Chrome's Volume Booster Extension Secretly Added Affiliate Tracking for 2M Users

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The Volume Booster Chrome extension, used by over 2 million people, quietly introduced affiliate marketing and data-tracking functionality in an update released on July 2, 2025. The change, made between versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4, embedded a Give Freely/Wildlink component without notifying users or seeking their consent. Two new scripts were injected into every webpage a user visits, enabling the extension to scan for merchant links, attach affiliate tags, and potentially monitor browsing behavior. Chrome's automatic update system did not flag the significant change or prompt users for additional permissions. Security researchers warn that the same white-label SDK has been found in other extensions, suggesting a broader pattern of stealthy monetization exploiting the browser's update mechanism.

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