Permission is unknown or URL pattern is malformed

What you see

Permission '<all_urls>' is unknown or URL pattern is malformed.

Why it happens

In version 3, site addresses such as "<all_urls>" or "https://*/*" don’t go in "permissions" any more. They go in their own "host_permissions" list. ChatGPT often puts them in "permissions", the version 2 way.

The fix

rightsocket does this Moves site addresses from "permissions" to "host_permissions".
You do this If the address itself is wrong, it needs a scheme, a host and a path, like https://example.com/*. Addresses such as chrome:// pages can’t be used at all.

What changed, and when

24 July 2025, Chrome: Chrome 138: Manifest V2 extensions disabled for all users on all channels, with no option to turn them back on. Chrome 139 then removed the enterprise policy that kept them working.

Sources

Chromium source: manifest error messages (manifest_constants.h)
Chrome for Developers: Declare permissions (host_permissions)
Stack Overflow: "Permission '<all_urls>' is unknown or URL pattern is malformed"

Other chrome extension errors

Manifest version 2 is deprecated
Service worker registration failed. Status code: 15
Manifest is not valid JSON
Could not load icon specified in the manifest
Refused to execute inline script (Content Security Policy)
chrome.browserAction is undefined (Manifest V3)
'browser_action' requires manifest version of 2 or lower
'webRequestBlocking' requires manifest version of 2 or lower
Invalid value for 'web_accessible_resources[0]'
Invalid value for 'content_security_policy'
Insecure CSP value in directive 'script-src'