# codebutler/firesheep

A Firefox extension that demonstrates HTTP session hijacking attacks.

Repository: https://github.com/codebutler/firesheep
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/firesheep
Homepage: http://codebutler.github.com/firesheep
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2024-05-13T10:53:37+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5806, "days_push": 842, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2352, forks 620 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:40.424477+00:00)

## What it is
Firesheep is a Firefox extension that demonstrates HTTP session hijacking attacks by sniffing unencrypted Wi-Fi traffic and capturing session cookies. It was created as a proof-of-concept to raise awareness about the lack of HTTPS on popular websites.

## Use cases
- demonstrate http session hijacking on open wifi networks
- show why websites need https everywhere
- security education about cookie sniffing attacks
- capture session cookies over unencrypted wifi
- teach students about sidejacking attacks

## When to choose
- you need a historical demonstration tool for HTTP session hijacking
- you are teaching network security concepts with a real-world example
- you want to audit whether sites on a network transmit session cookies in cleartext

## When to avoid
- you need a maintained or currently working tool on modern Firefox
- you want to secure your own sessions - use HTTPS/HSTS instead
- you need a supported penetration-testing framework

## Facets
- artifact type: plugin
- maturity: abandoned
- function: security, penetration-testing, networking
- domain: security, penetration-testing, browser-extensions, privacy
- platform: browser-extension, windows
- tags: session-hijacking, firefox-addon, packet-capture, http, wifi-sniffing, security-demo, macos, linux

## Member repositories
- codebutler/firesheep (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:40.424477+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:36:51.712578+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/codebutler/firesheep (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:40.424477+00:00, sha 613021214468)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.