Collected research

Google Chrome/ChromeOS sandbox side step via owning extensions

Kyle Osborn and Matt Johansen · media.blackhat.com

Chrome OS replaces desktop programs with HTML and JavaScript extensions, so an XSS in an extension inherits whatever chrome.* API permissions its manifest.json declared. The paper shows an injected script calling chrome.tabs.executeScript across every open tab, and a wildcard match pattern letting XHR read the victim's Gmail, sidestepping the sandbox without any memory bug.

Record

Researcher

Kyle Osborn and Matt Johansen

Published by

media.blackhat.com

Format

Whitepaper

Topic

Browser

In the archive

• Collected in the 2011 research round

Tags

• browser-extension
• xss
• sandbox-escape
• sop-bypass
• javascript
• info-leak
• owasp-a01-2021
• owasp-a03-2021

This page is the archive's own catalogue record. The research is the work of Kyle Osborn and Matt Johansen, first published at the original source. Preserved copies are kept so the citation survives its host; this one was last captured on 11 August 2026.