Is SangerboxNote safe?
SangerboxNote is high risk. Each time you open a PubMed article, SangerboxNote sends its title, PubMed ID, journal name, and URL to a developer server, shengxin.ren, with no prompt. Dynamic analysis confirmed two loads produced two matching POSTs.
Who publishes itshenwt1234 - no other listings under this identity
shenwt1234 - no other listings under this identity
What this publisher told the store about itself, and the other listings that told it the same thing.
AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.
Publishers can request a review.
Findings
PubMed Reading History Transmitted to Third-Party Server on Every Article View
Each time you open a PubMed article, SangerboxNote sends its title, PubMed ID, journal name, and URL to a developer server, shengxin.ren, with no prompt.
Dynamic analysis confirmed two loads produced two matching POSTs.
- Severity
- High unwanted
- Type
- Unexpected
- CWE
- CWE-359
- Source
- Dynamic sandbox
You open any PubMed article page.
No interaction beyond page navigation is required.
The extension immediately POSTs your article's title, PMID, journal, and full URL to shengxin.ren.
The upload occurs before the page is fully rendered and includes your session authorization token.
HTTP 401 (planted marker value rejected by server); body was transmitted regardless
- Content-Type
- application/x-www-form-urlencoded
- Authorization
- eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ1c2VySWQiOjE4MjMsInVzZXJuYW1lIjoiemhhbmdzYW4ifQ.a planted marker value
title=Exploring%20anaesthetists%20use%20of%20electronic%20health%20records&pmid=38000001&journal=Anaesth%20Intens&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F38000001%2F- Article titleMolecular Docking Studies of Novel Anticancer Compounds
The full headline of the PubMed article you opened, revealing your medical research focus.
- PubMed ID (PMID)39000001
The unique article identifier, lets the server build a precise reading history tied to your account.
- Journal nameInt J Mol Sci
The publication source, revealing which research domains you follow.
- Full article URLhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39000001/
The exact page URL, including any query parameters such as search terms used to reach the article.
- Authorization tokenBearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ1c2VySWQiOjE4MjN9.xxxxx
Your sangerbox.com session token is attached, linking every article view to your account identity.
saveHistory call in ncbi.min.js details_init()
// ncbi.min.js, details_init(), line 309-314var historyPort = chrome.runtime.connect({ name: 'saveHistory' });historyPort.postMessage({ param: 'title=' + document.getElementsByClassName('heading-title')[0].innerText + '&pmid=' + document.getElementsByClassName('current-id')[0].innerText + '&journal=' + document.getElementById('full-view-journal-trigger').innerText + '&url=' + location.href, token: token // user's note.sangerbox.com authorization cookie value});// background.min.js, saveHistory handler, line 134-158case 'saveHistory': port.onMessage.addListener(function(msg) { if (msg.token !== '' && msg.token !== null) { fetch('https://shengxin.ren/note/saveHistory', { method: 'POST', credentials: 'include', body: msg.param, headers: new Headers({ 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded', authorization: msg.token }) }) } });- shengxin.ren
Developer-operated server for the SangerboxNote service. Receives article reading history keyed to user accounts. Privacy policy and retention practices are not disclosed.
What it can do
Permissions this extension asks for, as declared in version 1.1.3. Asking for a permission is not a finding on its own - it is what the extension can do if it chooses to.
Read and change your data on every site you visit
http://*/*
Read and change your data on every secure site you visit
https://*/*
See the address and title of every tab you have open
tabs
Read and change cookies, including the ones that keep you signed in
cookies
Add items to the right-click menu
contextMenus
Store data in your browser
storage