Expands the confirm-tx warning system with three new warning types, all using the existing visibility:hidden/visible pattern from PR #98 (no animations, no layout shift).
Changes
Scam address list expanded (7 → 652 addresses): Sourced from MyEtherWallet/ethereum-lists darklist (MIT license). Checked synchronously before sending.
Contract address warning: When the recipient is a smart contract (detected via getCode), shows a warning that sending directly to a contract may result in permanent loss of funds.
Null/burn address warning: Detects known burn addresses (0x0000...0000, 0x...dead, 0x...deadbeef) and warns that funds are permanently destroyed.
No-history warning (existing from #98): Unchanged, still shows for EOAs with zero transaction history.
All warnings use reserved-space visibility:hidden/visible elements — no layout shift, no animations.
Expands the confirm-tx warning system with three new warning types, all using the existing `visibility:hidden/visible` pattern from PR #98 (no animations, no layout shift).
## Changes
1. **Scam address list expanded** (7 → 652 addresses): Sourced from [MyEtherWallet/ethereum-lists](https://github.com/MyEtherWallet/ethereum-lists) darklist (MIT license). Checked synchronously before sending.
2. **Contract address warning**: When the recipient is a smart contract (detected via `getCode`), shows a warning that sending directly to a contract may result in permanent loss of funds.
3. **Null/burn address warning**: Detects known burn addresses (`0x0000...0000`, `0x...dead`, `0x...deadbeef`) and warns that funds are permanently destroyed.
4. **No-history warning** (existing from #98): Unchanged, still shows for EOAs with zero transaction history.
All warnings use reserved-space `visibility:hidden/visible` elements — no layout shift, no animations.
closes #114
- Expand scam address list from 7 to 652 addresses using MEW darklist
- Add contract address warning when sending directly to a smart contract
- Add null/burn address warning (0x0000...0000, 0xdead, etc.)
- All warnings use visibility:hidden/visible pattern (no layout shift)
- Scam and burn address checks are synchronous; contract check is async
closes#114
pull all of this out to a module that you can pass an address to and get any applicable warnings back from. include a function for checking the input address against local-only lists, and a function for checking the input address against local-lists-plus-api-queries (e.g. seeing if it's a contract address).
pull all of this out to a module that you can pass an address to and get any applicable warnings back from. include a function for checking the input address against local-only lists, and a function for checking the input address against local-lists-plus-api-queries (e.g. seeing if it's a contract address).
clawbot
self-assigned this 2026-03-01 01:38:54 +01:00
That EtherScamDB hasn't been updated in 5+ years. I'm not saying we shouldn't include it, but it's insufficient. We need a good list of up-to-date scam addresses/contracts.
That EtherScamDB hasn't been updated in 5+ years. I'm not saying we shouldn't include it, but it's insufficient. We need a good list of up-to-date scam addresses/contracts.
Already included. Updated regularly by community PRs.
CryptoScamDB
⚠️ Stale
~2,043
Already included. Last meaningful update 2020.
EtherScamDB
❌ Abandoned
~800
Fork of above, also stale.
Chainabuse
✅ Active
50k+
Proprietary API, requires key. Best real-time source.
MetaMask eth-phishing-detect
✅ Active
Domains only
No address data — phishing domain blocklist.
The reality: there is no single great open-source, regularly-updated scam address list. MEW darklist is the best maintained one.
Proposal: Keep MEW + CryptoScamDB for local/bundled checks. Add Chainabuse API as an optional async check in getFullWarnings() — it's the only actively maintained large-scale scam address database. Would need an API key (free tier available).
Alternatively, we could scrape Etherscan's label database for addresses tagged as phishing/scam, but that's against their ToS.
Waiting for direction on which approach to take.
Researched available scam address sources:
| Source | Status | Addresses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEW darklist | ✅ Active | ~652 | Already included. Updated regularly by community PRs. |
| CryptoScamDB | ⚠️ Stale | ~2,043 | Already included. Last meaningful update 2020. |
| EtherScamDB | ❌ Abandoned | ~800 | Fork of above, also stale. |
| Chainabuse | ✅ Active | 50k+ | Proprietary API, requires key. Best real-time source. |
| MetaMask eth-phishing-detect | ✅ Active | Domains only | No address data — phishing domain blocklist. |
The reality: there is no single great open-source, regularly-updated scam **address** list. MEW darklist is the best maintained one.
**Proposal:** Keep MEW + CryptoScamDB for local/bundled checks. Add Chainabuse API as an optional async check in `getFullWarnings()` — it's the only actively maintained large-scale scam address database. Would need an API key (free tier available).
Alternatively, we could scrape Etherscan's label database for addresses tagged as phishing/scam, but that's against their ToS.
Waiting for direction on which approach to take.
try a few test scrapes against etherscan, see if we could easily integrate it as a lookup api. the users of the extension would be the ones violating the ToS, not us.
try a few test scrapes against etherscan, see if we could easily integrate it as a lookup api. the users of the extension would be the ones violating the ToS, not us.
we also want to integrate the domain-based list to loudly warn people when attempting to connect their wallet to, or sign transactions initiated by, blacklisted sites. write some unit tests for that integration when you do it.
we also want to integrate the domain-based list to loudly warn people when attempting to connect their wallet to, or sign transactions initiated by, blacklisted sites. write some unit tests for that integration when you do it.
clawbot
was unassigned by sneak2026-03-01 13:34:27 +01:00
Tested scraping Etherscan address pages. The approach works well:
Title parsing: Etherscan embeds the address label (e.g. Fake_Phishing184810) in the <title> tag
Body scanning: Scam/phishing warning banners are detected via regex patterns
Detects: Fake_Phishing*, Exploiter*, Phish:* labels, plus body text like "used in a phishing scam" and "wallet drainer"
Integrated as a best-effort async check in getFullWarnings() — network failures return null silently
Extension users make requests directly to Etherscan (no proxy/API key needed, <all_urls> host permission is already granted)
Note: Etherscan also has an official API endpoint (nametag/getaddresstag) but it requires a Pro Plus tier API key. The title-scraping approach works without any API key.
Whitelist overrides: whitelisted domains are never flagged, even if a parent is blacklisted
De-duplicates concurrent fetch calls
3. UI integration — phishing warning banners
All three approval flows now show a prominent red warning banner when the requesting site is on the blocklist:
Connection requests (view-approve-site): "⚠️ PHISHING WARNING: This site is on MetaMask's phishing blocklist. Connecting your wallet may result in loss of funds."
Transaction approvals (view-approve-tx): "...This transaction may steal your funds."
Signature requests (view-approve-sign): "...Signing this message may authorize theft of your funds."
The background script passes an isPhishingDomain flag with approval data, and the popup double-checks locally.
4. Unit tests
12 tests for etherscanLabels — title parsing for phishing labels, scam body warnings, legitimate addresses, edge cases
15 tests for phishingDomains — exact matching, subdomain matching, whitelist overrides, case insensitivity, config reloading, real MetaMask blocklist patterns
All 43 tests pass. docker build . passes. make check passes.
## Rework complete — Etherscan label scraping + MetaMask phishing domain blocklist
### 1. Etherscan address label lookup (`src/shared/etherscanLabels.js`)
Tested scraping Etherscan address pages. The approach works well:
- **Title parsing**: Etherscan embeds the address label (e.g. `Fake_Phishing184810`) in the `<title>` tag
- **Body scanning**: Scam/phishing warning banners are detected via regex patterns
- Detects: `Fake_Phishing*`, `Exploiter*`, `Phish:*` labels, plus body text like "used in a phishing scam" and "wallet drainer"
- Integrated as a **best-effort async check** in `getFullWarnings()` — network failures return null silently
- Extension users make requests directly to Etherscan (no proxy/API key needed, `<all_urls>` host permission is already granted)
**Note**: Etherscan also has an official API endpoint (`nametag/getaddresstag`) but it requires a Pro Plus tier API key. The title-scraping approach works without any API key.
### 2. MetaMask eth-phishing-detect domain blocklist (`src/shared/phishingDomains.js`)
- Fetches MetaMask's [eth-phishing-detect](https://github.com/MetaMask/eth-phishing-detect) `config.json` (231K+ blacklisted domains) at runtime
- Stores in memory as a `Set` for O(1) lookups
- Refreshes automatically every 24 hours
- **Hostname matching**: checks exact domain + all parent domains (subdomain support)
- **Whitelist overrides**: whitelisted domains are never flagged, even if a parent is blacklisted
- De-duplicates concurrent fetch calls
### 3. UI integration — phishing warning banners
All three approval flows now show a prominent red warning banner when the requesting site is on the blocklist:
- **Connection requests** (`view-approve-site`): "⚠️ PHISHING WARNING: This site is on MetaMask's phishing blocklist. Connecting your wallet may result in loss of funds."
- **Transaction approvals** (`view-approve-tx`): "...This transaction may steal your funds."
- **Signature requests** (`view-approve-sign`): "...Signing this message may authorize theft of your funds."
The background script passes an `isPhishingDomain` flag with approval data, and the popup double-checks locally.
### 4. Unit tests
- **12 tests** for `etherscanLabels` — title parsing for phishing labels, scam body warnings, legitimate addresses, edge cases
- **15 tests** for `phishingDomains` — exact matching, subdomain matching, whitelist overrides, case insensitivity, config reloading, real MetaMask blocklist patterns
All 43 tests pass. `docker build .` passes. `make check` passes.
The overall architecture is solid — extracting warnings into addressWarnings.js, expanding the scamlist from 7 to 652 addresses, adding burn/contract/Etherscan-label/phishing-domain detection, and the new test suites for etherscanLabels and phishingDomains are all well-structured. Docker build passes, all tests pass, no duplicates in the scamlist, addresses are properly lowercased.
However, there are two functional bugs with the Etherscan label feature that need fixing before merge:
Bug 1: Etherscan label check never runs for contract addresses
In src/shared/addressWarnings.js, getFullWarnings returns early when getCode detects a contract:
if(code&&code!=="0x"){warnings.push({type:"contract",...});returnwarnings;// early return skips checkEtherscanLabel
}
This means checkEtherscanLabel is never called for contract addresses. Many of the most dangerous flagged addresses on Etherscan (drainer contracts, phishing contracts) ARE contracts. The Etherscan label feature is non-functional for the exact category where it would be most valuable.
Fix: Move the checkEtherscanLabel call before the early return, or restructure so the Etherscan check runs regardless of contract status.
Bug 2: Etherscan label warnings silently discarded by the UI
In src/popup/views/confirmTx.js, the checkRecipientHistory function only handles two warning types from async results:
The etherscan-phishing type returned by checkEtherscanLabel is never checked, so even if the Etherscan label lookup succeeds (for non-contract addresses), the warning is silently dropped. There is no corresponding HTML element or visibility toggle for it.
Fix: Add a reserved visibility:hidden HTML element for the Etherscan label warning (similar to confirm-contract-warning and confirm-recipient-warning), and handle the etherscan-phishing type in the async warnings loop.
Style nit (non-blocking)
The phishing warning banners in index.html use inline style attributes for colors/borders instead of Tailwind utility classes. The rest of the codebase uses Tailwind exclusively. Consider using Tailwind color utilities instead. This is non-blocking but worth cleaning up for consistency.
Everything else looks good:
✅ Scamlist expansion (652 unique addresses, no duplicates, all lowercase 40-char hex)
✅ Burn address detection properly moved from scamlist to constants.js
✅ Contract warning with reserved-space visibility:hidden pattern
✅ Burn warning with reserved-space visibility:hidden pattern
✅ Phishing warnings in all three approval views (site, tx, sign)
✅ Test coverage for etherscanLabels and phishingDomains
✅ No layout shift for synchronous warnings
✅ Docker build passes, make check passes
## Code Review: REQUEST_CHANGES
The overall architecture is solid — extracting warnings into `addressWarnings.js`, expanding the scamlist from 7 to 652 addresses, adding burn/contract/Etherscan-label/phishing-domain detection, and the new test suites for `etherscanLabels` and `phishingDomains` are all well-structured. Docker build passes, all tests pass, no duplicates in the scamlist, addresses are properly lowercased.
However, there are two functional bugs with the Etherscan label feature that need fixing before merge:
### Bug 1: Etherscan label check never runs for contract addresses
In `src/shared/addressWarnings.js`, `getFullWarnings` returns early when `getCode` detects a contract:
```js
if (code && code !== "0x") {
warnings.push({ type: "contract", ... });
return warnings; // early return skips checkEtherscanLabel
}
```
This means `checkEtherscanLabel` is **never called** for contract addresses. Many of the most dangerous flagged addresses on Etherscan (drainer contracts, phishing contracts) ARE contracts. The Etherscan label feature is non-functional for the exact category where it would be most valuable.
**Fix:** Move the `checkEtherscanLabel` call before the early return, or restructure so the Etherscan check runs regardless of contract status.
### Bug 2: Etherscan label warnings silently discarded by the UI
In `src/popup/views/confirmTx.js`, the `checkRecipientHistory` function only handles two warning types from async results:
```js
for (const w of asyncWarnings) {
if (w.type === "contract") { ... }
if (w.type === "new-address") { ... }
}
```
The `etherscan-phishing` type returned by `checkEtherscanLabel` is never checked, so even if the Etherscan label lookup succeeds (for non-contract addresses), the warning is silently dropped. There is no corresponding HTML element or visibility toggle for it.
**Fix:** Add a reserved `visibility:hidden` HTML element for the Etherscan label warning (similar to `confirm-contract-warning` and `confirm-recipient-warning`), and handle the `etherscan-phishing` type in the async warnings loop.
### Style nit (non-blocking)
The phishing warning banners in `index.html` use inline `style` attributes for colors/borders instead of Tailwind utility classes. The rest of the codebase uses Tailwind exclusively. Consider using Tailwind color utilities instead. This is non-blocking but worth cleaning up for consistency.
---
Everything else looks good:
- ✅ Scamlist expansion (652 unique addresses, no duplicates, all lowercase 40-char hex)
- ✅ Burn address detection properly moved from scamlist to `constants.js`
- ✅ Contract warning with reserved-space `visibility:hidden` pattern
- ✅ Burn warning with reserved-space `visibility:hidden` pattern
- ✅ Phishing domain detection with MetaMask blocklist (background fetch, subdomain matching, whitelist override)
- ✅ Phishing warnings in all three approval views (site, tx, sign)
- ✅ Test coverage for `etherscanLabels` and `phishingDomains`
- ✅ No layout shift for synchronous warnings
- ✅ Docker build passes, `make check` passes
Bug 1: getFullWarnings returned early for contract addresses, skipping
checkEtherscanLabel. Restructured to use isContract flag so the Etherscan
check runs for all addresses (contracts are often the most dangerous).
Bug 2: confirmTx.js only handled 'contract' and 'new-address' warning types,
silently discarding 'etherscan-phishing'. Added confirm-etherscan-warning
HTML element and handler in the async warnings loop.
Style: converted inline style attributes on phishing warning banners
(approve-tx, approve-sign, approve-site) to Tailwind utility classes
(bg-red-100 text-red-800 border-2 border-red-600 rounded-md).
Bug 1: Etherscan label check now runs for contract addresses
Restructured getFullWarnings() in addressWarnings.js — replaced early return with an isContract flag. The tx count check is still skipped for contracts (legitimate behavior), but checkEtherscanLabel now runs for ALL addresses regardless of contract status. Drainer contracts and phishing contracts on Etherscan will now be detected.
Bug 2: Etherscan label warnings now displayed in the UI
Added confirm-etherscan-warning HTML element in index.html (same visibility:hidden reserved-space pattern as existing warnings). Added etherscan-phishing type handler in checkRecipientHistory() in confirmTx.js. The element is reset to hidden on each show() call.
Style nit: Phishing banners converted to Tailwind
Replaced inline style attributes on all three phishing warning banners (approve-tx-phishing-warning, approve-sign-phishing-warning, approve-site-phishing-warning) with Tailwind utility classes: bg-red-100 text-red-800 border-2 border-red-600 rounded-md.
All 43 tests pass. docker build . passes. make fmt clean.
## Rework complete
Fixed all review findings in commit b8d81a4:
### Bug 1: Etherscan label check now runs for contract addresses
Restructured `getFullWarnings()` in `addressWarnings.js` — replaced early `return` with an `isContract` flag. The tx count check is still skipped for contracts (legitimate behavior), but `checkEtherscanLabel` now runs for ALL addresses regardless of contract status. Drainer contracts and phishing contracts on Etherscan will now be detected.
### Bug 2: Etherscan label warnings now displayed in the UI
Added `confirm-etherscan-warning` HTML element in `index.html` (same `visibility:hidden` reserved-space pattern as existing warnings). Added `etherscan-phishing` type handler in `checkRecipientHistory()` in `confirmTx.js`. The element is reset to hidden on each `show()` call.
### Style nit: Phishing banners converted to Tailwind
Replaced inline `style` attributes on all three phishing warning banners (`approve-tx-phishing-warning`, `approve-sign-phishing-warning`, `approve-site-phishing-warning`) with Tailwind utility classes: `bg-red-100 text-red-800 border-2 border-red-600 rounded-md`.
---
All 43 tests pass. `docker build .` passes. `make fmt` clean.
The rework addressed all three findings from the previous review. Code is clean, well-structured, all 43 tests pass, docker build . passes.
Previous bugs — verified fixed
Etherscan label check now runs for all addresses — getFullWarnings() restructured with isContract flag instead of early return. Drainer contracts and phishing contracts will now be checked against Etherscan labels. ✅
Etherscan warnings now displayed in UI — confirm-etherscan-warning element added with visibility:hidden reserved-space pattern, etherscan-phishing type handled in checkRecipientHistory(), reset on each show() call. ✅
Phishing banners use Tailwind — inline styles replaced with bg-red-100 text-red-800 border-2 border-red-600 rounded-md. Consistent with rest of codebase. ✅
Verified correct
Scamlist: 2,417 unique addresses, no duplicates, all lowercase 40-char hex with 0x prefix
Burn addresses properly in constants.js with isBurnAddress() export
addressWarnings.js module API is clean: getLocalWarnings() (sync) and getFullWarnings() (async)
etherscanLabels.js: Title-based label extraction + body pattern scanning, parseEtherscanPage exported for unit testing
Background script fetches phishing blocklist on startup and passes isPhishingDomain flag with approval data
All three approval views (site, tx, sign) show phishing warning banners
No XSS risk: Etherscan-scraped content is not rendered in the DOM (static warning text only)
12 tests for etherscanLabels, 15 for phishingDomains — good coverage of edge cases
Minor notes (non-blocking, for future consideration)
Popup's isPhishingDomain() re-check is inert. In approval.js, the comment says "Check both the flag from background and a local re-check" — but the popup never calls updatePhishingList(), so its blacklistSet is always empty and isPhishingDomain() always returns false. The primary path (background's isPhishingDomain flag) works correctly, so this is cosmetic dead code. Fix: either call updatePhishingList() in the popup's init, or remove the local re-check.
No periodic phishing list refresh.updatePhishingList() runs once on background startup. The 24h TTL guard suggests periodic refresh was intended, but no setInterval drives it. On MV3 (Chrome), the service worker restarts periodically so this is mostly fine. On MV2 (Firefox), the persistent background could go stale. A simple setInterval(updatePhishingList, 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) would close this gap.
Generic Etherscan warning text. The etherscan-phishing warning object contains the specific Etherscan label (e.g., Fake_Phishing184810) in its message field, but the UI shows static text ("Etherscan has flagged this address as phishing/scam"). Displaying the specific label would be more informative, though the current approach is safer (no scraped content in DOM).
None of these are blocking. Ready to merge.
## Code Review: APPROVED ✅
The rework addressed all three findings from the previous review. Code is clean, well-structured, all 43 tests pass, `docker build .` passes.
### Previous bugs — verified fixed
1. **Etherscan label check now runs for all addresses** — `getFullWarnings()` restructured with `isContract` flag instead of early return. Drainer contracts and phishing contracts will now be checked against Etherscan labels. ✅
2. **Etherscan warnings now displayed in UI** — `confirm-etherscan-warning` element added with `visibility:hidden` reserved-space pattern, `etherscan-phishing` type handled in `checkRecipientHistory()`, reset on each `show()` call. ✅
3. **Phishing banners use Tailwind** — inline styles replaced with `bg-red-100 text-red-800 border-2 border-red-600 rounded-md`. Consistent with rest of codebase. ✅
### Verified correct
- Scamlist: 2,417 unique addresses, no duplicates, all lowercase 40-char hex with `0x` prefix
- Burn addresses properly in `constants.js` with `isBurnAddress()` export
- `addressWarnings.js` module API is clean: `getLocalWarnings()` (sync) and `getFullWarnings()` (async)
- `etherscanLabels.js`: Title-based label extraction + body pattern scanning, `parseEtherscanPage` exported for unit testing
- `phishingDomains.js`: O(1) Set lookups, subdomain matching, whitelist override, deduped concurrent fetches
- Background script fetches phishing blocklist on startup and passes `isPhishingDomain` flag with approval data
- All three approval views (site, tx, sign) show phishing warning banners
- No XSS risk: Etherscan-scraped content is not rendered in the DOM (static warning text only)
- 12 tests for `etherscanLabels`, 15 for `phishingDomains` — good coverage of edge cases
### Minor notes (non-blocking, for future consideration)
1. **Popup's `isPhishingDomain()` re-check is inert.** In `approval.js`, the comment says "Check both the flag from background and a local re-check" — but the popup never calls `updatePhishingList()`, so its `blacklistSet` is always empty and `isPhishingDomain()` always returns `false`. The primary path (background's `isPhishingDomain` flag) works correctly, so this is cosmetic dead code. Fix: either call `updatePhishingList()` in the popup's init, or remove the local re-check.
2. **No periodic phishing list refresh.** `updatePhishingList()` runs once on background startup. The 24h TTL guard suggests periodic refresh was intended, but no `setInterval` drives it. On MV3 (Chrome), the service worker restarts periodically so this is mostly fine. On MV2 (Firefox), the persistent background could go stale. A simple `setInterval(updatePhishingList, 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000)` would close this gap.
3. **Generic Etherscan warning text.** The `etherscan-phishing` warning object contains the specific Etherscan label (e.g., `Fake_Phishing184810`) in its `message` field, but the UI shows static text ("Etherscan has flagged this address as phishing/scam"). Displaying the specific label would be more informative, though the current approach is safer (no scraped content in DOM).
None of these are blocking. Ready to merge.
I don't like the idea of keeping such a big download in memory.
Vendor in the MetaMask eth-phishing-detect domain blocklist in our repo. Then, when you fetch it once every 24h, keep in memory simply the additional items that we don't have already. Have the domain-checker function check the in-memory list (presumably this will hit first for recent/fresh scam sites), then the bundled list.
On refreshes, you need only update the in-memory list. If it's less than 256KiB then just store it in localstorage under its own key?
I don't like the idea of keeping such a big download in memory.
Vendor in the MetaMask eth-phishing-detect domain blocklist in our repo. Then, when you fetch it once every 24h, keep in memory simply the additional items that we don't have already. Have the domain-checker function check the in-memory list (presumably this will hit first for recent/fresh scam sites), then the bundled list.
On refreshes, you need only update the in-memory list. If it's less than 256KiB then just store it in localstorage under its own key?
Vendor the MetaMask eth-phishing-detect config.json (231k domains) into
src/data/phishing-domains.json as the baseline blocklist shipped with
the extension.
On 24h refresh, only the delta (new domains not in the vendored snapshot)
is kept in memory. Domain checks hit the in-memory delta first (fresh
scam sites), then binary-search the vendored sorted array.
If the delta is under 256 KiB it is persisted to chrome.storage.local
so it survives service-worker restarts without re-fetching.
Removes the previous approach of downloading and holding the full
blocklist in memory as a Set.
Reworked per feedback — vendored blocklist with delta-only in-memory approach:
Vendored baseline: MetaMask eth-phishing-detect config.json (231,357 domains) vendored into src/data/phishing-domains.json. Ships with the extension — no startup fetch needed.
Delta-only updates: On 24h refresh, fetches the latest list from MetaMask, computes the delta (new domains not in vendored snapshot), and keeps ONLY the delta in memory. The full download is discarded after delta computation.
Lookup order: Domain checks hit the in-memory delta first (fresh scam sites), then binary-search the vendored sorted array. Whitelist (vendored + delta) always takes priority.
Persistence: If the delta is under 256 KiB, it is persisted to chrome.storage.local under its own key, surviving service-worker restarts without re-fetching.
Memory efficiency: Vendored blacklist is a sorted array (binary search, no Set duplication). Only the small delta uses a Set.
docker build . passes. All 50 tests green, formatting clean.
Reworked per feedback — vendored blocklist with delta-only in-memory approach:
1. **Vendored baseline**: MetaMask eth-phishing-detect `config.json` (231,357 domains) vendored into `src/data/phishing-domains.json`. Ships with the extension — no startup fetch needed.
2. **Delta-only updates**: On 24h refresh, fetches the latest list from MetaMask, computes the delta (new domains not in vendored snapshot), and keeps ONLY the delta in memory. The full download is discarded after delta computation.
3. **Lookup order**: Domain checks hit the in-memory delta first (fresh scam sites), then binary-search the vendored sorted array. Whitelist (vendored + delta) always takes priority.
4. **Persistence**: If the delta is under 256 KiB, it is persisted to `chrome.storage.local` under its own key, surviving service-worker restarts without re-fetching.
5. **Memory efficiency**: Vendored blacklist is a sorted array (binary search, no Set duplication). Only the small delta uses a Set.
`docker build .` passes. All 50 tests green, formatting clean.
The MetaMask blocklist contains 2 entries with '*.' wildcard prefixes
(e.g. *.coinbase-563513.com). These were stored literally and never
matched because hostnameVariants() doesn't generate '*.' prefixed
strings. Fix: normalizeDomain() strips the '*.' prefix at load time
and during delta computation. The subdomain matching in
hostnameVariants() already handles child domains correctly.
Found during review.
Added normalizeDomain() helper that strips *. prefixes from blocklist entries
Stripped the 2 wildcard entries in the vendored JSON (*.chrom-coinbse-extenson.pages.dev, *.coinbase-563513.com) → bare domains that subdomain matching already covers
Applied normalization in delta computation and loadConfig() too
Added 4 new tests for wildcard handling
54 tests pass, docker build clean.
Fixed the wildcard bug found in review:
- Added `normalizeDomain()` helper that strips `*.` prefixes from blocklist entries
- Stripped the 2 wildcard entries in the vendored JSON (`*.chrom-coinbse-extenson.pages.dev`, `*.coinbase-563513.com`) → bare domains that subdomain matching already covers
- Applied normalization in delta computation and `loadConfig()` too
- Added 4 new tests for wildcard handling
54 tests pass, docker build clean.
Downloaded the community-maintained eth-phishing-detect config.json (231K+ blacklisted domains, 55 whitelisted domains) and committed it to the repo
esbuild bundles it at build time — no runtime download needed for baseline coverage
Extracted only blacklist and whitelist fields (no fuzzylist/version/tolerance)
2. Delta-only memory model (src/shared/phishingDomains.js)
Vendored Sets: Built once at module load time from the bundled JSON. These are in the bundle memory regardless — no additional runtime cost.
Delta Sets: When fetching the live list every 24h, only entries NOT in the vendored list are kept in memory. This means runtime memory usage is proportional only to domains added since the last vendor update.
Domain checker priority: Checks delta first (fresh/recent scam sites hit first), then falls back to vendored list.
localStorage persistence: If the delta is under 256 KiB, it is persisted to localStorage['phishing-delta']. On startup, the delta is loaded from localStorage immediately for instant coverage, then a network refresh is scheduled.
Whitelist handling: Both delta and vendored whitelists are checked. Delta whitelist overrides vendored blacklist.
3. Periodic refresh (src/background/index.js)
Added startPeriodicRefresh() with setInterval(updatePhishingList, 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) — the phishing list now refreshes automatically every 24 hours, not just on startup.
Fixes the reviewer's non-blocking note about missing periodic refresh.
4. Removed dead code (src/popup/views/approval.js)
Removed the popup's local isPhishingDomain() re-check which was inert dead code — the popup never called updatePhishingList() so its local blacklistSet was always empty and isPhishingDomain() always returned false.
showPhishingWarning() now takes only (elementId, isPhishing) and relies solely on the background script's authoritative flag.
Fixes the reviewer's non-blocking note about dead code.
5. Removed competitor name mentions (comment 8501)
All three phishing warning banners in index.html changed from "This site is on MetaMask's phishing blocklist" to "This site is on a known phishing blocklist"
Source code comments updated to remove name references
Test descriptions updated to be generic ("vendored blocklist" instead of naming the source)
6. README updates
Updated intro paragraph: no longer claims "exactly three external services" — now documents the phishing domain blocklist and Etherscan label lookup as additional services
Removed "No phishing/blocklist APIs" from the "What the extension does NOT do" list
Added new "Phishing Domain Protection" section under Anti-Spam/Anti-Spoofing describing the vendored + delta architecture
Updated external services section to document phishing blocklist and Etherscan lookups
localStorage mock added for Node.js test environment
All 54 tests pass. docker build . passes. make check clean.
## Rework complete — vendored phishing blocklist, delta-only memory model
Implemented all architectural changes from [comment 8479](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/pulls/118#issuecomment-8479) and [comment 8501](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/pulls/118#issuecomment-8501).
### 1. Vendored blocklist (`src/shared/phishingBlocklist.json`)
- Downloaded the community-maintained eth-phishing-detect `config.json` (231K+ blacklisted domains, 55 whitelisted domains) and committed it to the repo
- esbuild bundles it at build time — no runtime download needed for baseline coverage
- Extracted only `blacklist` and `whitelist` fields (no fuzzylist/version/tolerance)
### 2. Delta-only memory model (`src/shared/phishingDomains.js`)
- **Vendored Sets**: Built once at module load time from the bundled JSON. These are in the bundle memory regardless — no additional runtime cost.
- **Delta Sets**: When fetching the live list every 24h, only entries NOT in the vendored list are kept in memory. This means runtime memory usage is proportional only to domains added since the last vendor update.
- **Domain checker priority**: Checks delta first (fresh/recent scam sites hit first), then falls back to vendored list.
- **localStorage persistence**: If the delta is under 256 KiB, it is persisted to `localStorage['phishing-delta']`. On startup, the delta is loaded from localStorage immediately for instant coverage, then a network refresh is scheduled.
- **Whitelist handling**: Both delta and vendored whitelists are checked. Delta whitelist overrides vendored blacklist.
### 3. Periodic refresh (`src/background/index.js`)
- Added `startPeriodicRefresh()` with `setInterval(updatePhishingList, 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000)` — the phishing list now refreshes automatically every 24 hours, not just on startup.
- Fixes the reviewer's non-blocking note about missing periodic refresh.
### 4. Removed dead code (`src/popup/views/approval.js`)
- Removed the popup's local `isPhishingDomain()` re-check which was inert dead code — the popup never called `updatePhishingList()` so its local `blacklistSet` was always empty and `isPhishingDomain()` always returned false.
- `showPhishingWarning()` now takes only `(elementId, isPhishing)` and relies solely on the background script's authoritative flag.
- Fixes the reviewer's non-blocking note about dead code.
### 5. Removed competitor name mentions ([comment 8501](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/pulls/118#issuecomment-8501))
- All three phishing warning banners in `index.html` changed from "This site is on MetaMask's phishing blocklist" to "This site is on a known phishing blocklist"
- Source code comments updated to remove name references
- Test descriptions updated to be generic ("vendored blocklist" instead of naming the source)
### 6. README updates
- Updated intro paragraph: no longer claims "exactly three external services" — now documents the phishing domain blocklist and Etherscan label lookup as additional services
- Removed "No phishing/blocklist APIs" from the "What the extension does NOT do" list
- Added new "Phishing Domain Protection" section under Anti-Spam/Anti-Spoofing describing the vendored + delta architecture
- Updated external services section to document phishing blocklist and Etherscan lookups
### 7. Updated tests
- 22 tests for `phishingDomains` covering:
- Vendored blocklist loading verification (231K+ entries present)
- Delta computation (new entries vs. vendored)
- Delta + vendored interaction (delta whitelist overriding vendored blacklist, etc.)
- localStorage persistence
- Hostname variants and subdomain matching
- Real-world blocklist pattern detection
- localStorage mock added for Node.js test environment
All 54 tests pass. `docker build .` passes. `make check` clean.
Reviewed the full diff against main, all PR comments, issue #114, and the README. docker build . passes. 43 tests pass (39 new). Branch is up to date with main.
Architecture — Vendored + Delta Model ✅
The phishing domain protection architecture correctly implements the vendored + delta-only approach:
Vendored baseline (src/shared/phishingBlocklist.json): 231,357 blacklisted + 55 whitelisted domains bundled at build time. Only blacklist and whitelist fields extracted (no fuzzylist/version/tolerance).
Delta-only runtime: loadConfig() computes the delta against vendored data — only entries NOT in the vendored list are retained in memory. The full fetched list is discarded.
Lookup order: isPhishingDomain() checks delta first (via short-circuit ||), then vendored. Whitelist (both delta and vendored) takes priority over blacklist. Subdomain matching via hostnameVariants() correctly generates parent domain variants.
localStorage persistence: Delta persisted if under 256 KiB. Loaded on module init for instant coverage after restarts.
24h periodic refresh: startPeriodicRefresh() uses setInterval(updatePhishingList, 24h). Called from background script on startup alongside initial updatePhishingList().
Etherscan check runs for ALL addresses including contracts (drainer contracts detected)
Clean separation of concerns from confirmTx.js
Scam Address List ✅
2,417 unique addresses, zero duplicates, all lowercase 40-char hex with 0x prefix
Burn addresses properly separated into constants.js (not duplicated in scamlist)
Sources documented in header comments (MEW darklist + EtherScamDB)
UI Integration ✅
Phishing warning banners: All three approval views (site connection, tx, sign) show prominent red banners for blocklisted domains
Confirm-tx warnings: Contract, burn, new-address, and Etherscan-phishing warnings all use reserved-space visibility:hidden elements — no layout shift
Phishing banners use hidden class (display:none): Appropriate because the phishing flag is resolved synchronously (passed from background script) before the approval view is displayed
No MetaMask branding: Warning text uses "known phishing blocklist" — no competitor names in user-facing strings
Dead Code Cleanup ✅
Popup's inert isPhishingDomain() re-check removed. showPhishingWarning() now relies solely on the background script's authoritative flag.
Tests ✅
12 tests for etherscanLabels: title parsing, body scanning, legitimate addresses, edge cases
27 tests for phishingDomains: vendored loading, delta computation, delta+vendored interaction, whitelist overrides, subdomain matching, localStorage persistence, case insensitivity, real-world patterns
No test assertions weakened. No CI/linter/Makefile/config files modified.
README ✅
Intro paragraph updated (no longer claims exactly three external services)
External services section documents phishing blocklist and Etherscan lookups
No MetaMask name in user-facing documentation
Cheating Check ✅
No modifications to Makefile, Dockerfile, package.json, .prettierrc, jest.config.js, or any CI/config files
No test assertions weakened or bypassed
Minor Notes (non-blocking)
Two wildcard entries remain in vendored JSON: *.coinbase-563513.com and *.chrom-coinbse-extenson.pages.dev are in phishingBlocklist.json. Since isPhishingDomain() uses exact Set matching and hostnameVariants() doesn't produce *.* patterns, these 2 entries never match. Stripping the *. prefix would let subdomain matching handle them correctly. (2 out of 231,357 entries — negligible impact.)
Vendored require() reference: After building vendoredBlacklist/vendoredWhitelist Sets, vendoredConfig remains referenced at module scope. Nulling vendoredConfig.blacklist and vendoredConfig.whitelist after Set construction would let the GC free the intermediate arrays. Minor memory optimization.
Ready for merge.
## Code Review: APPROVED ✅
Reviewed the full diff against `main`, all PR comments, [issue #114](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/114), and the README. `docker build .` passes. 43 tests pass (39 new). Branch is up to date with `main`.
### Architecture — Vendored + Delta Model ✅
The phishing domain protection architecture correctly implements the vendored + delta-only approach:
- **Vendored baseline** (`src/shared/phishingBlocklist.json`): 231,357 blacklisted + 55 whitelisted domains bundled at build time. Only `blacklist` and `whitelist` fields extracted (no fuzzylist/version/tolerance).
- **Delta-only runtime**: `loadConfig()` computes the delta against vendored data — only entries NOT in the vendored list are retained in memory. The full fetched list is discarded.
- **Lookup order**: `isPhishingDomain()` checks delta first (via short-circuit `||`), then vendored. Whitelist (both delta and vendored) takes priority over blacklist. Subdomain matching via `hostnameVariants()` correctly generates parent domain variants.
- **localStorage persistence**: Delta persisted if under 256 KiB. Loaded on module init for instant coverage after restarts.
- **24h periodic refresh**: `startPeriodicRefresh()` uses `setInterval(updatePhishingList, 24h)`. Called from background script on startup alongside initial `updatePhishingList()`.
- **Concurrent fetch dedup**: `fetchPromise` guard prevents duplicate network requests.
### Address Warnings Module ✅
- `getLocalWarnings()` (sync): scam list, burn addresses, self-send
- `getFullWarnings()` (async): local checks + contract detection (`getCode`), new-address detection (`getTransactionCount`), Etherscan label scraping
- Etherscan check runs for ALL addresses including contracts (drainer contracts detected)
- Clean separation of concerns from `confirmTx.js`
### Scam Address List ✅
- 2,417 unique addresses, zero duplicates, all lowercase 40-char hex with `0x` prefix
- Burn addresses properly separated into `constants.js` (not duplicated in scamlist)
- Sources documented in header comments (MEW darklist + EtherScamDB)
### UI Integration ✅
- **Phishing warning banners**: All three approval views (site connection, tx, sign) show prominent red banners for blocklisted domains
- **Confirm-tx warnings**: Contract, burn, new-address, and Etherscan-phishing warnings all use reserved-space `visibility:hidden` elements — no layout shift
- **Phishing banners use `hidden` class (display:none)**: Appropriate because the phishing flag is resolved synchronously (passed from background script) before the approval view is displayed
- **No MetaMask branding**: Warning text uses "known phishing blocklist" — no competitor names in user-facing strings
### Dead Code Cleanup ✅
- Popup's inert `isPhishingDomain()` re-check removed. `showPhishingWarning()` now relies solely on the background script's authoritative flag.
### Tests ✅
- 12 tests for `etherscanLabels`: title parsing, body scanning, legitimate addresses, edge cases
- 27 tests for `phishingDomains`: vendored loading, delta computation, delta+vendored interaction, whitelist overrides, subdomain matching, localStorage persistence, case insensitivity, real-world patterns
- No test assertions weakened. No CI/linter/Makefile/config files modified.
### README ✅
- Intro paragraph updated (no longer claims exactly three external services)
- New "Phishing Domain Protection" section accurately describes vendored + delta architecture
- External services section documents phishing blocklist and Etherscan lookups
- No MetaMask name in user-facing documentation
### Cheating Check ✅
- No modifications to `Makefile`, `Dockerfile`, `package.json`, `.prettierrc`, `jest.config.js`, or any CI/config files
- No test assertions weakened or bypassed
### Minor Notes (non-blocking)
1. **Two wildcard entries remain in vendored JSON**: `*.coinbase-563513.com` and `*.chrom-coinbse-extenson.pages.dev` are in `phishingBlocklist.json`. Since `isPhishingDomain()` uses exact Set matching and `hostnameVariants()` doesn't produce `*.*` patterns, these 2 entries never match. Stripping the `*.` prefix would let subdomain matching handle them correctly. (2 out of 231,357 entries — negligible impact.)
2. **Vendored `require()` reference**: After building `vendoredBlacklist`/`vendoredWhitelist` Sets, `vendoredConfig` remains referenced at module scope. Nulling `vendoredConfig.blacklist` and `vendoredConfig.whitelist` after Set construction would let the GC free the intermediate arrays. Minor memory optimization.
Ready for merge.
describe for me when we'd ever need a phishing domain whitelist?
also, update the LICENSE section of the README to indicate what files are not ours, and include their copyright and license name. update LICENSE to have a new section to include the complete list of paths to the files that are not ours, their copyright holders, and their full license text.
describe for me when we'd ever need a phishing domain *whitelist*?
also, update the LICENSE section of the README to indicate what files are not ours, and include their copyright and license name. update LICENSE to have a new section to include the complete list of paths to the files that are not ours, their copyright holders, and their full license text.
The upstream eth-phishing-detect config ships with a whitelist of 55 domains (opensea.com, walletconnect.network, uniswap.org, etc.). The whitelist exists because the upstream detector uses fuzzy matching (Levenshtein distance) which can produce false positives on legitimate domains that look similar to phishing patterns.
Our implementation only does exact + subdomain matching against the precomputed domain list — no fuzzy matching. I checked the vendored data:
Zero overlap: none of the 55 whitelisted domains appear in the 231K blacklist
Zero parent matches: no blacklisted domain is a subdomain of any whitelisted domain
The whitelist currently has zero functional impact on our detection. The only theoretical use case would be during a 24h delta update, if a legitimate domain were added to the upstream blacklist by mistake — the whitelist would prevent a false positive until the mistake is corrected upstream.
Recommendation: Remove whitelist support entirely. Pre-filter the blacklist during delta updates to strip any entry that also appears in the live whitelist, then discard the whitelist. This simplifies the code and removes a concept that could confuse future maintainers.
Do you want me to remove whitelist support, or keep it as a safety net for the delta update edge case?
## Phishing domain whitelist — analysis
The upstream eth-phishing-detect config ships with a whitelist of 55 domains (opensea.com, walletconnect.network, uniswap.org, etc.). The whitelist exists because the upstream detector uses **fuzzy matching** (Levenshtein distance) which can produce false positives on legitimate domains that look similar to phishing patterns.
Our implementation only does **exact + subdomain matching** against the precomputed domain list — no fuzzy matching. I checked the vendored data:
- **Zero overlap**: none of the 55 whitelisted domains appear in the 231K blacklist
- **Zero parent matches**: no blacklisted domain is a subdomain of any whitelisted domain
The whitelist currently has **zero functional impact** on our detection. The only theoretical use case would be during a 24h delta update, if a legitimate domain were added to the upstream blacklist by mistake — the whitelist would prevent a false positive until the mistake is corrected upstream.
**Recommendation**: Remove whitelist support entirely. Pre-filter the blacklist during delta updates to strip any entry that also appears in the live whitelist, then discard the whitelist. This simplifies the code and removes a concept that could confuse future maintainers.
Do you want me to remove whitelist support, or keep it as a safety net for the delta update edge case?
Added a new "THIRD-PARTY FILES" section after the GPL-3.0 text with:
File path, source URL, and copyright holder for each third-party file
Full license text for each (DBAD v1.2 and both MIT licenses)
Docker build passes, make fmt clean.
Whitelist question
See comment above for the analysis. TL;DR: the whitelist has zero functional impact (no overlap with blacklist). Awaiting your preference on whether to remove it.
Removed all phishing domain whitelist support: vendoredWhitelist, deltaWhitelist, whitelist checks in isPhishingDomain(), whitelist delta storage/loading, and whitelist-specific tests. The blocklist now only checks the blacklist — no whitelist overrides. README updated.
All 49 tests pass, docker build . succeeds (lint + test + build).
Removed all phishing domain whitelist support: `vendoredWhitelist`, `deltaWhitelist`, whitelist checks in `isPhishingDomain()`, whitelist delta storage/loading, and whitelist-specific tests. The blocklist now only checks the blacklist — no whitelist overrides. README updated.
All 49 tests pass, `docker build .` succeeds (lint + test + build).
Reviewed the complete diff against main. All review criteria met:
Whitelist Removal
src/shared/phishingDomains.js has zero whitelist references — no whitelist Set, no whitelist check in isPhishingDomain(), no whitelist in delta updates, storage, or loadConfig().
tests/phishingDomains.test.js has no whitelist tests — all ~6 whitelist-related tests properly removed.
Blacklist Tests Intact
All blacklist tests present and strong: vendored blocklist loading, hostname variants, delta computation, isPhishingDomain with delta + vendored, localStorage persistence, real-world patterns.
No weakened assertions — all use proper matchers (toBe(true/false), toBeGreaterThan, toEqual, etc.).
No Cheating
✅ No changes to package.json, Makefile, or Dockerfile
✅ No skipped tests (no .skip, .todo, xit, xtest)
✅ No modified linter/formatter config
✅ All assertions are real and meaningful
LICENSE & README Attribution
✅ LICENSE has THIRD-PARTY FILES section with full license text for:
✅ README License section has matching attribution table
New Code Quality
addressWarnings.js cleanly separates sync/local warnings from async RPC-based warnings
etherscanLabels.test.js adds thorough test coverage for the HTML parser
Scamlist expanded from ~7 placeholder addresses to thousands of real scam addresses
confirmTx.js refactored to use the warning module for cleaner architecture
CI
✅docker build . passes — all formatting, linting, and tests green
✅ Branch is up-to-date with main (no rebase needed)
Ready to merge.
## Code Review: PASS ✅
Reviewed the complete diff against `main`. All review criteria met:
### Whitelist Removal
- `src/shared/phishingDomains.js` has **zero whitelist references** — no whitelist Set, no whitelist check in `isPhishingDomain()`, no whitelist in delta updates, storage, or `loadConfig()`.
- `tests/phishingDomains.test.js` has **no whitelist tests** — all ~6 whitelist-related tests properly removed.
### Blacklist Tests Intact
- All blacklist tests present and strong: vendored blocklist loading, hostname variants, delta computation, `isPhishingDomain` with delta + vendored, localStorage persistence, real-world patterns.
- No weakened assertions — all use proper matchers (`toBe(true/false)`, `toBeGreaterThan`, `toEqual`, etc.).
### No Cheating
- ✅ No changes to `package.json`, `Makefile`, or `Dockerfile`
- ✅ No skipped tests (no `.skip`, `.todo`, `xit`, `xtest`)
- ✅ No modified linter/formatter config
- ✅ All assertions are real and meaningful
### LICENSE & README Attribution
- ✅ LICENSE has THIRD-PARTY FILES section with full license text for:
- eth-phishing-detect (DBAD license, Copyright 2018 kumavis)
- MyEtherWallet/ethereum-lists (MIT, Copyright 2020 MyEtherWallet)
- EtherScamDB (MIT, Copyright 2018 Luit Hollander)
- ✅ README License section has matching attribution table
### New Code Quality
- `addressWarnings.js` cleanly separates sync/local warnings from async RPC-based warnings
- `etherscanLabels.test.js` adds thorough test coverage for the HTML parser
- Scamlist expanded from ~7 placeholder addresses to thousands of real scam addresses
- `confirmTx.js` refactored to use the warning module for cleaner architecture
### CI
- ✅ `docker build .` passes — all formatting, linting, and tests green
- ✅ Branch is up-to-date with `main` (no rebase needed)
Ready to merge.
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Expands the confirm-tx warning system with three new warning types, all using the existing
visibility:hidden/visiblepattern from PR #98 (no animations, no layout shift).Changes
Scam address list expanded (7 → 652 addresses): Sourced from MyEtherWallet/ethereum-lists darklist (MIT license). Checked synchronously before sending.
Contract address warning: When the recipient is a smart contract (detected via
getCode), shows a warning that sending directly to a contract may result in permanent loss of funds.Null/burn address warning: Detects known burn addresses (
0x0000...0000,0x...dead,0x...deadbeef) and warns that funds are permanently destroyed.No-history warning (existing from #98): Unchanged, still shows for EOAs with zero transaction history.
All warnings use reserved-space
visibility:hidden/visibleelements — no layout shift, no animations.closes #114
Implementation complete. Summary of warning types:
getTransactionCount== 0 (async)visibility:hidden/visiblegetCode!= "0x" (async)visibility:hidden/visibleisScamAddress()lookup (sync)isBurnAddress()lookup (sync)Scam list: 652 addresses from MEW ethereum-lists darklist (MIT). Burn addresses: 5 well-known null/dead addresses.
Ready for review.
Get that other scam/spam list of addresses and integrate that too.
clawbot referenced this pull request2026-03-01 01:11:38 +01:00
pull all of this out to a module that you can pass an address to and get any applicable warnings back from. include a function for checking the input address against local-only lists, and a function for checking the input address against local-lists-plus-api-queries (e.g. seeing if it's a contract address).
clawbot referenced this pull request2026-03-01 12:38:33 +01:00
f290298244toc67dab1c96Reworked per feedback:
Refactored into module — created
src/shared/addressWarnings.jswith:getLocalWarnings(address, options)— synchronous, checks scam list, burn addresses, self-send. Returns[{type, message, severity}].getFullWarnings(address, provider, options)— async, does local checks + RPC queries (contract detection viagetCode(), new-address detection viagetTransactionCount()). Returns[{type, message, severity}].Expanded scam list from 652 → 2,417 addresses by integrating EtherScamDB (MIT license) alongside the existing MyEtherWallet/ethereum-lists darklist.
Updated
confirmTx.jsto use the new module instead of inline checks.docker build .passes. All tests green, formatting clean.That EtherScamDB hasn't been updated in 5+ years. I'm not saying we shouldn't include it, but it's insufficient. We need a good list of up-to-date scam addresses/contracts.
Researched available scam address sources:
The reality: there is no single great open-source, regularly-updated scam address list. MEW darklist is the best maintained one.
Proposal: Keep MEW + CryptoScamDB for local/bundled checks. Add Chainabuse API as an optional async check in
getFullWarnings()— it's the only actively maintained large-scale scam address database. Would need an API key (free tier available).Alternatively, we could scrape Etherscan's label database for addresses tagged as phishing/scam, but that's against their ToS.
Waiting for direction on which approach to take.
try a few test scrapes against etherscan, see if we could easily integrate it as a lookup api. the users of the extension would be the ones violating the ToS, not us.
we also want to integrate the domain-based list to loudly warn people when attempting to connect their wallet to, or sign transactions initiated by, blacklisted sites. write some unit tests for that integration when you do it.
@clawbot ping
On it — rework agent spawned for Etherscan scrape integration + domain-based phishing warnings with unit tests.
c67dab1c96to01839d9c47Rework complete — Etherscan label scraping + MetaMask phishing domain blocklist
1. Etherscan address label lookup (
src/shared/etherscanLabels.js)Tested scraping Etherscan address pages. The approach works well:
Fake_Phishing184810) in the<title>tagFake_Phishing*,Exploiter*,Phish:*labels, plus body text like "used in a phishing scam" and "wallet drainer"getFullWarnings()— network failures return null silently<all_urls>host permission is already granted)Note: Etherscan also has an official API endpoint (
nametag/getaddresstag) but it requires a Pro Plus tier API key. The title-scraping approach works without any API key.2. MetaMask eth-phishing-detect domain blocklist (
src/shared/phishingDomains.js)config.json(231K+ blacklisted domains) at runtimeSetfor O(1) lookups3. UI integration — phishing warning banners
All three approval flows now show a prominent red warning banner when the requesting site is on the blocklist:
view-approve-site): "⚠️ PHISHING WARNING: This site is on MetaMask's phishing blocklist. Connecting your wallet may result in loss of funds."view-approve-tx): "...This transaction may steal your funds."view-approve-sign): "...Signing this message may authorize theft of your funds."The background script passes an
isPhishingDomainflag with approval data, and the popup double-checks locally.4. Unit tests
etherscanLabels— title parsing for phishing labels, scam body warnings, legitimate addresses, edge casesphishingDomains— exact matching, subdomain matching, whitelist overrides, case insensitivity, config reloading, real MetaMask blocklist patternsAll 43 tests pass.
docker build .passes.make checkpasses.Code Review: REQUEST_CHANGES
The overall architecture is solid — extracting warnings into
addressWarnings.js, expanding the scamlist from 7 to 652 addresses, adding burn/contract/Etherscan-label/phishing-domain detection, and the new test suites foretherscanLabelsandphishingDomainsare all well-structured. Docker build passes, all tests pass, no duplicates in the scamlist, addresses are properly lowercased.However, there are two functional bugs with the Etherscan label feature that need fixing before merge:
Bug 1: Etherscan label check never runs for contract addresses
In
src/shared/addressWarnings.js,getFullWarningsreturns early whengetCodedetects a contract:This means
checkEtherscanLabelis never called for contract addresses. Many of the most dangerous flagged addresses on Etherscan (drainer contracts, phishing contracts) ARE contracts. The Etherscan label feature is non-functional for the exact category where it would be most valuable.Fix: Move the
checkEtherscanLabelcall before the early return, or restructure so the Etherscan check runs regardless of contract status.Bug 2: Etherscan label warnings silently discarded by the UI
In
src/popup/views/confirmTx.js, thecheckRecipientHistoryfunction only handles two warning types from async results:The
etherscan-phishingtype returned bycheckEtherscanLabelis never checked, so even if the Etherscan label lookup succeeds (for non-contract addresses), the warning is silently dropped. There is no corresponding HTML element or visibility toggle for it.Fix: Add a reserved
visibility:hiddenHTML element for the Etherscan label warning (similar toconfirm-contract-warningandconfirm-recipient-warning), and handle theetherscan-phishingtype in the async warnings loop.Style nit (non-blocking)
The phishing warning banners in
index.htmluse inlinestyleattributes for colors/borders instead of Tailwind utility classes. The rest of the codebase uses Tailwind exclusively. Consider using Tailwind color utilities instead. This is non-blocking but worth cleaning up for consistency.Everything else looks good:
constants.jsvisibility:hiddenpatternvisibility:hiddenpatternetherscanLabelsandphishingDomainsmake checkpassesRework complete
Fixed all review findings in commit
b8d81a4:Bug 1: Etherscan label check now runs for contract addresses
Restructured
getFullWarnings()inaddressWarnings.js— replaced earlyreturnwith anisContractflag. The tx count check is still skipped for contracts (legitimate behavior), butcheckEtherscanLabelnow runs for ALL addresses regardless of contract status. Drainer contracts and phishing contracts on Etherscan will now be detected.Bug 2: Etherscan label warnings now displayed in the UI
Added
confirm-etherscan-warningHTML element inindex.html(samevisibility:hiddenreserved-space pattern as existing warnings). Addedetherscan-phishingtype handler incheckRecipientHistory()inconfirmTx.js. The element is reset to hidden on eachshow()call.Style nit: Phishing banners converted to Tailwind
Replaced inline
styleattributes on all three phishing warning banners (approve-tx-phishing-warning,approve-sign-phishing-warning,approve-site-phishing-warning) with Tailwind utility classes:bg-red-100 text-red-800 border-2 border-red-600 rounded-md.All 43 tests pass.
docker build .passes.make fmtclean.Code Review: APPROVED ✅
The rework addressed all three findings from the previous review. Code is clean, well-structured, all 43 tests pass,
docker build .passes.Previous bugs — verified fixed
getFullWarnings()restructured withisContractflag instead of early return. Drainer contracts and phishing contracts will now be checked against Etherscan labels. ✅confirm-etherscan-warningelement added withvisibility:hiddenreserved-space pattern,etherscan-phishingtype handled incheckRecipientHistory(), reset on eachshow()call. ✅bg-red-100 text-red-800 border-2 border-red-600 rounded-md. Consistent with rest of codebase. ✅Verified correct
0xprefixconstants.jswithisBurnAddress()exportaddressWarnings.jsmodule API is clean:getLocalWarnings()(sync) andgetFullWarnings()(async)etherscanLabels.js: Title-based label extraction + body pattern scanning,parseEtherscanPageexported for unit testingphishingDomains.js: O(1) Set lookups, subdomain matching, whitelist override, deduped concurrent fetchesisPhishingDomainflag with approval dataetherscanLabels, 15 forphishingDomains— good coverage of edge casesMinor notes (non-blocking, for future consideration)
Popup's
isPhishingDomain()re-check is inert. Inapproval.js, the comment says "Check both the flag from background and a local re-check" — but the popup never callsupdatePhishingList(), so itsblacklistSetis always empty andisPhishingDomain()always returnsfalse. The primary path (background'sisPhishingDomainflag) works correctly, so this is cosmetic dead code. Fix: either callupdatePhishingList()in the popup's init, or remove the local re-check.No periodic phishing list refresh.
updatePhishingList()runs once on background startup. The 24h TTL guard suggests periodic refresh was intended, but nosetIntervaldrives it. On MV3 (Chrome), the service worker restarts periodically so this is mostly fine. On MV2 (Firefox), the persistent background could go stale. A simplesetInterval(updatePhishingList, 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000)would close this gap.Generic Etherscan warning text. The
etherscan-phishingwarning object contains the specific Etherscan label (e.g.,Fake_Phishing184810) in itsmessagefield, but the UI shows static text ("Etherscan has flagged this address as phishing/scam"). Displaying the specific label would be more informative, though the current approach is safer (no scraped content in DOM).None of these are blocking. Ready to merge.
I don't like the idea of keeping such a big download in memory.
Vendor in the MetaMask eth-phishing-detect domain blocklist in our repo. Then, when you fetch it once every 24h, keep in memory simply the additional items that we don't have already. Have the domain-checker function check the in-memory list (presumably this will hit first for recent/fresh scam sites), then the bundled list.
On refreshes, you need only update the in-memory list. If it's less than 256KiB then just store it in localstorage under its own key?
Also, none of our documentation, nor our warnings, nor our UI, should ever mention MetaMask by name - that's a policy in the
README.md.Reworked per feedback — vendored blocklist with delta-only in-memory approach:
Vendored baseline: MetaMask eth-phishing-detect
config.json(231,357 domains) vendored intosrc/data/phishing-domains.json. Ships with the extension — no startup fetch needed.Delta-only updates: On 24h refresh, fetches the latest list from MetaMask, computes the delta (new domains not in vendored snapshot), and keeps ONLY the delta in memory. The full download is discarded after delta computation.
Lookup order: Domain checks hit the in-memory delta first (fresh scam sites), then binary-search the vendored sorted array. Whitelist (vendored + delta) always takes priority.
Persistence: If the delta is under 256 KiB, it is persisted to
chrome.storage.localunder its own key, surviving service-worker restarts without re-fetching.Memory efficiency: Vendored blacklist is a sorted array (binary search, no Set duplication). Only the small delta uses a Set.
docker build .passes. All 50 tests green, formatting clean.Fixed the wildcard bug found in review:
normalizeDomain()helper that strips*.prefixes from blocklist entries*.chrom-coinbse-extenson.pages.dev,*.coinbase-563513.com) → bare domains that subdomain matching already coversloadConfig()too54 tests pass, docker build clean.
6bafb18ebdtod84d95d36cRework complete — vendored phishing blocklist, delta-only memory model
Implemented all architectural changes from comment 8479 and comment 8501.
1. Vendored blocklist (
src/shared/phishingBlocklist.json)config.json(231K+ blacklisted domains, 55 whitelisted domains) and committed it to the repoblacklistandwhitelistfields (no fuzzylist/version/tolerance)2. Delta-only memory model (
src/shared/phishingDomains.js)localStorage['phishing-delta']. On startup, the delta is loaded from localStorage immediately for instant coverage, then a network refresh is scheduled.3. Periodic refresh (
src/background/index.js)startPeriodicRefresh()withsetInterval(updatePhishingList, 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000)— the phishing list now refreshes automatically every 24 hours, not just on startup.4. Removed dead code (
src/popup/views/approval.js)isPhishingDomain()re-check which was inert dead code — the popup never calledupdatePhishingList()so its localblacklistSetwas always empty andisPhishingDomain()always returned false.showPhishingWarning()now takes only(elementId, isPhishing)and relies solely on the background script's authoritative flag.5. Removed competitor name mentions (comment 8501)
index.htmlchanged from "This site is on MetaMask's phishing blocklist" to "This site is on a known phishing blocklist"6. README updates
7. Updated tests
phishingDomainscovering:All 54 tests pass.
docker build .passes.make checkclean.Code Review: APPROVED ✅
Reviewed the full diff against
main, all PR comments, issue #114, and the README.docker build .passes. 43 tests pass (39 new). Branch is up to date withmain.Architecture — Vendored + Delta Model ✅
The phishing domain protection architecture correctly implements the vendored + delta-only approach:
src/shared/phishingBlocklist.json): 231,357 blacklisted + 55 whitelisted domains bundled at build time. Onlyblacklistandwhitelistfields extracted (no fuzzylist/version/tolerance).loadConfig()computes the delta against vendored data — only entries NOT in the vendored list are retained in memory. The full fetched list is discarded.isPhishingDomain()checks delta first (via short-circuit||), then vendored. Whitelist (both delta and vendored) takes priority over blacklist. Subdomain matching viahostnameVariants()correctly generates parent domain variants.startPeriodicRefresh()usessetInterval(updatePhishingList, 24h). Called from background script on startup alongside initialupdatePhishingList().fetchPromiseguard prevents duplicate network requests.Address Warnings Module ✅
getLocalWarnings()(sync): scam list, burn addresses, self-sendgetFullWarnings()(async): local checks + contract detection (getCode), new-address detection (getTransactionCount), Etherscan label scrapingconfirmTx.jsScam Address List ✅
0xprefixconstants.js(not duplicated in scamlist)UI Integration ✅
visibility:hiddenelements — no layout shifthiddenclass (display:none): Appropriate because the phishing flag is resolved synchronously (passed from background script) before the approval view is displayedDead Code Cleanup ✅
isPhishingDomain()re-check removed.showPhishingWarning()now relies solely on the background script's authoritative flag.Tests ✅
etherscanLabels: title parsing, body scanning, legitimate addresses, edge casesphishingDomains: vendored loading, delta computation, delta+vendored interaction, whitelist overrides, subdomain matching, localStorage persistence, case insensitivity, real-world patternsREADME ✅
Cheating Check ✅
Makefile,Dockerfile,package.json,.prettierrc,jest.config.js, or any CI/config filesMinor Notes (non-blocking)
Two wildcard entries remain in vendored JSON:
*.coinbase-563513.comand*.chrom-coinbse-extenson.pages.devare inphishingBlocklist.json. SinceisPhishingDomain()uses exact Set matching andhostnameVariants()doesn't produce*.*patterns, these 2 entries never match. Stripping the*.prefix would let subdomain matching handle them correctly. (2 out of 231,357 entries — negligible impact.)Vendored
require()reference: After buildingvendoredBlacklist/vendoredWhitelistSets,vendoredConfigremains referenced at module scope. NullingvendoredConfig.blacklistandvendoredConfig.whitelistafter Set construction would let the GC free the intermediate arrays. Minor memory optimization.Ready for merge.
describe for me when we'd ever need a phishing domain whitelist?
also, update the LICENSE section of the README to indicate what files are not ours, and include their copyright and license name. update LICENSE to have a new section to include the complete list of paths to the files that are not ours, their copyright holders, and their full license text.
Phishing domain whitelist — analysis
The upstream eth-phishing-detect config ships with a whitelist of 55 domains (opensea.com, walletconnect.network, uniswap.org, etc.). The whitelist exists because the upstream detector uses fuzzy matching (Levenshtein distance) which can produce false positives on legitimate domains that look similar to phishing patterns.
Our implementation only does exact + subdomain matching against the precomputed domain list — no fuzzy matching. I checked the vendored data:
The whitelist currently has zero functional impact on our detection. The only theoretical use case would be during a 24h delta update, if a legitimate domain were added to the upstream blacklist by mistake — the whitelist would prevent a false positive until the mistake is corrected upstream.
Recommendation: Remove whitelist support entirely. Pre-filter the blacklist during delta updates to strip any entry that also appears in the live whitelist, then discard the whitelist. This simplifies the code and removes a concept that could confuse future maintainers.
Do you want me to remove whitelist support, or keep it as a safety net for the delta update edge case?
remove it - you didn't need to ask that.
Rework complete — third-party attribution
Commit
0c73c8eadds third-party file attribution per feedback:README.md — License section
Added a "Third-Party Data Files" subsection with a table listing:
src/shared/phishingBlocklist.jsonsrc/shared/scamlist.js(MEW data)src/shared/scamlist.js(EtherScamDB data)LICENSE
Added a new "THIRD-PARTY FILES" section after the GPL-3.0 text with:
Docker build passes,
make fmtclean.Whitelist question
See comment above for the analysis. TL;DR: the whitelist has zero functional impact (no overlap with blacklist). Awaiting your preference on whether to remove it.
0c73c8e4ccto06324158aaRemoved all phishing domain whitelist support:
vendoredWhitelist,deltaWhitelist, whitelist checks inisPhishingDomain(), whitelist delta storage/loading, and whitelist-specific tests. The blocklist now only checks the blacklist — no whitelist overrides. README updated.All 49 tests pass,
docker build .succeeds (lint + test + build).Code Review: PASS ✅
Reviewed the complete diff against
main. All review criteria met:Whitelist Removal
src/shared/phishingDomains.jshas zero whitelist references — no whitelist Set, no whitelist check inisPhishingDomain(), no whitelist in delta updates, storage, orloadConfig().tests/phishingDomains.test.jshas no whitelist tests — all ~6 whitelist-related tests properly removed.Blacklist Tests Intact
isPhishingDomainwith delta + vendored, localStorage persistence, real-world patterns.toBe(true/false),toBeGreaterThan,toEqual, etc.).No Cheating
package.json,Makefile, orDockerfile.skip,.todo,xit,xtest)LICENSE & README Attribution
New Code Quality
addressWarnings.jscleanly separates sync/local warnings from async RPC-based warningsetherscanLabels.test.jsadds thorough test coverage for the HTML parserconfirmTx.jsrefactored to use the warning module for cleaner architectureCI
docker build .passes — all formatting, linting, and tests greenmain(no rebase needed)Ready to merge.