regression: external extensions are forcefully disabled on Linux since 0.68.131

Description

On Linux it is possible to install extensions using a preferences json file as per docs.

This is used for distributing extensions as distro packages.

This is not working anymore in Brave 0.68.131, I do see the extension in brave://extensions but it gets disabled on browser startup with the following popup:

This works correctly in previous versions (e.g. Brave 0.67.125) and in latest Chromium (76.0.3809.100).

Steps to Reproduce

On Linux:

1. Put for example the following file in /usr/lib/browserpass-chromium/browserpass-chromium-3.1.1.crx
2. Create file /usr/share/chromium/extensions/pjmbgaakjkbhpopmakjoedenlfdmcdgm.json with the following contents:

{
    "external_crx": "/usr/lib/browserpass-chromium/browserpass-chromium-3.1.1.crx",
    "external_version": "3.1.1"
}

1. Launch Brave

Actual result:

Extension is present on brave://extensions but is disabled on startup

Expected result:

Extension is not disabled

Reproduces how often:

Easily reproduced

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave | 0.68.131 Chromium: 76.0.3809.100 (Official Build) unknown (64-bit)
Revision | ed9d447d30203dc5069e540f05079e493fc1c132-refs/branch-heads/3809@{#990}
OS | Arch Linux

Compiled myself using the following instructions.

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release? Yes
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel? Haven’t tried
• Can you reproduce this issue with the dev channel? Haven’t tried
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel? Haven’t tried

Other Additional Information:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? N/A
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards? N/A
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome? Not in latest Chromium

Miscellaneous Information:

I’ve seen https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/2457 and https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/5063 but I don’t think it’s duplicate, because this clearly worked in the previous release version of Brave 0.67.125

[ghost]

@rebron @bsclifton Could someone be assigned to this? Brave is basically useless due to this regression

[reedlaw]

This is a terrible design decision and deal breaker for using Brave. It damages trust in the marketing on brave.com:

It begins with giving you back power. Take back control with Brave.

Where is the power and control?