How do I perform a shell execute in a chrome extension?

Question

I'm not finding a way to do this in the chrome.* API or even the experimental. It doesn't run through wscript so ActiveXObject("Shell.Application") isn't allowed.

I fear that my only option is to build a dll with NPAPI but I wanted to see if there was a simpler way.

If you actually managed to succeed, in what sense would Chrome be sandboxed anymore? — Kirk Woll, Sep 12 '10 at 16:01
@Kirk, well, you can use NPAPI plugins within extensions to go outside the sandbox. — Mohamed Mansour, Sep 12 '10 at 16:10
@Mohamed, Yikes, that's interesting. Does Chrome provide any special warning when an extension is being installed with such excess privileges? — Kirk Woll, Sep 12 '10 at 16:50
@Kirk, well it goes to an approval process first which might take some time. Perfoming shell operations is a risky operation :) And only NPAPI can do risky stuff. — Mohamed Mansour, Sep 12 '10 at 18:15

mgalgs · Answer 1 · 2023-08-08T21:23:01.733

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To update this for a fellow wary lonesome traveler, even NPAPI is deprecated and being phased out. One of the alternatives mentioned in the NPAPI deprecation blog post that looks suitable for this type of problem (and pretty nifty really) is the Native Messaging API.

edited Aug 08 '23 at 21:23

answered Jun 04 '14 at 05:03

mgalgs

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Important caveat of this approach: unlike NPAPI plugins, Native Messaging hosts cannot be bundled with the extension in Chrome Web Store. – Xan Jun 04 '14 at 06:32
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The current link to the Native Messaging API doc is: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/nativeMessaging – Adrian Günter Jun 23 '15 at 20:42

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 12 '10 at 16:09

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If you want to do anything Natively, you need to use NPAPI. That allows you to run code outside the sandbox for your extensions.

http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/npapi.html

answered Sep 12 '10 at 16:09

Mohamed Mansour

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Looks like my only tool is a "hammer". Bummer, but it might do the job. thanks. – wtjones Sep 14 '10 at 02:14
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There must be some NPAPI plugins out there already :) Try looking at this: http://goo.gl/SzUp – Mohamed Mansour Sep 24 '10 at 02:29
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Also, Chrome ended support for NPAPI. – Haroldo_OK Mar 04 '16 at 14:54

John Henry · Answer 3 · 2019-03-17T07:37:12.880

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Alternatively, you might want to have two applications:

a "client" that works within a chrome extension and
a "local server" where the actual command is executed.

Whenever the extension needs to execute a command, it can connect to the local server via tcp connection.

edited Mar 17 '19 at 07:37

answered Nov 09 '18 at 22:56

John Henry

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@penduDev, unfortunately, I don't have any code to share -- just the abstract idea. – John Henry Jun 16 '19 at 20:59

How do I perform a shell execute in a chrome extension?

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