Browser extension is turned off and requests additional permissions (March 2025)

Ask the Community Password Manager
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1

Hello guys,

I am using the add on for Edge (extension) and a message started to be showed.

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If I accept permissions, than back to work, but I need to understand the reason to inform users.

I saw that had one update from Bitwarden last Thursday March 6.

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Thanks,
Pardal

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Today, out of the blue, without updating either Brave or the Bitwarden Password Manager extension, I suddenly get the message saying

“Bitwarden Password Manager is disabled.
To re-enable it, accept the new permissions:
Display notifications.”

First question, is this legit? With polymorphic extensions and various scams, unusual technology demands set me on edge.

Second question: if this is for real, WTH? Suddenly disabling a product that I actively use, shortly after the 'we’re going to force you to use 2FA, and oh yeah, our implementation doesn’t work correctly if you use an android device." Are you guys even testing? Or thinking about user experience?

Third question: Why do you need additional permissions? The functionality has been all over the map, sometimes offering to paste in the credentials and sometimes forcing me to use the extension and manually tell it to fill. Now the extension needs more permissions to do what? Is this going to make it consistent or simply allow it to fail as often as before?

I would appreciate anyone that can shed light on the increasingly dumpster fire experience I am getting.

3

It’s been disabled by Chrome not Bitwarden.
It’s so you can agree to the new permissions, or not.

4

@Babylon Welcome to the forum!

Your browser auto-updated the extension.

Seems so, as “everyone” got this message/request.

As @malum already noted, your browser deactivated the extension, as the extension requests new permissions.

As I’m not with Bitwarden, I can only speculate
 and my personal speculation is, that the extension get’s some kind of new notification functions, so that user’s can get notifications by Bitwarden in the app. (I think with recent changes, many requested to get better informed before those changes, preferably in their Bitwarden app they use, per notifications in advance
 I think this may be an improvement in reaction to this “critique”).

But I could be totally wrong with my speculations.

PS: Looking into GitHub again
 it could be also about updates for the notification bar (the redesign can be seen in e.g. the video here: PM-18536 implement slide in notification when notification bar is prompted by dan-livefront · Pull Request #13701 · bitwarden/clients · GitHub)
 :thinking: (in the current roadmap in the passkey section there is also a notifications redesign mentioned as “Autofill passkey notification popup redesign”) – Third theory: maybe new notifications get necessary for the coming syncing between Authenticator app and “password manager”. :sweat_smile:

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@malum 
 BTW, welcome to the forum!

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It would be nice to get some kind of official clarification from Bitwarden (@dwbit, @eck?) about what change made the new permissions necessary. I suspect there will be many more user inquiries about why their extensions are suddenly disabled, and why re-enabling the extension triggers the prompt about accepting new permissions.

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Thanks. I just came to make sure it was an across the board popup for everyone!

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Yeah, that would end some speculations. :sweat_smile:

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I also found this thread while double checking it was legit (in my case, Edge disabled the plug-in).
I have found and looked at the release notes for 2025.2.1
(and other components as 2025.2.2, directly on github) but none of these mention new permissions, as far as I can see, or why they are needed, so I’m still weary to re-enable the extension.

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In short, the new version of the extension needs the notification permission to be granted. What’s happening here is the browser is asking you to confirm that’s okay. This is expected and required for future functionality.

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 no details
 :wink:, but thanks for the official confirmation! :folded_hands:

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Thanks for your response. Can you provide any hint about the nature of this “future functionality”?

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I will defer to @dwbit on how much detail we can share here. I’m still overly (and probably too much so) cautious with roadmap.

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14

You probably can follow the dicussion on this thread:

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To “centralize” the discussion, I moved your post @Pardal into the thread, @Neuron5569 mentioned.

Following that, I changed the title now from “Bitwarden Password Manager is disabled” to “Browser extension is turned off and requests additional permissions (March 2025)”.

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if this is true, why is that one profile under chrome had no issues with additional perms

and the other profile did?

one browser, two profiles. one works without prompting the other wants prompting.

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What version of the Bitwarden browser extension is installed in the profile that is not prompting you to approve additional permissions? Go to Settings > About > About Bitwarden in the browser extension to check.

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Version: 2025.2.2

SDK: ‘main (6008e90)’

Server version: 2025.2.4

and (this one was the one asking for perms)

Version: 2025.2.2

SDK: ‘main (6008e90)’

Server version: 2025.2.4

NOW I had to accept the perms to be able to show you the version

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The most likely explanation is that you (or somebody else) already accepted the permissions in the other profile. As a simple check, in that profile (the one where you don’t recall having accepted any new permissions), go to chrome://extensions/?id=nngceckbapebfimnlniiiahkandclblb. What does it say under “Permissions”?

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no one else uses my PC. only me and each profile is for a specific reason.

  • Read your browsing history
  • Display notifications
  • Read and modify data you copy and paste