Unexpected Browser Plugins (last update: 2012-10-21, created: 2012-10-21) back to the list ↑
Every time I install something a new browser plugin is registered with Chrome/Firefox/etc. Well OK, maybe not every time. Still, from time to time I discover another plugin added and enabled. This is the place where I'm going to keep notes of these with a short analysis on what they do.

Wacom Tablet Plugins

Resolution: Disabled (adds some functions, is not evil, but I didn't see any webapps that use this anyway)

Chrome's chrome://plugins info about the plugin(s):

WacomTabletPlugin - Version: 2.0.0.1
Plugin for Wacom tablets.
Name:   WacomTabletPlugin
Description:    Plugin for Wacom tablets.
Version:        2.0.0.1
Location:       C:\Program Files (x86)\TabletPlugins\npWacomTabletPlugin.dll
Type:   NPAPI
         Disable
MIME types:     
MIME type       Description     File extensions
application/x-wacomtabletplugin WacomTabletPlugin

Wacom Dynamic Link Library - Version: 1,1,0,10
Wacom Dynamic Link Library
Name:    Wacom Dynamic Link Library
Description:    Wacom Dynamic Link Library
Version:        1,1,0,10
Location:       C:\Program Files (x86)\TabletPlugins\npwacom.dll
Type:   NPAPI
         Disable
MIME types:     
MIME type       Description     File extensions
application/x-wacom-tablet      npwacom .swf

Easy to guess that both were installed when I installed my tablet drivers. After some analysis I found a list of fields, most of them read-only, that allow the Pen position to be read from JavaScript. The only writable field was "SetFocus" which was required to be set in JavaScript to get tablet focus for the given page.
Looking through The Internets I also found official documentation:
Main site about Wacom browser plugins.
Manual (new, versions 2.X.X.X)
Manual (legacy, versions 1.X.X.X)

I've also created a small PoC (click here for demo, you need a Wacom tablet + enabled plugin though):

<html>
  <style>span { font-weight: bold; }</style>

  <body>
    <div>
      <p>Tablet Model: <span id="m">???</span></p>
      <p>Tablet Model ID: <span id="mid">???</span></p>
      <p>Pointer Type: <span id="pt">???</span></p>
      <p>X: <span id="x">???</span></p>
      <p>Y: <span id="y">???</span></p>
      <p>Pressure: <span id="pr">???</span></p>
      <p>Additional info: <span id="info"></span></p>
    </div>
    <object id="obj" type="application/x-wacom-tablet" style="visibility: hidden"></object>
<script>
  var obj = document.getElementById('obj');
  var field = new Array();
  field.m = document.getElementById('m');
  field.mid = document.getElementById('mid');
  field.pt = document.getElementById('pt');
  field.x = document.getElementById('x');
  field.y = document.getElementById('y');
  field.pr = document.getElementById('pr');
  field.info = document.getElementById('info');

  if(!obj.isWacom) {
    field.info.textContent = "No plugin or tablet found.";
  } else {
    // Get tablet for this window.
    obj.SetFocus = true;

    m.textContent = obj.TabletModel;
    mid.textContent = obj.TabletModelID;

    setInterval(function(){
      field.x.textContent = obj.sysX;
      field.y.textContent = obj.sysY;
      field.pr.textContent = obj.pressure;

      var pt = obj.pointerType;
      field.pt.textContent =  ["Out of Proximity", "Pen", "puck", "Eraser"][pt];
    }, 100);
}

</script>

Windows Live Photo Gallery

Resolution: Disabled

Chrome's chrome://plugins info about the plugin(s):

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\NPWLPG.dll

Photo Gallery - Version: 16.4.3505.0912_ship.client.main.w5m4 (ship)
NPWLPG
Name:   Photo Gallery
Description:    NPWLPG
Version:        16.4.3505.0912_ship.client.main.w5m4 (ship)
Location:       C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\NPWLPG.dll
Type:   NPAPI
         Disable
MIME types:     
MIME type       Description     File extensions
application/x-wlpg3-detect      Photo Gallery   .wlpg
application/x-wlpg-detect       Photo Gallery   .wlpg

I've looked through this plugin and it seems to do nothing. There are no fields, no functions registered, no interesting strings, no nothing. Perhaps (as the MIME tag suggests) it's used to detect if WLPG is installed, and nothing more.
It probably installed itself with Windows Essentials.
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