Create a log of all urls requested by Firefox with HTTP Request Logger

 

HTTP Request Logger is a lightweight add-on for the Firefox web browser that logs all urls connections are made to while the browser is running.

 

Most of what happens when sites get loaded in a web browser is handled in the background. You type the address of the site you want to visit or click on it, and the browser does the rest.

It may load data from a dozen or so resources in the background to display the contents of that one page.

If you run security software you may be aware of some of those connections, and the same is true if you open the browser's Developer Tools and display the network tab there while you are loading sites.

But those may not display all connections made and even if they do, they usually only echo what is happening in the active tab.

HTTP Request Logger was designed by its author to "track and discover a malicious web page" that exploited a Java vulnerability.

Nothing changes after you install the add-on in Firefox. There is no icon and if you check the addons manager you will notice that there are not any options either.

The add-on page on the Mozilla website fails to mention where the log is saved to (which happens automatically right after installation). I found it on the desktop after some searching, it is called http-request-log.txt.

The add-on writes all urls to the log that get accessed by Firefox while it is up and running. That's interesting for auditing purposes but also development or security.

For instance, you could browse several pages of a website in Firefox to make sure all of them are whitelisted in a proxy or security software so that they are not blocked from access.

Security researchers may use the add-on to detect malicious extensions installed in Firefox or attacks coming from certain websites.

The log is basic as it lists urls, the referrer, and method (get or post). There is no timestamp for instance which could help locate certain requests in the browser quickly.

Since all requests are saved to a text file, basic text file handling including searching through its contents are available.

It is unfortunate that HTTP Request Logger has not been updated since 2011. While that is the case, it works just fine for the time being.

Closing Words

HTTP Request Logger is a useful add-on for Firefox that provides valuable information. While designed for security research, it may be useful to add-on and web developers as well as administrators as well.