IBE.js: A Framework for Instrumenting Browser Extensions

Elvira Moreno-Sanchez, Pablo Picazo-Sanchez

2023

Abstract

Millions of people use web browsers daily. Extensions can enhance their basic functions. As the use and development of browser extensions grow, ensuring adequate code coverage is essential for delivering high-quality, reliable, and secure software. This paper introduces IBE.js, a framework to monitor and assess the coverage of browser extensions. IBE.js conducts an analysis of the main JavaScript files, background pages and content scripts, of 4,495 browser extensions from the Chrome Web Store. By utilizing a blank HTML file, we found that on average, more than 33% of the lines in these scripts are executed automatically. This coverage represents the number of lines executed by default, without any influence from user interaction or web content. Notably, IBE.js is a versatile framework that can be utilized across various platforms, ensuring compatibility with extensions from other web stores such as Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft. This enables comprehensive coverage analysis and monitoring of extensions beyond a single browser ecosystem.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Moreno-Sanchez E. and Picazo-Sanchez P. (2023). IBE.js: A Framework for Instrumenting Browser Extensions. In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Software Technologies - Volume 1: ICSOFT; ISBN 978-989-758-665-1, SciTePress, pages 141-150. DOI: 10.5220/0012120000003538

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icsoft23,
author={Elvira Moreno-Sanchez and Pablo Picazo-Sanchez},
title={IBE.js: A Framework for Instrumenting Browser Extensions},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Software Technologies - Volume 1: ICSOFT},
year={2023},
pages={141-150},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012120000003538},
isbn={978-989-758-665-1},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Software Technologies - Volume 1: ICSOFT
TI - IBE.js: A Framework for Instrumenting Browser Extensions
SN - 978-989-758-665-1
AU - Moreno-Sanchez E.
AU - Picazo-Sanchez P.
PY - 2023
SP - 141
EP - 150
DO - 10.5220/0012120000003538
PB - SciTePress