Ask most IT or security teams what browser extensions are installed across their fleet. The honest answer, almost universally, is: we don't know.

Not because they haven't tried. Because the tools they rely on (endpoint agents, web proxies, MDM platforms, and enterprise browser tools) were never designed to answer that question comprehensively. Browser extensions occupy a blind spot that sits between every existing layer of enterprise security.

Why This Is a Real Problem

Browser extensions run inside the browser with elevated privileges, after TLS termination, in the authenticated user session. They can read every page a user visits, capture keystrokes, access session cookies, and send data to external servers. An extension with these permissions is functionally equivalent to spyware, and many installed across enterprise fleets today have exactly these capabilities.

99%
of enterprise employees have at least one extension installed
53%
of users have an extension with high or critical permissions
13%
of installed extensions are classified as high or critical risk

Sources: LayerX Enterprise Browser Extension Security Report 2025; Keep Aware State of Browser Security Report 2026

These aren't theoretical risks. They're measured against real enterprise fleets right now. The average organization has dozens of extensions running across hundreds of devices, most of which have never been reviewed, risk-scored, or subject to any policy.

The Attack Surface Is Growing

Browser extension attacks have followed a clear and well-documented escalation over the past three years.

2023
Affiliate fraud and session hijacking ShadyPanda campaign begins across 150+ Chrome and Edge extensions with 4.3M users. Extensions operate legitimately for years before being weaponized via silent update.
2024
Supply chain attacks go mainstream December 2024: attackers compromise developer accounts via phishing and push malicious updates through the official Chrome Web Store to 3.2M users, including customers of Cyberhaven, a data security company.
2025
Enterprise platforms become the target Five extensions impersonating Workday, NetSuite, and SAP SuccessFactors harvest authentication cookies every 60 seconds and block security administration pages to prevent incident response. 32 AI assistant extensions found siphoning data from 900K+ users.
2026
The browser is named the least-protected control point Keep Aware's State of Browser Security Report 2026 identifies the browser as the most critical and least protected entry point in the enterprise. 287 extensions found leaking data in a single February investigation.

Why Your Current Tools Don't Cover This

This isn't a gap most IT teams are ignoring. It's a gap the tools were never built to cover.

Enterprise browser management only covers the managed browser. If an employee has an additional browser or a personal profile installed on their work device, those extensions are completely outside your centrally managed policy. Unless your organization is blocking browser installation at the OS level, you have a blind spot on every managed device.

Endpoint detection tools monitor OS-level processes and file activity. Browser extensions run inside the browser as legitimate processes after TLS termination, invisible to the endpoint agent. Web proxies inspect network traffic but can't see what's happening inside an authenticated session. MDM platforms enforce device policies but have no concept of browser extension inventory.

The result: every layer of your security stack has a gap at exactly the point where extensions operate.

What You Actually Need

Solving the browser extension problem requires three things that current tools don't provide together: continuous inventory across all browsers and profiles, risk-based prioritization so you know what to act on, and the ability to enforce policy rather than just observe.

Visibility alone isn't enough. If you can see 400 extensions but have no way to score, filter, or act on them, you've created alert fatigue without solving anything. The tools that matter tie visibility directly to enforcement.

How Extensight Closes the Gap

Extensight is a lightweight agent that runs silently on macOS and Windows endpoints, collecting browser extension data across Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, and Safari, including all profiles on the device, not just managed ones.

Complete Inventory

Every extension across every browser and profile on every managed device. Continuously updated.

Risk Scoring

Automated scoring based on permissions, manifest analysis, and threat intelligence, so you know what needs attention.

Policy Enforcement

Allowlist or blocklist mode enforced via native browser policy, with no MDM required. Blocked extensions removed on the next collection cycle.

Audit Log

Immutable record of every policy change, user action, and enforcement event. 90-day retention, queryable by role.

Because the agent operates at the OS level, it sees extensions in unmanaged browsers and personal profiles, the exact gap that enterprise browser tools leave open. One agent, one dashboard, and one policy across your entire fleet regardless of which browsers your employees use.

No MDM dependency. Extensight enforces browser policy through native mechanisms: registry keys on Windows and managed preference plists on macOS. You don't need Intune, JAMF, or any existing MDM in place to get full policy enforcement across Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, and Safari.

If You're Evaluating Solutions

When assessing any browser extension management tool, the questions that matter are: Does it cover all browsers and profiles, or only the managed browser? Does it enforce policy or only report? How quickly does it detect and remediate a newly-installed blocked extension? Can you see what changed and who changed it?

The answers determine whether you're closing the gap or adding another dashboard that doesn't change your actual exposure.

See what's running in your browsers

Extensight installs in minutes. Your first device reports within minutes of the agent running. No MDM, no complex setup, no professional services engagement.

Request a Free Trial Learn more →