Is aBlock - Ads Blocker safe?
aBlock - Ads Blocker is high risk. aBlock sends ablock-ads.com a device ID that never changes on install, update, startup, and every 5 minutes after. A flagged response can make the next startup open an ablock-ads.com popup, unprompted.…
AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.
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Findings
aBlock beacons a persistent device ID to ablock-ads.com on every startup
aBlock sends ablock-ads.com a device ID that never changes on install, update, startup, and every 5 minutes after.
A flagged response can make the next startup open an ablock-ads.com popup, unprompted.
- Severity
- Medium unwanted
- Type
- Unexpected
- CWE
- CWE-359
- Source
- Dynamic sandbox
You install aBlock, update it, start Chrome with it enabled, or leave Chrome running.
aBlock sends ablock-ads.com a request carrying a device ID that stays the same across every request.
The extension's own source code comments describe it as a clean ad blocker with no data collection or analytics.
404 in our test session; a live server is expected to return configVersion and a features object.
- Content-Type
- application/json
{ "lastConfigVersion": 0, "version": "2026.6.11", "event": "install", "pusherId": "baa6fa1d"}- Persistent device IDbaa6fa1d
A random ID generated once and reused for every request, letting ablock-ads.com recognize your browser across sessions.
- Extension version2026.6.11
Tells the server exactly which aBlock version you're running.
- Lifecycle eventinstall
Tells the server whether this is a fresh install, an update, a startup, or a periodic check-in.
- Last config version seen0
Lets the server know what configuration you last received.
Every 5 minutes
After the install/startup beacon, aBlock checks in with ablock-ads.com every 5 minutes for as long as Chrome runs.
A specific server response value makes aBlock open an ablock-ads.com popup carrying your device ID on the next startup, unprompted. Our test server returned a 404, so only the beaconing and the code path that reads the flag were confirmed.
- ablock-ads.com
Receives a persistent per-install ID on every install, update, startup, and 5-minute check-in, and is the destination for the uninstall survey and any server-triggered popup.