Password manager extensions boost convenience. But in the hands of employees, they can open the door to massive enterprise risk. In this article, we cover the key security risks of password manager extensions, the enterprise impact, and what enterprises can do. We also list the most popular extensions in this category, which you can allow your employees to use.
What are Password Manager Extensions?
Password manager extensions are browser add-ons that store the user’s passwords for websites and SaaS applications, and auto-fill them when the user revisits. This removes the friction of the user having to remember and retype passwords every time they visit a new website. To further relieve friction, password manager extensions can also suggest strong passwords of their own, and sync password access across devices.
Key Security Risks of Password Manager Extensions
While password manager extensions bring significant productivity benefits, they also raise security risks. Password extensions managers can easily become a single point of failure; anyone with access to your employees’ passwords can theoretically impersonate them and access corporate systems. So if your employees are using password manager extensions, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Where are the Passwords Stored?
When your employees use a password manager extension for work-related activities, your corporate passwords typically live either:
- In an encrypted vault on the password manager’s server
- On their local device
Both types of storage entail security risks.
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- External vault – If the provider’s servers or the connectivity layer between the provider and the devices are compromised, their passwords might be exposed as well.
- Local device – Attackers accessing the endpoint might also gain access to the passwords.
2. Who Has Access to My Passwords? (And is the Publisher Reputable?)
Since password manager extensions store passwords, the developers and owners of the extension potentially have access to these passwords as well. Reputable publishers will detail the encryption standards they use and whether they operate with a “zero-knowledge” policy (meaning they never see your master password).
Less credible or brand-new extension developers may not have the same rigor, i,e they will not share their security model and their privacy policies might seem shady. That being said, there’s also the scenario of a reputable publisher being breached or bought out by a malicious actor. This means they might seem legitimate, but actually behave maliciously.
3. How are the Passwords Protected?
Security breaches are not a matter of “if”, but rather “when”, and password manager extensions are no exception. Therefore, password manager extensions should have protective measures in place, including:
- End-to-end password encryption with a strong algorithm like AES-256 or Argon2 for hashing. This ensures that even if servers or transmission channels are compromised, the data remains unreadable to attackers.
- Zero-knowledge architecture, meaning the extension developers cannot access the user’s vaults. Only the user holds the decryption key, typically derived from their master password.
- Authentication – MFA, hardware tokens (YubiKey, FIDO2), etc. as strong authentication layers to anyone accessing the vaults.
- Real-time monitoring to see if any stored credentials appear in known breaches, with automatic prompts to update exposed passwords.
- Granular permissions to ensure limited access to the browser.
4. Can the Password Manager Extension Access All My Passwords?
Password managers are meant to reduce friction when accessing websites and SaaS apps. But that doesn’t mean they need to have access to all browser-related passwords.
IT can control the corporate passwords that extensions have access for based on the following criteria:
- Domain-level restrictions – Limiting autofill permissions to specific domains relevant to non-critical business use and excluding sensitive apps.
- User roles – Preventing more sensitive roles, like developers who access source code, from storing passwords externally.
- Credential sensitivity – Classifying credentials based on sensitivity (e.g., privileged admin logins vs. general user logins) and allowing storing only low-level permissions.
- Time-Based access – Implementing time-bound access and auto-expiring passwords after a set duration. This does not limit extension access, but it limits applicability.
5. Can the Password Manager Access/Impersonate Other Password Stores?
A password manager might offer to import data from competing services or integrate with browser-based password storage. If not handled carefully, this feature might unintentionally allow the extension (or an attacker exploiting it) to impersonate the user, copy password or entire password vaults, or even manipulate them. To safeguard against this, reputable tools usually limit how and when imports occur and require the users to actively confirm any such action.
The Enterprise Impact of Password Manager Extensions Vulnerabilities
What’s the impact of a compromised password manager extension? Businesses can expect to deal with:
Data Breaches at Scale
When an employee’s password vault is compromised, every credential stored there can be exposed. This means attackers can potentially access all browser-based applications, potentially as a first step into the organizational network. In case those passwords are used as admin, root, or privileged credentials, attackers can even reach mission-critical applications. In the network, they can steal data, potentially disrupt critical operations, and more.
Fueling Future Attacks
A compromised vault goes beyond a single attack. If the compromised employee practices poor password hygiene and reuses passwords, passwords can be used for “successful” credential stuffing, allowing attackers easy entry to other systems. Even if passwords are slightly varied, attackers can apply brute-force techniques or use AI-driven tools to predict variations. Additionally, if these credentials are sold across the dark web, they become widely available to cybercriminals, and can be used for future attacks, to your organization or others.
Regulatory and Compliance Issues
Enterprises today operate under a complex web of regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX, and more, depending on their industry and location. These frameworks mandate strict controls around the storage, transmission, and protection of sensitive data, including access credentials. This is because when a password manager extension is compromised the breach can lead to access to databases containing regulated personal information, which is a compliance breach.
Fines can range from thousands to tens of millions of dollars, depending on the jurisdiction and data exposed. Beyond financial penalties, breaches often trigger regulatory investigations, mandatory audits, and increased scrutiny on the organization’s security posture. In some industries, such as healthcare or finance, non-compliance can also lead to loss of licenses or the inability to operate in certain regions.
Reputational and Business Damage
A company that suffers a breach due to a compromised password manager extension not only faces technical and regulatory fallout but also a significant reputational hit. A password breach signals a failure in fundamental cybersecurity hygiene. Customers expect organizations to protect the most basic layer of access: their credentials.
When that trust is broken, it can take years to rebuild. This can result in loss of customer confidence, canceled contracts, or churn. Plus, investors may pull back, M&A deals might be delayed or abandoned, and internal morale can drop. In some cases, executive leadership changes are made to restore stakeholder confidence.
The 5 Popular Password Manager Extensions
- LastPass
- 1Password
- NordPass
- Norton Password Manager
- Proton Pass
Last Part: How LayerX Secures Password Manager Extensions
LayerX enhances browser security by providing comprehensive visibility and control over browser extensions within an organization. It identifies all installed extensions across users, browsers, and devices, enabling a thorough assessment of the organization’s exposure to potential threats. Each extension undergoes an automatic risk evaluation, considering factors like permission scope and external reputation metrics such as author credibility and user ratings.
To mitigate risks, LayerX allows the implementation of adaptive, risk-based security policies. These granular, configurable policies can be tailored to the organization’s specific needs, facilitating the blocking or disabling of extensions deemed risky without disrupting legitimate ones
By operating directly within the browser, LayerX effectively detects and manages malicious extensions, ensuring that users can benefit from productivity-enhancing tools without compromising data security.
