18 best browser extension tools for doing bug bounty searches

Let me introduce myself, my name is Zidan Naufal Firmansyah. I am a beginner bug hunter who is still in the learning process and I want to recommend the browser extension tools {Chrome, Safari, Brave, Firefox, etc.} that I use while I am bug hunting.

VPN: Essential for Privacy and Security

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a must-have extension for bug bounty hunters, offering essential protection and privacy while conducting research. It ensures your online activities are encrypted, masking your real IP address and securing your data from potential hackers or prying eyes. This is especially important when accessing different networks or browsing potentially vulnerable websites. A VPN also bypasses geographical restrictions, providing a broader range of testing environments. Whether doing recon or testing web apps from different locations, a VPN keeps your identity anonymous and your research secure.

TunnelBear VPN { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

PureVPN Proxy { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

2. Cookie Extractor & Editor: Capture and Modify or edit Vulnerabilities in Cookies

Cookie Extractor & Editor combo is an essential toolset for bug bounty hunters focused on session security and cookie management. The Cookie Extractor allows you to extract cookies from web applications, revealing critical data like session IDs and authentication tokens. This is crucial for identifying vulnerabilities such as session hijacking, fixation, or improper cookie handling.

The Cookie Editor, on the other hand, lets you modify cookies directly within your browser. It's a valuable tool for testing how web applications respond to different cookie values or configurations. By manipulating cookies, you can uncover security flaws related to insecure cookie storage, weak validation, or missing encryption. Together, these tools help you fully assess a web application's cookie security and find hidden vulnerabilities.

COOKIE EDITOR { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

COOKIE EXTRACTOR { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

3. Temporary Email Service: Boost Your Efficiency with Disposable Mail

A Temporary Email Service is a must-have tool for bug bounty hunters who need a quick and anonymous way to receive emails without exposing your personal inbox. These services let you generate disposable email addresses on the fly, streamlining your workflow by keeping everything within your browser. You won't have to constantly switch tabs or worry about unwanted spam or managing multiple accounts. With a temporary email, you can easily sign up for services, receive verification emails, or access content without leaving a trace or cluttering your main inbox.

Temp-Mail { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

4. HacksTool: All-in-One Web Browser Extension for Security Testing

HacksTool is a powerful web browser extension that consolidates a wide range of security testing tools in one place. It includes various payloads, useful Linux and PowerShell commands, TTY shell commands, basic XSS payloads, and much more. This tool simplifies the process for security researchers by providing quick access to essential commands and payloads needed for penetration testing and vulnerability analysis, making your bug hunting more efficient.

HACKTOOL { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

5. HackBar: website security parameters or payload testing (penetration testing and bug hunters)

HackBar is a browser extension that functions as a modified address bar specifically designed to help security testers, pentesters, and developers perform manual web application security tests directly through the Developer Tools menu (F12). This tool combines various cyber testing functions in one integrated panel, allowing users to manipulate URL parameters, change HTTP request methods from GET to POST, and edit headers and cookies without the need to manually reload web pages or use complex external software. Within this one concise interface, HackBar provides automatic shortcuts to insert commonly used cyber attack payloads to detect critical security vulnerabilities, such as SQL Injection (SQLi) to test database vulnerabilities and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) to test malicious script execution vulnerabilities in the victim's browser. In addition to query manipulation and script insertion, the extension also features a built-in data processing engine capable of instant text format conversion (encoding and decoding), such as converting plain text to URL encoding, Base64, Hexadecimal, or Unicode formats, while also providing fast encryption (hashing) using popular security algorithms such as MD5, SHA1, SHA256, and simple encryption such as ROT13. With this entire suite of features integrated into a single navigation bar, HackBar becomes a highly efficient tool for cutting through the technical red tape of testing, speeding up the process of analyzing data traffic between browsers and servers, and simplifying the verification of a website's defense system against potential digital exploits.

HackBar { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

6. WayBackMachine: A Key Tool for Historical Web Analysis

WayBackMachine browser extension is an invaluable resource for bug bounty hunters, enabling you to access archived versions of web pages and track website changes over time. With this tool, you can explore old URLs, view sitemaps, and examine collections and word clouds. By providing a historical snapshot of websites, the WayBackMachine extension allows you to analyze both past and present versions of web pages, helping you uncover potential vulnerabilities and conduct more thorough security assessments.

WayBackMachine: { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

7. Link Extraction , Link Gopher & Bulk URL Opening Tools: Enhance Your Bug Bounty Efficiency

Link extraction in the bug bounty world is a browser extension used in the initial information search phase (reconnaissance or recon) to automate the process of scanning, collecting, and extracting all URL links, subdomains, hidden parameters, and application programming interface paths (API endpoints) embedded in the HTML code and JavaScript documents of a target website. While a regular user uses this tool simply to download documents in bulk, a bug hunter uses it as a digital radar to map the entire attack surface area (attack surface mapping) to find hidden vulnerabilities in the application's main navigation menu. Through the list of links successfully collected in a single click without separation, an ethical hacker can quickly filter URLs.

Link Extraction { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

Link Gopher When conducting bug bounty research, extracting all the links from a webpage is crucial for thorough testing. Link Gopher allows you to quickly gather all the links from a webpage with just one click. This helps you identify important parameters, check for redirections, analyze the functionality of different parts of the site, and test the overall behavior of a webpage. By simplifying the extraction process, it saves valuable time, allowing you to focus on testing and finding vulnerabilities.

Link Gopher { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

Bulk URL Opener After gathering a large number of targeted links for security testing, opening them one by one can be time-consuming and tedious. Bulk URL Opener streamlines this process by enabling you to open multiple links at once, all in new tabs with just one click. This tool is particularly useful for bulk testing, allowing you to quickly test multiple URLs and perform more efficient security assessments.

BULK-URL-OPENER { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

Link Grabber is another excellent tool for extracting links from a webpage. Unlike basic link extractors, it also allows you to gather internal and external links, including images, scripts, and other resources on the page. It's especially useful for auditing a site's structure, dependencies, and external connections. With Link Grabber, you can filter links based on various criteria, enabling more targeted and effective security testing.

LINK-GRABBER { Chrome-URL }

8. Technology Profilers: Uncover the Tech Stack Behind a Website

Technology Profiler is an essential tool for bug bounty hunters, designed to gather in-depth information about the technologies, frameworks, and software running on a target website or application. By scanning the site, it identifies key components like server software, CMS, plugins, libraries, and more. This insight into the site's tech stack helps you understand the potential attack surface, identify weak points, and target your testing efforts more effectively. Think of it as a digital investigator that reveals the tech secrets of a website, aiding your bug hunting process.

Wappalyzer is a browser extension and automated technology analysis tool designed to identify and map the entire technology stack used by a website instantly in one click without the need to manually inspect the source code.

Wappalyzer { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

BuiltWith in the context of bug bounty is a web-based reconnaissance tool and browser extension used by bug hunters to map the entire digital infrastructure, technology profile, and historical data of a target company in order to expand the attack surface area.

BuiltWith { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

WhatRuns in the context of bug bounty is a lightweight browser extension used by bug hunters as an instant reconnaissance tool to detect the technology stack powering a target website right as the page is being loaded on the screen.

WhatRuns { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

9. TruffleHog: Discover Exposed Secrets in Source Code

TruffleHog is a powerful tool designed to search for sensitive information — such as API keys, passwords, and other secrets — that may be accidentally exposed in source code repositories. For bug bounty hunters, it's an invaluable resource for identifying potential vulnerabilities by revealing hidden secrets that could be exploited by attackers. TruffleHog scans through code to detect hardcoded credentials or other sensitive data, which could serve as entry points for malicious actors. By using this tool, you can significantly enhance your vulnerability assessments and penetration testing efforts, ensuring no critical information is overlooked.

TruffleHog { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

10. JS Beautifier: Format Messy JavaScript Code with Ease

While bug hunting in web applications, it's common to come across unformatted, messy JavaScript files. Normally, you'd have to copy and paste the code into another website or use a code editor to reformat it, but switching between tabs or programs can be inconvenient. JS Beautifier is a browser extension that streamlines this process by allowing you to beautify and format the JavaScript code directly in the browser where the file exists. This eliminates the need for unnecessary tab-switching, saving you time and effort as you analyze code for potential vulnerabilities.

JS-BEAUTIFIER { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

11. Shodan Extension: The "Search Engine for Hackers" at Your Fingertips

Shodan is a powerful tool often referred to as the "search engine for hackers." The Shodan Extension brings this capability directly to your browser, allowing you to quickly access valuable insights about any website or IP address you visit. With this extension, you can easily view a server's open ports, services, and potential vulnerabilities, helping you identify weak spots and gather important information for security assessments. Whether you're conducting reconnaissance or in-depth vulnerability testing, the Shodan Extension makes it faster and easier to uncover critical server details.

SHODAN { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

12. HTTP Header Analyzer

Extension allows you to inspect HTTP headers, which are critical for identifying security misconfigurations like improper CORS policies, security headers (or lack thereof), and other vulnerabilities.

HTTP Header{ Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

13. FoxyProxy

FoxyProxy is a browser extension that is very popular among bug bounty hunters and cybersecurity practitioners, which functions as an automatic proxy management tool to regulate and redirect internet traffic from the browser to penetration testing tools such as Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP. In bug bounty activities, a hunter is required to analyze every HTTP/HTTPS request and response between their browser and the target server, where this analysis process requires the help of an external proxy interceptor. By default, changing proxy settings in the operating system or the default browser is often complicated, slow, and applies globally to all internet traffic, which means that private activity or other browser tabs unrelated to the target also clog the data queue in Burp Suite. This is where FoxyProxy becomes a crucial solution because this extension allows users to create, save, and switch between different proxy profiles with just one click directly from the browser toolbar. Even more advanced, FoxyProxy has a URL pattern-based feature that allows automatic traffic redirection, so hunters can set only certain bug bounty target sites to be sent to Burp Suite, while other site traffic such as YouTube or social media continues to run normally through a regular internet connection without disrupting the testing process. With this automatic classification capability, high flexibility, and ease of integration, FoxyProxy successfully reduces tedious technical configuration time, prevents data overload on analysis tools, maintains the privacy of personal browsing data, and significantly increases the efficiency and focus of a bug bounty hunter when hunting for security vulnerabilities in web applications.

FoxyProxy { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

14. Retire.js: Identify Vulnerable JavaScript Libraries in Your Browser

Retire.js is an open-source browser extension that is crucial for bug bounty hunters to detect the use of outdated and vulnerable JavaScript components or libraries embedded within target web applications. In the bug bounty world, many web application developers use outdated versions of third-party libraries such as jQuery, Bootstrap, or Angular that are found to have public security holes or CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). The Retire.js extension works automatically in the background by scanning every JavaScript file loaded by the browser while the hunter is browsing the target site, then matching the library version against their regularly updated vulnerability database. If it detects a malicious component, the extension immediately provides a clear visual indication on the browser icon and displays a detailed report containing the library name, version used, the severity of the security hole, and links to relevant exploits or patch suggestions. The presence of Retire.js really helps bug bounty hunters save time because they no longer need to manually check the source code one by one just to find out the version of the library used, so they can immediately focus on exploiting valid security vulnerabilities such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) or Remote Code Execution (RCE) which are often triggered by these outdated components.

Retire.js { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

15. PwnFox: Streamline Burp Suite Testing with Selective Traffic Routing

PwnFox is a browser extension (available for Firefox and Chromium-based) specifically designed by the security researcher community at YesWeHack to simplify access privilege testing and IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference) vulnerability detection efficiently while conducting bug bounties. Unlike FoxyProxy, which focuses on general proxy route management, PwnFox's main strength lies in its deep integration with browser containers and Burp Suite simultaneously. In web application testing scenarios, a hunter often has to test server behavior against multiple account levels (e.g., Admin account, User A account, and User B account) to see if a regular account can access another account's data; without PwnFox, a hunter would be forced to open multiple browser windows, use incognito mode, or go through the hassle of logging in and out repeatedly. PwnFox solves this problem by allowing users to open up to 8 independently isolated container tabs in the same browser window, each with its own cookie, cache, and session databases, allowing each tab to contain a different account without colliding with the other. Even better, when PwnFox is connected to its Burp Suite counterpart, the traffic from each container is automatically color-coded in sync, so that when a hunter views the HTTP history in Burp Suite, each request is immediately highlighted with the same color as the browser tab it originated from. In addition to this neat multi-session management, PwnFox also comes with various advanced security auditing features, such as a built-in PostMessage Logger in Developer Tools to analyze frame-to-frame communication for DOM-XSS vulnerabilities, a Toolbox feature to inject custom JavaScript scripts instantly when a web page loads, and an automatic security header remover such as Content-Security-Policy (CSP) or X-Frame-Options to simplify testing exploits for Clickjacking or XSS attacks without being blocked by the browser's built-in protection during penetration testing.

PwnFox { Firefox-URL }

16. Postman: API Development and Testing Made Easy

Postman Interceptor is an official browser extension from Postman that functions to bridge and synchronize data traffic (traffic) from the browser directly into the Postman application, making it a very useful tool for bug bounty hunters when conducting in-depth analysis on the target API (Application Programming Interface). In bug bounty activities, security holes are not only found in the web interface (front-end), but are often hidden in the data exchange logic on the back-end or API side, such as manipulation of sensitive parameters, IDOR testing, or modification of the request method. This Postman Interceptor extension works by automatically capturing every HTTP/HTTPS request (request), headers, parameters, and cookies generated when the hunter is clicking and browsing the target website in the browser, then sending the data in real-time to the history or collection in the Postman application without the need to manually export-import data. The main advantage of this Interceptor is its ability to synchronize cookies in both directions, which means that active login sessions (session cookies) in the browser will automatically be carried over when hunters retest, modify, or automate API requests in Postman, so they don't have to bother copying authentication tokens or JWTs that often expire quickly. By utilizing Postman Interceptor, a bug bounty hunter can quickly map all hidden API endpoints of a web application, separate API traffic from static asset traffic such as images or CSS, and speed up the process of creating automated test documents (fuzzing) to find critical security vulnerabilities such as sensitive data leaks (broken object level authorization) or flawed authorization on the target system.

Postman Interceptor { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

17. Hunter.io Extension: Streamline Social Engineering Reconnaissance

Hunter.io Extension allows penetration testers to quickly find and verify email addresses associated with a specific domain. This is particularly useful for social engineering reconnaissance, as it helps identify key contacts within an organization. By gathering email addresses tied to a domain, Hunter.io makes it easier to target the right individuals for phishing or other social engineering tactics during your security assessments.

Hunter.io { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

18. Sputnik — OSINT Web Extension: Effortless Searching with Open Source Intelligence

Sputnik is an OSINT extension that allows you to quickly search IPs, Domains, File Hashes, and URLs using free Open Source Intelligence resources. With a simple right-click on text, links, images, or videos, you can instantly search and access relevant OSINT tools. In most cases, you'll be redirected straight to the results, and for tools requiring user interaction, such as captchas, the artifact will be saved to your clipboard, allowing you to submit it manually. Usage: Select the artifact (text, link, audio, image, or video) and right-click to search with the appropriate OSINT tool. You'll be directed to the search results immediately in most cases, and if captchas are required, the artifact will be saved to your clipboard and you'll be directed to the submission page.

SPUTNIK { Chrome-URL , Firefox-URL }

🔥🔥 I hope this is useful, with the browser extension tools that I have shared, it can help, enjoy. 😁😁

💻💻 HAPPY 🔐 HUNTING 👾👾