Mozilla Releases Firefox 8.0.1

Mozilla is about to release an update for the latest stable version of Firefox. Firefox 8.0.1 will be released less than two weeks after the release of Firefox 8, the latest stable version of the popular Internet browser.

A fast release like this usually indicates a serious problem that needs to be addressed right away. Most issues that require an immediate response are security related in nature. This time though it seems to be a popular add-on that is causing stability issues for Firefox 8 users.

An extension block request has been posted at Bugzilla. The request to hard block the popular Roboform extension has been added on November 2. According to information posted there Firefox 8 users are experiencing the majority of crashes while users of other Firefox versions are also experiencing crashes but to a lesser extent.

Add-ons that are blocked can usually be added to a blocklist remotely. This did not work in the case of the Roboform add-on as it was hooking dlls into Firefox which needed to be blocked by adding code to the browser.

The changelog has not been posted yet, it will later be available on this page. It is not clear if additional patches have made it into Firefox 8.0.1.

For now, we can only assume that the Roboform patch is the only code change in the new version of the web browser. This means that Firefox users who do not work with Roboform do not need to update their version of the browser to the latest version right away.

The Mozilla homepage is currently listing Firefox 8 as the latest version. Third party websites like Softpedia are already hosting the new version on their servers.

I’ll update the news as soon as the update is available at Mozilla.

---

© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us, digg, facebook, reddit, twitter
Post tags: Firefox, firefox-update, mozilla blocklist, mozilla-firefox, RoboForm

Mozilla Blocks McAfee ScriptScan Add-on

Mozilla has made the decision to add McAfee’s ScriptScan add-on for the Firefox web browser to the so called Blocklist. The Blocklist lists add-ons and plugins that are known to “cause serious security, stability, or performance issues with Firefox”.

When users try to open the McAfee ScriptScan or McAfee SiteAdvisor page at the official Mozilla Add-on repository, they are redirected to the add-on’s Blocklist entry.

The reason for blocking the add-on is a high volume of crashes according to that page. Affected by the block are all ScriptScan versions 14.4.0 and below for Firefox and Seamonkey, and users of McAfee SiteAdvisor.

Firefox users who run one of the blocked add-ons in the browser will see the following message in the web browser: Firefox has determined that the following add-ons are known to cause stability or security problems

A click on Restart will disable the add-ons completely. Users who try to install the add-on see a similar message: The add-on name has a high risk of causing stability or security problems and can’t be installed.

The initial bug report requested to add McAfee ScriptScan and McAfee SiteAdvisor add-ons to the blocklist. It also mentions that both add-ons have caused more than 10,000 crashes in a one week period for Firefox 6.0.2 and Firefox 7 users.

Even worse, if you follow the initial bug reports you will find a comment by Robert Kaiser who mentioned that Mcafee ScriptScan alone was responsible for more than 15,000 crashes on September 28.

We had 1555 processed crashes on 6.* yesterday, with the 10% throttling rate, this means that roughly 15,000 crashes happened during a single day with this signature!

Something really needs to happen here, do we have any contact with them to get on this fast?

The Blocklist page only lists the block of McAfee ScriptScan on October 3. If you go through the list you find a McAfee SiteAdvisor from March 14.

Users who try to open the McAfee SiteAdvisor add-on page get the same blocked information page though, which means that both add-ons have been blocked by Mozilla.

It is good to see that Mozilla is taking a stand, even if it means to pull add-ons from a big company from the site. It is not the first time that big companies got hit with a block. If you look at the list you will see applications by Microsoft, Yahoo, AVG or Skype on there as well.

McAfee reportedly is working on a fix, according to a moderator response:

1) It’s NOT a security issue

2) It’s a decision made by Mozilla based on crashes that have been reported to Mozilla

3) McAfee is aware of it, has a bug filed and is working with Mozilla to address the problem

4) Until it is fixed, the primary workaround is to re-enable the ScriptScanner. Alternatives include use another browser for now (with most browsers you can import bookmarks and homepages). Also, SiteAdvisor 3.4 will provide *some* overlapping protection, specifically for scripts run in iFrames on webpages

Ed Bott now suspects that McAfee is not solely to blame for the crashes. In his opinion, it is the rapid release process that “plays havoc with the makers of browser add-ons”. Bott supports the claim by mentioning that Symantec also experienced compatibility issues in some of their products.

What’s your take on the issue?

---

© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us, digg, facebook, reddit, twitter
Post tags: firefox add-ons, mcafee, mozilla, mozilla blocklist, mozilla-firefox