Enables ManifestV2 for extensions in Chrome 140-149

patch-chrome-mv2-2026-05-26.ps1

<# 1. To patch dll in a protected folder like "c:\program files" run this script as Administrator.
   2. If your Windows isn't configured to run ps1 files, you can run it from command prompt like this:
      powershell -ep bypass -noprofile "patch-chrome-mv2.ps1"
#>
param([string]$dll, [string]$dir = $pwd)

function doPatch([string]$path, [string]$pathLabel = '') {
    $dll = $script:dll = if ($path.EndsWith('\')) { Join-Path $path chrome.dll } else { $path }
    if (!(Test-Path -literal $dll)) { return }
    $localAppData = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('LocalApplicationData')
    write-host -f yellow "`n$(@($pathLabel, (split-path $dll).Replace($localAppData, '%LocalAppData%')) -join ' ')"

    $script:stream = [IO.File]::Open($dll, [IO.FileMode]::Open, [IO.FileAccess]::Read, [IO.FileShare]::ReadWrite)
    $reader = [IO.BinaryReader]$stream
    $enc = [Text.Encoding]::GetEncoding(28591)
    $features = @(
        '-ExtensionManifestV2Unsupported'
        '-ExtensionManifestV2Disabled'
        '-ExtensionsManifestV3Only'
        '+AllowLegacyMV2Extensions'
    )

    write-host -f DarkGray "`tREADING Chrome.dll..."
    $stream.seek(0x3C, 0) >$null
    $coff = $reader.ReadUint32() + 4
    $coffSize = 20
    $stream.seek($coff, 0) >$null
    $bytes = $reader.ReadBytes($coffSize + 2)
    $is64 = [BitConverter]::ToUInt16($bytes, 0) -eq 0x8664
    $isPE32 = [BitConverter]::ToUInt16($bytes, $coffSize) -eq 0x010b
    $stream.seek($coff + $coffSize + 24 + 4 * $isPE32, 0) >$null
    $imageBase = if ($isPE32) { $reader.ReadUInt32() } else { $reader.ReadUInt64() }

    # find sections
    $extraHeaderSize = [BitConverter]::ToUInt16($bytes, 16)
    $numSections = [BitConverter]::ToUInt16($bytes, 2)
    $stream.seek($coff + $coffSize + $extraHeaderSize, 0) >$null
    $sections = @{}
    foreach ($i in 1..$numSections) {
        $sec = $reader.ReadBytes(40)
        $i = $sec.IndexOf([byte]0)
        $name = $enc.GetString($sec, 0, $(if ($i -lt 0) { 8 } else { [math]::min(8, $i) }))
        if ($name -eq '.rdata' -or $name -eq '.data') {
            $sections[$name.substring(1)] = @{
                addr = $imageBase + [uint64][BitConverter]::ToUInt32($sec, 12);
                size = [BitConverter]::ToUInt32($sec, 16);
                filePos = [BitConverter]::ToUInt32($sec, 20);
            }
            if ($sections.count -eq 2) { break }
        }
    }

    # .rdata section
    if (!$sections.rdata) {
        return "Could not find .rdata section"
    }
    $stream.seek($sections.rdata.filePos, 0) >$null
    $cur = 0
    $step = 1MB
    $featArea = 1kB
    $featData = [ordered]@{}
    while ($cur -lt $sections.rdata.size) {
        $bytes = $reader.ReadBytes($step)
        $str = $enc.GetString($bytes)
        foreach ($feat in $features) {
            if ($featData[$feat]) { continue }
            $pos = $str.indexOf($feat.substring(1))
            if ($pos -lt 0) { continue }
            $featData[$feat] = $sections.rdata.addr + $cur + $pos
        }
        if ($featData.count -eq $features.length) { break }
        $cur += $step - $featArea
        $stream.seek(-$featArea, [IO.SeekOrigin]::Current) >$null
    }
    if (!$sections.data) {
        return "Could not find .data section"
    }

    # .data section
    $stream.seek($sections.data.filePos, 0) >$null
    $len = $sections.data.size
    $bytes = $reader.ReadBytes($len)
    if ($is64) { $words = [uint64[]]::new($len -shr 3) }
        else { $words = [uint32[]]::new($len -shr 2) }
    [Buffer]::BlockCopy($bytes, 0, $words, 0, $len)
    $bytes = $null
    $copied = $false
    $wordType = $words[0].getType()
    foreach ($feat in $featData.Keys) {
        $needle = $featData[$feat]
        $needle = $needle -as $wordType
        $val = ($feat[0] -eq '+') -as $wordType
        $feat = $feat.substring(1)
        $i = $words.indexOf($needle)
        while ($i -ge 0 -and !($words[$i + 1] -in 0,1)) {
            $i = [Array]::IndexOf($words, $needle, $i + 1)
        }
        if (!++$i) {
            return "Could not find $feat pointer in .data section"
        }
        if ($words[$i] -eq $val) {
            write-host -f darkcyan "`tAlready patched $feat"
            continue
        }
        if (!$copied) {
            $copied = $true
            $stream.close()
            $script:stream = [IO.File]::Open($dll, [IO.FileMode]::Open, [IO.FileAccess]::ReadWrite, [IO.FileShare]::Read)
            if (test-path -literal "$dll.BAK") {
                write-host -f darkgray "`tFound an existing backup of the original dll."
            } else {
                write-host -f darkgray "`tBacking up the original dll..."
                [IO.File]::Copy($dll, "$dll.BAK")
            }
        }
        write-host -f cyan "`tPatching $feat..."
        $stream.seek($sections.data.filePos + $i * (4 + 4 * $is64), 0) >$null
        $stream.WriteByte($val)
    }
    write-host -f green "`tDONE."
}

function tryPatch($a, $b) {
    try {
        $err = doPatch $a $b
    } catch {
        $a = ([regex]'\): "(.+)"').match($Error[0]).Groups[1].Value
        $err = if ($a) { $a.Replace($dll, 'chrome.dll') } else { $Error[0] }
    }
    if ($stream) {
        $stream.close()
        $script:stream = $null
    }
    if ($err) {
        if ($err -is [string]) { write-host -f red "`t$err" } else { $err }
        $script:err = $true
    }
    [GC]::Collect()
}

$err = $false
if ($dll) {
    tryPatch $dll
} else {
    $pathsDone = @{}
    tryPatch ((gi -literal $dir).fullName + '\') 'CURRENT DIRECTORY'
    ('HKLM', 'HKCU') | %{
        $hive = $_
        ('', '\Wow6432Node') | %{
            $key = "${hive}:\SOFTWARE$_\Google\Update\Clients"
            gci -ea silentlycontinue $key -r | gp | ?{ $_.CommandLine } | %{
                $path = $_.CommandLine -replace '"(.+?\\\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+\\).+', '$1'
                if (!$pathsDone[$path.toLower()]) {
                    tryPatch $path REGISTRY
                    $pathsDone[$path.toLower()] = $true
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

if ($err) { read-host "Press Enter key to exit" }

No, and Chrome doesn't show it anyway.

i wonder if this same script would work on edge if i change the "chrome.dll" lines to "msedge.dll" :/

It's probably not that simple; it's already crashing on the Chromium DLL (changes are supposedly made to the file, but they're ignored as if they were just irrelevant noise), so the others would need fixes specific to non-branded versions and Edge (though my Edge doesn't seem to be picky and doesn't need that).

It still works today. Thank you a lot OP! ^_^

Anyway to do same on Linux?

I don't how but anyway it's already obsolete because Chrome 150 has removed these flags.

As a casual user, I’d like to ask: How do I run this program on a Windows laptop? Also, can it be implemented on Chromium-based browsers like Brave? Thank you.

This patch doesn't work on new Chromium-based browsers because they removed the underlying features.

Are there any other workarounds?