Merlin
Auto Referer

Auto Referer

Control HTTP referer to protect privacy and not break web. And this is the addon (maybe the only one?) that deals with the 'document.referrer' bug

What is Auto Referer?
Auto Referer is a Firefox add-on that provides control over HTTP referer to protect privacy and prevent web breakage. It offers a workaround for the 'document.referrer' bug and allows you to enable/disable the add-on for specific tabs or globally.
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Merlin
Stats
By: GarryW
Users: 52 ▲ 2
Rating: 4.00 (4)
Version: 0.8.40 (Last updated: 2024-01-19)
Creation date: 2020-03-26
Weekly download count: 4
Firefox on Android: Yes
Risk impact: High risk impact
Risk likelihood: Moderate risk likelihood
Manifest version: 2
Permissions:
  • webRequest
  • webRequestBlocking
  • *://*/*
  • ws://*/*
  • wss://*/*
  • <all_urls>
  • contextMenus
  • tabs
  • storage
Size: 36.02K
URLs: Website
Stats date:

Chrome-Stats Rank

# 12827 ▲ 172
Other rankings
#12 in reference keyword 7 #101 in auto keyword 42 ▲ 2 #189 in autocomplete keyword 20 ▼ 1 #195 in disclaimer keyword 7 ▲ 5 #215 in protect keyword 64 ▲ 3

Other platforms

Not available on Chrome
Not available on Edge
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Merlin
Summary
Analyze keywords

Control HTTP referer to protect privacy and not break web.

Notice: Due to browser bug on javascript document.referrer on Firefox 69+ (1601496, 1601743) (also on Chrome), using a regular referer controlling addon you can get 70% of expected protection until they fix that bug.

So, we've implemented a workaround to improve protection to 85%. Please enable workaround in addon settings (Firefox only currently).

Referer policy:

  1. For webs' top frame (i.e. clicking link, navigating, redirecting etc.):
    1. If origin and target url have same domain, allow trimmed referer
    2. If origin and target url have different domain, no referer
  2. For in-page resources (images, videos, js, css etc.), allow trimmed referer (this is the key to not break most webs, also a balance between privacy and experience)
  3. Trim referer: Any referer should be no more than http(s)://domain-name:port/ (like Firefox's native about:config setting network.http.referer.trimmingPolicy = 2).
  4. Not allow referer that not starts with "http" or "https". (Please feedback if you find something broken due to this)
  5. No referer when downgrade from HTTPS/WSS to HTTP/WS
We believe that can protect privacy enough and won't break web.

document.referrer bug workaround This addon doesn't use content script. Content script hiding document.referrer is not 100% reliable.

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User reviews
не блокирует сторонний реферер и с ним не пускают на страницу авторизации на https://pastebin.com/ It does not block a third-party referer and is not allowed with it to the authorization page at https://pastebin.com/
by Ed, 2022-07-26
Tested, works on the 90% or regular web, no issues I could provoke, will replace my other auto referrer app that wasnt updated for long. Dunno if the feature is better or worse for my application in terms of security, but to have some old addon with the many changes in FF over the years, I felt like giving a new dev a try :) thanks dev!
by Fridah, 2021-04-27
UPDATE: Change to 4 stars after response from developer. (Would still like to see some reporting or feedback from the plugin that reports when blocking occurs and what is being blocked.) The author should explain how to use this extension. Once installed, one can click on the ion which displays a little red badge. Click it again and the little red badge goes away, but there is no indication what is happening or what the little red badge indicates. One star for now because we have no idea how to use or what is happening.
by Mr. Display Name, 2020-06-02
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Safety
Risk impact

Auto Referer is risky to use as it requires a number of sensitive permissions that can potentially harm your browser and steal your data. Exercise caution when installing this add-on. Review carefully before installing. We recommend that you only install Auto Referer if you trust the publisher.

Risk likelihood

Auto Referer is probably trust-worthy. Prefer other publishers if available. Exercise caution when installing this add-on.

Upgrade to see risk analysis details