Web Developer for Chrome v0.4.9 contained malicious code that generated a domain via a DGA and fetched a remote script. The fetched script conditionally loaded follow-on modules that performed extensive ad substitution and malvertising, displayed fake “repair” alerts that redirected users to affiliate programs, and attempted to harvest credentials when users logged in. Injected components enumerate common banner sizes for substitution, replace third-party ad calls, and redirect victim traffic to affiliate landing pages. Potential impacts include user-level code execution in the browser context, large-scale ad fraud and traffic hijacking, credential theft, and exposure to additional payloads delivered by the actor. The compromise was reported on by the maintainer of Web Developer for Chrome on August 2, 2017 and remediated in v0.5.0.
CVE-2017-20202
This critical-severity CVE scores 9.3 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.1%, top 70% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 9.3
- EG Score
- 9.3(medium)
- EPSS
- 39.8%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
October 8, 2025
Last Modified
April 15, 2026
Advisory Details (6)
Auto-updated Jul 17, 2026Threat actor goes on a Chrome extension hijacking spree | Proofpoint US
https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-insight/post/threat-actor-goes-chrome-extension-hijacking-spreeWeb Developer for Chrome v0.4.9 Malicious Backdoor Supply Chain Compromise | Advisories | VulnCheck
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/web-developer-for-chrome-malicious-backdoor-supply-chain-compromiseWeb Developer for Chrome Compromised on Blog on chrispederick.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20170803163618/https://chrispederick.com/blog/web-developer-for-chrome-compromised/Our Copyfish extension was stolen and adware-infested **[Solved]**
https://ui.vision/blog/chrome-extension-adware/Web developer 0.4.9 tools hacked and installing adware Decode · GitHub
https://gist.github.com/piedpiperRichard/076516da60f45842f1a6e6ae35a9a240/Web Developer - Chrome Web Store
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/web-developer/bfbameneiokkgbdmiekhjnmfkcnldhhm?pli=1Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 12× in last 7d / 40× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
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Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2017-20202?
When was CVE-2017-20202 disclosed?
Is CVE-2017-20202 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-20202?
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Dependency Blast Radius
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