React Developer Tools
🔍 Security Report Available View on Chrome Web StoreChrome will indicate if you already have this installed.
Adds React debugging tools to the Chrome Developer Tools, allowing developers to inspect and debug React components in real-time, making it an invaluable resource for React developers working on complex applications. Most benefit from this extension are professional front-end developers and React engineers who need to troubleshoot and optimize their code. Created from revision 3cde211b0c on 10/20/2025.
Overview
React Developer Tools is a Chrome DevTools extension for the open-source React JavaScript library. It allows you to inspect the React component hierarchies in the Chrome Developer Tools.
You will get two new tabs in your Chrome DevTools: "Components ⚛" and "Profiler ⚛".
The Components tab shows you the root React components that were rendered on the page, as well as the subcomponents that they ended up rendering.
By selecting one of the components in the tree, you can inspect and edit its current props and state in the panel on the right. In the breadcrumbs you can inspect the selected component, the component that created it, the component that created that one, and so on.
If you inspect a React element on the page using the regular Elements tab, then switch over to the React tab, that element will be automatically selected in the React tree.
The Profiler tab allows you to record performance information.
This extension requires permissions to access the page's React tree, but it does not transmit any data remotely. It is fully open source, and you can find its source code at https://github.com/facebook/react/tree/main/packages/react-devtools-extensions.
Tags
Privacy Practices
Security Analysis — React Developer Tools
Permissions
Code Patterns Detected
External Connections
Package Contents 61 files · 2.8MB
What This Extension Does
The React Developer Tools extension adds debugging tools to Chrome DevTools for React developers, allowing them to inspect component hierarchies and record performance information. It's a productivity tool for web developers working with React. With over 4 million users, it's a popular choice among developers.
Permissions Explained
- scriptingexpected: This permission lets the extension run scripts on any website you visit.
Technical: The extension uses Chrome's scripting API to execute code on all websites ( <all_urls> ). This allows it to inspect and manipulate React components, but also increases the attack surface if compromised. - storageexpected: This permission lets the extension read and write data in your browser's storage.
Technical: The extension uses Chrome's storage API to store and retrieve data, including React component metadata. This allows it to persist state between sessions, but also raises concerns about data exposure if compromised. - tabsexpected: This permission lets the extension access and manipulate your browser tabs.
Technical: The extension uses Chrome's tabs API to interact with your open tabs, allowing it to inject content scripts and inspect React components. This increases the attack surface if compromised. - clipboardWritecheck this: This permission lets the extension write data to your clipboard.
Technical: The extension uses Chrome's clipboard API to write data to your clipboard, which is not explicitly used in its functionality. This raises concerns about potential misuse if compromised. ⚠ 1 - <all_urls>check this: This permission lets the extension run on all websites you visit.
Technical: The extension uses this broad host permission to execute code on any website, which significantly increases the attack surface if compromised. This is a critical concern due to its potential for abuse. ⚠ 1
Your Data
The extension accesses data in your browser's storage and clipboard, but does not transmit any data remotely. It contacts various domains for React-related resources, including W3C, GitHub, and Facebook.
Technical Details
- www.w3.org
- react.dev
- fb.me
- github.com
- fburl.com
- foo.com
- developer.mozilla.org
- reactjs.org
- api.github.com
- bugs.chromium.org
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- cookies
- tokens
Code Findings
The extension uses the Function constructor to execute dynamic code, which can be a security risk if not properly sanitized.
Technical: The extension uses Function constructor to create functions dynamically, allowing it to inject arbitrary code. This increases the attack surface if compromised (e.g., via XSS).
💡 Legitimate extensions may use dynamic code execution for legitimate purposes, such as injecting content scripts.
The extension uses obfuscation techniques to make its code harder to read. This can be a security risk if it's used to hide malicious behavior.
Technical: The extension uses String.fromCharCode and charCodeAt to encode strings, making it harder to analyze the code. This is a common technique used in malware to evade detection.
💡 Legitimate extensions may use obfuscation for legitimate purposes, such as protecting intellectual property or preventing reverse engineering.
The extension has broad host permissions that allow it to run on any website you visit. This can be a security risk if the extension is compromised or abused.
Technical: The extension uses the <all_urls> permission, which allows it to execute code on any website. This significantly increases the attack surface if compromised (e.g., via XSS).
💡 Legitimate extensions may require broad host permissions for legitimate purposes, such as injecting content scripts or interacting with web pages.
The React Developer Tools extension has some security concerns due to its use of dynamic code execution, obfuscation techniques, and broad host permissions. While it's a popular productivity tool for developers, users should exercise caution when installing and using this extension. We recommend reviewing the extension's source code and reporting any suspicious behavior to the developer.
