Mozilla on tightening the add-on directory rules for Firefox () to counter the placement of malicious add-ons. Starting June 10, the submission of add-ons that use code obfuscation techniques, such as encoding code in Base64 blocks, will be prohibited.
However, code minimization techniques (shortening variable and function names, merging JavaScript files, removing extra spaces, comments, line breaks, and separators) will still be permitted as long as a full source code version is provided alongside the minimized variant of the add-on. Developers using obfuscation or code minimization techniques are advised to publish a new version compliant with of AMO and including the complete source code of all components by June 10.
After June 10, problematic add-ons will be in the directory, and already installed instances will be disabled on users' systems through a blacklist. In addition, the practice of blocking add-ons with critical vulnerabilities that violate privacy and perform actions without user consent or control will continue.
It should be noted that a similar ban on code obfuscation for add-ons started to take effect in the Chrome Web Store According to Google statistics, over 70% of malicious and policy-violating add-ons blocked in the Chrome Web Store contained unreadable code. The presence of obfuscated code significantly complicates the review process, adversely affects performance, and increases memory consumption.
Source: opennet.ru
