Mozilla has confirmed that it will continue to support extensions under both Manifest v2 and Manifest v3, giving users the ability to choose in their browser. Manifest v3 is a standard created by Google for browser extensions with the goal of enhancing security by imposing restrictions on network requests and remote content loading. However, these changes have caused some extensions, such as ad blockers, to become less effective.
With the introduction of Manifest v3, incompatible extensions have started to be disabled, leading users to lose access to familiar features. One notable case was the shutdown of Ublock Origin in Chrome.
Mozilla has stated that it has no plans to abandon Manifest v2 in the near future and will continue to support APIs like Blockingwebrequest and DeclarativeNetrequest, which are crucial for extensions like Ublock Origin. The company reaffirmed its stance, citing the fifth principle of its manifesto, which emphasizes that users should have the ability to shape the internet and their online experience.
Recently, security researcher Vladimir Palant uncovered multiple malicious extensions in the Chrome Extension store that were able to circumvent Google’s restrictions on remote code introduced with Manifest v3. This loophole allowed attackers to engage in covert activities, including espionage on users, advertising fraud, and bypassing security measures on web pages.