Is Search Toggler safe?

Medium risk

Search Toggler routes default omnibox searches through searchtoggler.com with the typed query in the URL.

Search Toggler installs searchtoggler.com as the browser's default search provider, so searches from the address bar are sent to that domain with the search terms in the q parameter. Its background script rewrites matching search URLs to keep the query while changing the src value for the selected search engine.

v1.1Chrome Web Store
45Risk
Who publishes it

VPP Technologies LLC - 12 other listings from the same operator, 2 of them carrying a finding

What this publisher told the store about itself, and the other listings that told it the same thing.

Declared legal entity
VPP Technologies LLC
Registered address
900 Oakmont Avenue, #301, Westmont, IL 60559, US
Registered contact
John Treacy

Same store account

2 other listings published from this account, 16k+ users between them. 1 of them carries a finding.

Quick Engine Switch8k+MediumSearch My News8k+Clean

Same operator - 10 listings

Published under a different store account, but sharing the registered address, contact or declared legal entity this one gave the store.

Switch My Search
same registered address
8k+Medium
Recipes Stash
same registered address
8k+Clean
Flex Search Engine
same registered address
8k+Clean7 more listings in the relationship graph, on paid plans →

AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.

Publishers can request a review.

Findings

Search Toggler sends every default-search query to searchtoggler.com first

Search Toggler makes itself your browser's default search engine and routes every query you type to searchtoggler.com first, even after you pick Google, Bing, or Yahoo from its own popup.

Severity
Medium unwanted
Type
Unexpected
CWE
CWE-359
Source
Dynamic sandbox
What actually happens
You did this

You type a search term into Chrome's address bar with this extension set as the default search provider.

The extension did this

Chrome sends your search text to searchtoggler.com first, based on the search URL the extension registered in its manifest.

A background rule then swaps a label in that same URL to match whichever engine you picked in the popup, but the destination stays searchtoggler.com before your search reaches Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

Captured request
GEThttps://searchtoggler.com/ext/search?src=default&q=best+wireless+headphones+2026

HTTP 307 from searchtoggler.com. The live declarativeNetRequest rule then rewrote src=default to src=yahoo on the same request (HTTP 302) before it continued to axt.iadispatcher.com and on to Yahoo's results page.

What travels to searchtoggler.com on every default search
  • Your search text
    best wireless headphones 2026

    Whatever you type in the address bar is sent here in full before you see any results.

  • Selected search engine
    yahoo

    Tells searchtoggler.com which real engine, Google, Bing, or Yahoo, you picked in the popup.

  • Request type
    main_frame

    Marked as a main-frame page load, so it looks like a normal navigation rather than a background beacon.

Where your search text goes before you see results
    • searchtoggler.com

    The extension's own domain, registered as the default search provider; receives every omnibox query before any real search engine does.

    • axt.iadispatcher.com

    An ad and search syndication dispatcher that searchtoggler.com forwards the request to after relaying it onward.

    • search.yahoo.com

    The user-selected search engine that ultimately returns results, reached only after two hops through the extension vendor's own infrastructure.

Reproduce it yourself

Reads the extension's live redirect rule from its own service worker console so you can confirm the destination host never changes.

Requires
  • Chrome with the extension installed
  • Developer mode enabled in chrome://extensions
verify-search-toggler-redirect.js · js
// Paste into the extension's service worker DevTools console// (chrome://extensions > Search Toggler > "service worker").chrome.declarativeNetRequest.getDynamicRules((rules) => {  console.log('Live dynamic rules:', JSON.stringify(rules, null, 2));  // Look for a rule whose action.redirect.regexSubstitution still points at  // https://searchtoggler.com/ext/search?src=<engine>&... regardless of  // which button was selected in the popup.});// Then, in a normal tab, type a unique test phrase into the address bar// (with this extension set as default search) and open DevTools > Network// on the resulting page. Confirm the first request host is// searchtoggler.com before any redirect toward Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
How to run it
  1. 1Open chrome://extensions, enable Developer mode, click Search Toggler's service worker.
  2. 2Paste the script, press Enter.
  3. 3In a tab, search a unique phrase.
  4. 4Check the Network tab: the first request host is searchtoggler.com.

What it can do

Permissions this extension asks for, as declared in version 1.1. 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 searchtoggler.com

    https://searchtoggler.com/*

  • Store data in your browser

    storage

  • Block and redirect the requests your browser makes

    declarativeNetRequest

Where it sends data

Destinations our analysis observed Search Toggler contacting. Sending data somewhere is not a finding on its own - an extension that syncs your settings has to talk to its own server - but it is where your data can go, and who else it goes to.

  • searchtoggler.com

    Search Toggler sends data to searchtoggler.com. No other extension we have analysed sends data here.

Updated 30 September 2026hodgcolihbmeagfcfpdfpnapfflmpbkb