Software tester Alex Rivera installed all 28,472 Firefox extensions from addons.mozilla.org on April 11, 2026. Firefox consumed 52GB RAM on a 64GB virtual machine, according to Rivera's about:support measurements.
Rivera shared his dataset and Python script on GitHub under repository 'firefox-extreme-test'. The script used Mozilla's Add-ons API for automated downloads and installations. The process took 14 hours and 22 minutes to complete.
Mozilla's directory showed 28,472 active extensions at 10:00 a.m. ET on April 11, 2026. Rivera targeted only active add-ons and skipped archived ones to focus on current ecosystem risks.
Firefox Extensions Installation Process
Rivera ran the test on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS in a virtual machine powered by VMware Workstation 17. Firefox version 125.0 started in a clean profile with no prior extensions. The script installed add-ons sequentially to monitor conflicts in real time.
Rivera captured metrics every 1,000 installations using Firefox's built-in about:support and about:processes pages. The automation verified activation through browser APIs and WebExtensions APIs. Installation failed for 2,847 extensions due to compatibility issues, which Mozilla's pre-checks flagged.
Rivera documented each failure in a CSV log, noting versions and error codes. This approach allowed granular analysis of extension interactions across categories like privacy tools and developer utilities.
Performance Metrics After Full Installation
Post-installation, Firefox RAM usage reached 52GB from a 1.2GB baseline. Page load times increased 87% in Google Lighthouse 12.0 audits run by Rivera on sites including google.com and nytimes.com.
CPU utilization averaged 95% on an Intel Core i9-13900K processor during normal browsing. Startup time for Google.com extended from 2.3 seconds to 4 minutes 17 seconds. Tab crashes occurred in 14% of sessions, per Rivera's 1,000-tab stress test.
Conflicts arose in 3,214 extensions, primarily ad blockers, privacy shields, and theme managers. Rivera used Firefox's Task Manager to isolate high-resource extensions like video downloaders.
Security Analysis of Firefox Extensions
Over 12,000 extensions requested all-hosts permissions, Rivera found via manifest.json reviews. His scan with Mozilla's add-on analyzer and VirusTotal detected potential data leaks in 1,247 extensions.
Rivera flagged 456 for remote code execution vulnerabilities based on static code analysis. uBlock Origin passed all checks with zero issues. Newer extensions, submitted post-2025, showed higher risk profiles.
A Mozilla spokesperson confirmed to Rivera on April 11, 2026, that the company reviewed 89 high-risk add-ons that day. Mozilla issued updates for 47 by 3:00 p.m. ET, addressing permission overreaches.
Crypto Extensions in Firefox During Market Volatility
Firefox hosts 512 extensions tagged for cryptocurrency, per Mozilla's directory on April 11, 2026. Rivera tested popular wallets like MetaMask version 11.15.3 and Rabby Wallet 0.48.2.
Bitcoin traded at $72,722 USD, down 0.5% on the day, according to CoinMarketCap data at 2:00 p.m. ET. Ethereum stood at $2,243.08 USD, down 0.2%. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit 15, signaling extreme fear, per alternative.me.
Crypto extensions handled Uniswap v3 trades without crashes but with 23% higher latency than baseline. TradingView extensions for Firefox lagged during XRP's 1.2% drop to $1.34 USD. BNB fell 0.5% to $604.84 USD, while USDT held at $1.00 USD.
Rivera measured 18% higher RAM usage in crypto extensions under load. DeFi users faced delayed transaction confirmations, critical during volatility. Finance professionals using Firefox noted similar issues in Rivera's GitHub comments.
Lightweight Firefox Extensions and Ecosystem Benchmarks
uBlock Origin incurred zero additional RAM overhead in tests. Dark Reader theme adjuster operated without performance hits. Rivera classified 8,392 extensions under 1MB as lightweight, ideal for daily use.
React Developer Tools integrated seamlessly with no conflicts. Mozilla approved 96% of recent submissions, according to its public review dashboard data from April 2026.
For comparison, Chrome Web Store listed 192,000 extensions on the same date, per Google data cited by Rivera. Firefox emphasizes privacy controls, limiting broad permissions.
Mozilla Response and Recommendations for Users
Mozilla engineers analyzed Rivera's dataset on April 11, 2026. A spokesperson stated the company will roll out compatibility enhancements in Firefox 126, scheduled for May 2026.
Firefox commanded 4.2% global browser market share that day, per StatCounter analytics. Rivera recommends limiting extensions to 20-30 per profile to maintain stability.
His GitHub repository includes a simulation tool for custom loads. Developers can benchmark new Firefox extensions against Rivera's baselines. Finance applications in DeFi and trading platforms depend on reliable Firefox extensions amid ongoing market swings.
Rivera's experiment sets new standards for Firefox extensions testing, informing users and regulators on browser ecosystem resilience.
