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Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#421

Post by jopsen »

DoctorOetker wrote: post #387
huhtenberg wrote: post #316

Can we take a moment and consider the side effects? This is a once in a lifetime chance for Google & Co. to get a glimpse of all those sly fuckers hiding behind adblockers. This effectively uncloaked a very specific subset of Internet users and exposed them to the very companies that they've been actively trying to avoid. Not just those who avoid Chrome, but those who take extra steps to explicitly evade the tracking…

I still don't understand why Mozilla is taking so long to simply post instructions for the .xpi install as you mention, hosted on their own domain? it does really feel like "the great upscertificate expiration foul play"

FTA:

> There are a number of work-arounds being discussed in the community. These are not recommended as they may conflict with fixes we are deploying...

Let's give them a little time to get this fixed..

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#422

Post by RandomBacon »

Macha wrote: post #392
huhtenberg wrote: post #316

Can we take a moment and consider the side effects? This is a once in a lifetime chance for Google & Co. to get a glimpse of all those sly fuckers hiding behind adblockers. This effectively uncloaked a very specific subset of Internet users and exposed them to the very companies that they've been actively trying to avoid. Not just those who avoid Chrome, but those who take extra steps to explicitly evade the tracking…

For me at least, it was pleasantly surprising that Google either has no inventory or just no clue who I am, as when ublock got disabled by this bug, YouTube started presenting me with ads for cars in mostly Japanese, with prices in Yen and "Singapore stock also available". I guess because I watched anime videos?

It would be interesting to see what they show for me, but I'm avoiding surfing websites other than HN until it gets fixed (FF for Android).

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#423

Post by RandomBacon »

fyfy18 wrote: post #36
gpm wrote: post #18

Instead of enabling studies just click on this link. It installs that specific "study" (hotfix) without installing anything else. https://storage.googleapis.com/moz-fx-normandy-prod-addons/e...

This works for Firefox on Android too.

Thank you. I can also verify this works on FF for Android.

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#424

Post by toyg »

Xylakant wrote: post #342
benbristow wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you didn't have browsers auto updating no-one would update them manually, meaning bad news for web developers wanting to take advantage of newer features.

> meaning bad news for web developers wanting to take advantage of newer features. I think you spelled “mass compromise of unsuspecting users due to unpatched security holes” wrong. Like it or not, browsers as the primary networked application that people use are the prime target to exploit users. They connect to unknown endpoints of questionable trustworthiness (unlike most other networked apps) and execute code loa…

> Quick auto updates are crucial for that. Expert users might dislike them

I don't think anyone is really against quick security-related fixes being delivered with a degree of automation. What most power users dislike is mixing these updates with other ones (typically for commercial reasons).

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#425

Post by eternalban »

overgard wrote: post #417
eternalban wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't help but consider the tinfoil hat aspects of this matter. I would like to learn more about the sequence of events that lead to this snafu. Would an actor know that by making "an error" at a given point in time, there would be a deterministic window of time in the future where Firefox users worldwide would be affected by the consequences.

As much as I love my tinfoil hat, I can't see any upside for mozilla in this? If it's to get people to opt in to "studies", they already have most people sending them telemetry, apparently, so this would just be to get stragglers? Seems like a really expensive way to do it.

You need to adjust the angle of your tinfoil hat. Oriented properly, you can find other candidates for "actor" besides "Mozilla".

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#426

Post by jammygit »

nullc wrote: post #373

I wonder if there is someone out there in the middle of the ocean with a browser extension based communication and navagation system which is dead in the water? It sounds to me that the real headline here is that every copy of firefox out there was timebombed and we only noticed because someone forgot to elongate the fuse.

That's a Debian free software principal, correct? The desert island rule?

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#427

Post by steve19 »

nullc wrote: post #373

I wonder if there is someone out there in the middle of the ocean with a browser extension based communication and navagation system which is dead in the water? It sounds to me that the real headline here is that every copy of firefox out there was timebombed and we only noticed because someone forgot to elongate the fuse.

That is my biggest complaint. Only the Firefox Linux team of included a about:config option to turn it off. Android, Windows and mac have no way to do so. It's still broken on my phone. Wtf were they thinking?

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#428

Post by philipwhiuk »

yborg wrote: post #111
Tharkun wrote: post #67

I have a bunch of privacy-enhancing addons installed, which have now all been disabled. If I hadn't read HN this morning, I wouldn't even have known why. Until now, I had no idea that it was even possible to remotely disable my addons. And now Mozilla are saying that the "fix" is to allow them to install & run "studies" on my machine? What are they smoking? I'm having a hard time trusting a company that randomly & re…

I enjoy a nice cup of outrage in the morning just like the next guy, but this one is really weak and lacks that fresh taste of evil conspiracy that I really crave. You use a browser that has remote update capability, which allows them to install and run new software on your machine all the time. There is a whole separate section of the Preferences that says "Privacy" in large print that has a section that clearly ide…

Studies is the same shit they used to push the Mr Robot crap a few years ago.

Re: Update Regarding Add-Ons in Firefox

#429

Post by jammygit »

Tharkun wrote: post #67

I have a bunch of privacy-enhancing addons installed, which have now all been disabled. If I hadn't read HN this morning, I wouldn't even have known why. Until now, I had no idea that it was even possible to remotely disable my addons. And now Mozilla are saying that the "fix" is to allow them to install & run "studies" on my machine? What are they smoking? I'm having a hard time trusting a company that randomly & re…

The problem is that Firefox does not have sufficient built in privacy settings by default. Users shouldn't have to crawl the internet for lists of recommended addons, then have to trust such a variety of authors, to have basic privacy. Like I said elsewhere, I'm using Brave because of this.
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