in torrent support or you’ve installed an extension that does, it will require some other ports to function.

Nix
creator
link
fedilink
English
21Y

I got it from chocolately.

Wait why accept the permission? I don’t really want to risk it installing something I don’t notice

taanegl
link
fedilink
English
1
edit-2
1Y

It’s a firewall access prompt. In true MS fashion it won’t tell you what ports it is opening.

So by accepting you’re not giving the app any permissions like say read-write permission or administrative access, but if the app should have access to a port on the network.

Standard ports for the web are 443 (HTTPS, TCP) and 80 (HTTP, TCP). Torrents use other ports and a combination of TCP and UDP packets.

Search for “firewall” in the start menu. The firewall manager shows you all the ports an IPs that are allowed or blocked, along with ports and protocols.

Brickfrog
link
fedilink
English
1
edit-2
1Y

deleted by creator

gila
link
fedilink
English
-101Y

Seems as safe as mostly any public torrent site to me. Use ublock and it should be fine, provided you aren’t downloading and running a random .exe labelled as Avatar 3 or something

@notfromhere@lemmy.one
link
fedilink
English
97
edit-2
1Y

Word of caution, if you have been browsing successfully until now, it could be a malicious javascript app or malware loaded from that website that is attempting to scan your network or do other things. In other words if this is a new firewall request above and beyond the standard one librewolf needs to function, proceed with cation.

Nix
creator
link
fedilink
English
31Y

That’s what I’m thinking, it happened when i tried to load their streaming player for the first time which historically have pop unders on streaming websites

@Slovene@feddit.nl
link
fedilink
English
111Y

Could you also proceed with anion?

@PeWu@lemmy.ml
link
fedilink
English
51Y

+/-

@waigl@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
71Y

In theory, that shouldn’t even be possible with JavaScript. There’s such a thing as same-origin policy for that exact reason…

@notfromhere@lemmy.one
link
fedilink
English
3
edit-2
1Y

Malicious javascript seeks to bypass security controls. It’s one of the reasons NoScript is a thing. It could be a malware loaded from an ad. Biggest reason for adblockers imo.

Check out this link for learning about this stuff.

https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/javascript-malware-explained/

@waigl@lemmy.world
link
fedilink
English
71Y

I’ve read that article. It is complete garbage and doesn’t explain anything at all. It’s just standard cookie cutter fear mongering to sell some random antivirus software.

@notfromhere@lemmy.one
link
fedilink
English
31Y

That article is for lay-persons and really an awareness article I surmise. If you’re technical you are likely already aware of the security concerns with jacascript.

@Cinner@lemmy.world
bot account
link
fedilink
English
61Y

Have you really never heard of malware from JavaScript? Buffer overflows and sandbox escapes are almost all JavaScript, still, hasn’t changed in the last decade. Sometimes it’s a random font parser library or something, but almost always it’s JavaScript. And now that browsers are auto-updating and they have fully staffed security teams behind them that get word of a vulnerability being secretly exploited before the general public, most people don’t get hit just because they browsed to a random website. But it’s still possible, and especially likely that a shady torrent site could be hosting malware or get ““hacked””.

Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
!piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Create a post
⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.

Rules • Full Version

1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy

2. Don’t request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote

3. Don’t request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs

4. Don’t submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others



Loot, Pillage, & Plunder

📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):


💰 Please help cover server costs.

Ko-Fi Liberapay
Ko-fi Liberapay

  • 1 user online
  • 108 users / day
  • 272 users / week
  • 1K users / month
  • 3.5K users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 3.4K Posts
  • 82.2K Comments
  • Modlog