Tag: firefox

Firefox

Mozilla warns: add-ons will be deactivated in outdated Firefox versions

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Firefox users who run outdated versions of the web browser will run into troubles in March 2025 according to Mozilla.

The details:

  • A certificate used by Mozilla for various services, including Firefox, will run out on March 14, 2025.
  • Recent versions of Firefox are unaffected, as they include the new certificate.
  • Old Firefox installations are affected. Issues include that add-ons will stop working and that DRM-content may refuse to play.

Firefox installations on all supported platforms but on iOS are affected, if they do not meet the following minimum versions:

  • Firefox Stable 128 or higher.
  • Firefox ESR 115.13 or higher.

Upgrading Firefox is the only way to prevent issues caused by the expiring root certificate.

Firefox users may select Menu > Help > About Firefox to run a check for updates. The browser should display the newest version automatically so that it can be downloaded and installed.

Firefox users who do not update the browser may run into several issues, according to Mozilla.

  • Installed add-ons will be disabled.
  • DRM-protected content, may fail to play “due to failed updates”.
  • Features that rely on remote updates will stop working.
  • Systems “dependent on content verification could stop functioning properly”.

Firefox will still run if it is not updated, but some functionality won’t be available anymore. Mozilla notes that outdated versions of Firefox may also have security issues that were fixed in newer versions.

Mozilla explains that the issue is caused by an expiring root certificate. Root certificates are used mainly for verification purposes. Expired certificates cannot be used anymore, which results in the issues.

Firefox users who run outdated versions should consider upgrading to a newer version that supports the new root certificate. (via Sören Hentzschel)

Firefox Translate

Firefox Translate is finally getting support for Japanese, Chinese, and Korean

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Firefox Translate is a built-in translation feature of the Firefox web browser that is special. It is special, because its translation engine runs locally. That’s great for privacy, as no translation service needs to be contacted on the Internet with information on the site you visited or the content that you want translated.

The main downside to Firefox Translate is that it supports fewer languages. One of the main shortcomings was missing support for the languages Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.

Good news is, that Mozilla has added support for the three languages to Firefox Nightly. In other words: you can now translate webpages that are in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean using Firefox’s built-in translation feature. Yes, that works offline as well.

Once you have installed the latest Firefox Nightly version, you have these languages at your disposal. Note that you need to download language packs for these languages in the settings before you can get started.

Here is how that is done:

  1. Load about:preferences in the Firefox address bar or select Menu > Preferences.
  2. Scroll down to Translations on the page.
  3. Select the Download button next to any language that you want to translate using Firefox.

The languages become available immediately after the downloads complete.

Firefox may either suggest to translate a webpage when it is opened, or you may select the translate icon in the address bar to display the translate interface.

Hit the translate button to translate the webpage to the selected language. A click on the translate settings icon displays the usual options. These include never translate a specific language or always translate it.

Closing Words

It will take some time before support for the new languages arrives in Firefox Stable. Still, the integration is a major milestone for Mozilla and part of the Firefox user base.

While there is still work to be done, as major languages are still unsupported, translate functionality is a major win for users of the Firefox web browser.

Have you tried Firefox’s translate functionality? What is your take on it? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Mozilla releases Deep Fake Detector for Firefox

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has released another Firefox extension after Orbit. Deep Fake Detector is a free beta extension for Firefox that determines whether text has been created by AI or humans.

It is part of Fakespot, a service that Mozilla acquired some time ago. Fakespot checks reviews on popular shopping sites to determine whether they are legitimate.

The new browser extension uses Fakespot’s ApolloDFT Engine, but it works with text on any website.

Using the extension is quite simple: You select some text and either right-click on the selection and select “Scan for Deepfakes”, or activate the add-on’s icon in the Firefox toolbar to do so.

The extension needs an active Internet connection and the text that you have selected is passed on to the detection engine. The result tells you the AI’s assessment in regards to human or AI authorship.

It is interesting to note that the extension queries multiple services. It does rely on Fakespot’s own engine, but also three additional ones (ZipPy, Binocular, and UAR). These may not always come to the same conclusion, as you can see on the screenshot below.

You may disable models in the settings of the extension. There you find ratings for each of the used models and options to disable them.

Ratings include the speed of analysis, domain versatility, short and long text handling. If you have a preference, you can disable the others to focus the analysis on that one engine.

What is it good for?

The Internet is flooded with AI-generated texts already. Be it reviews on shopping sites, blog posts, comments, posts in forums or on social media sites, and in many other places.

Finding out if a text has been generated by AI can be useful to determine trust. While that should not be the only factor, it may be useful to weed out AI-generated content to focus on the human-generated content instead.

The developers have big plans for the extension. They want to add image and video analysis in the future, which would make it more versatile and useful.

Closing Words

All in all, Deep Fake Detector is a useful extension that may help you detect AI generated text on the Internet. While it may be wrong at times, use of multiple models may decrease the chance.

Most models rely on Internet connectivity as computations are run on servers and not on user systems. This is the case for the extension as well. This may change in the not-so-near future, but for now, it is the norm and little can be done about it.

What is your take on the extension? Would you use it to check text? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Mozilla removes Do Not Track from Firefox and suggests alternative, but there is a better one

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla plans to remove the Do Not Track feature from Firefox. The idea behind it was simple: inform websites that the user of the browser does not want to be tracked.

What looked good on paper did not work well in the real world. Many sites ignored the header, which made it ineffective as a privacy tool.

Related:

Mozilla removes Adjust marketing integration from Firefox Mobile

Mozilla confirmed the removal of Do Not Track on its bug tracking website.

Global Privacy Control is the alternative

Global Privacy Control was created by several companies in 2020 as a successor to Do Not Track. The core difference to Do Not Track is that it is designed to be mandatory instead of optional, at least in some regions where consumer laws are in place.

Firefox users may enable the feature in the following way:

  1. Select the Menu button and then Settings.
  2. Switch to Privacy & Security.
  3. Check “Tell websites not to sell or share my data” under Website Privacy Preferences.

Is there a better alternative?

Whether advertisers, Internet sites, marketing companies, or other companies and services that track users honor the new Global Privacy Control feature is not in the control of the individual user.

Yes, some companies may get sued if they do not, but there is a good chance that this won’t reach mass adoption in the coming years and that tracking continues to take place.

That leaves taking care of tracking as good as you can by yourself. In fact, installing a content blocker and disabling third-party cookies are two of the best options in that regard.

While you could do more, these methods alone will block the bulk of tracking that you would otherwise be subject to on today’s Internet.

So, pick uBlock Origin and install it in a browser that is not operated by a multi-billion Dollar company. Then, open the Settings of the browser and disable third-party cookies.

Note: in some rare, very rare, instances, third-party cookies may prevent functionality on a low number of websites. If that is the case, you may still set exceptions for these sites while keeping third-party cookies blocked for every other site.

Now it is your turn. Do you enable privacy features such as Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control? What do you to block tracking on the Internet?

Firefox downloads and installs faster on Linux thanks to a recent change

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Linux users who download Firefox from Mozilla to install the browser on their device will experience quicker downloads and installs going forward.

Mozilla explained on its Nightly website that it switched the packaging to .tar.xz from the previously used .tar.bz2 format.

The change has the following benefits:

  • The average file size of Firefox is 25 percent smaller.
  • The new format offers improved decompression speeds.
  • Improved compatibility.

A 25 percent reduction in file size reduces the time a download takes. Combined with faster decompression of the new format, it means that Linux users will be able to start using Firefox earlier than before.

Linux users who want to give this a try can check out the change on the Firefox Nightly download page. The download of Firefox for Linux is offered as a .tar.xz package.

The change will roll out to Firefox Beta and Release channels in the coming weeks. Maintainers should take note of the new format and update scripts that they may be using to handle both package formats or start using .tar.xz exclusively.

Mozilla says that it made the decision to use .tar.xz instead of .zst on Linux because the selected format offers better compression. The format is in wide use as well and has no extra dependencies.

Users interested in the development can check out the main listing on Bugzilla.

What is your take on the change? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Firefox

Mozilla celebrates Firefox’s 20th birthday with a video that teases upcoming features.

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has published a video to celebrate the 20th birthday of its Firefox web browser. The video showcases some of the existing features of the web browser and also upcoming features.

As far as new features are concerned, there is none that has not been mentioned before. Still, it is a good opportunity to see these features in action in the video. It is only a minute in size.

Here is the list of features that Mozilla teases in the video:

  • New Firefox profile manager and profile customization options.
  • Improved sidebar customization options.
  • Creation and management of tab groups.

The two big upcoming features are support for tab groups and the improved profile manager. All Chromium-based browsers support tab groups already. They may be used to improve tab management.

I use tab groups to differentiate between different tasks for the most part. What I like is that I can collapse tab groups so that an entire group takes up little space in the browser’s address bar.

Yes, some prefer to use bookmarks or other means to keep an eye on tabs. That is perfectly fine as well. Tab groups do not take anything away from that, but they add an option for users who like them.

Firefox Profiles gets an upgrade

The second feature improves the accessibility of the profile manager in Firefox. While Firefox supported profiles for a very, very long time, it was never put right in front of the user like in Chrome or Chromium.

Again, not ever Firefox user uses profiles. One reason for that is likely that it is difficult to find out about profile support in first place. You can stumble upon profiles in Firefox or on the Web, but there is a good chance that many Firefox users do not know about this feature at all.

If done right, this could be an introduction to profiles for lots of Firefox users.

I have to admit that I do not use profiles. I see their use, but I switch between so many browsers that these browsers are somehow like different profiles that I use. But, some users will certainly find this helpful.

What is your take on 20 years of Firefox and the features that Mozilla is teasing. Is this something you are looking forward to? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Firefox

Firefox 131 ships with Tab Previews, Temporary Permissions, and other usability improvements

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla released a new version of the Firefox web browser today. Firefox 131.0 is the new stable version of the browser. It is available for all supported operating systems and introduces several new features and improvements.

The details:

  • Site permissions may now be granted temporarily to sites.
  • Firefox displays previews when hovering over tabs.
  • Firefox Translate supports Swedish.
  • Links to text snippets on websites can now be shared.
  • Security fixes.

Firefox 131.0: new features

Temporary permissions

Firefox temporary permissions

Firefox is not the first web browser to support temporary permissions, but it is still a welcome feature. The main idea here is to allow sites access to certain features only for the session by default.

You can still enable permanent permissions. This can be useful if you use a website or app regularly and do not want to be bothered by permission prompts each time you open it.

Firefox permanent permission

Firefox revokes the permission automatically after one hour or when the tab is closed. A click on the site icon reveals whether permissions are temporary or permanent.

Tab Previews

Firefox Tab Previews

Tab previews have finally arrived in Firefox 131.0. Just hover over any open tab in the Firefox web browser and you will get a visual preview of the site or app.

You also see the page title and domain name in the preview. Previews work for local and public pages in Firefox.

Firefox users who do not like the feature can turn it off easily:

  1. Load about:preferences#general in the address bar.
  2. Scroll down to the Tabs section on the page that opens.
  3. Uncheck “Show an image preview when you hover on a tab”.

Firefox will only show the page title and domain name from now on.

Linking to text fragments

This feature allows you to link to specific text on a webpage. There does not seem to be a context menu option yet for this, which makes it a bit hard to create this type of links.

To link to text, append #:~:text=TEXT to the address and replace TEXT with text that you want to link to on the page.

Note: Firefox will always pick the first instance of that text on the page. You may need to be specific, if multiple instances of the text are on the page.

Example: https://chipp.in/software/qbittorrent-5-0-is-now-available-with-a-massive-list-of-changes/#:~:text=qBittorrent%205.0

This address highlights the first instance of qBittorrent 5.0 on the linked page.

Check out Mozilla’s detailed instructions for using the feature here.

You can check out the full release notes here.

What is your take on these features? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Tab Group in Firefox

Firefox is getting Tab Groups – and you may try the feature already

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Tab Groups is a useful browser feature that allows you to group open websites together for better management. Most Chromium-based browsers support Tab Groups, as Google implemented them in Chromium and Chrome.

That’s one of the advantages of using an established browser source that is developed constantly. Don’t get me wrong, there are also disadvantages, like the death of Manifest V2 extensions support, which Google put into Chromium.

It is interesting to note that Mozilla introduced Tab Groups into Firefox at a time when Chrome and Chromium-based browsers did not really support it. Called Panorama, Mozilla launched it in 2010 as a way for users to group tabs.

While the implementation was not as elegant as what Google introduced in Chromium and Chrome, it was nevertheless a useful feature to some. Firefox extensions like TabGroups Manager would improve accessibility and usability. Mozilla decided to kill tab groups in Firefox eventually.

A few months ago, Mozilla announced that it would listen to feature requests from the community. Next to vertical tabs, Firefox would also get support for tab groups.

Tab Groups in Firefox Nightly

Firefox Tab Groups Enable

First bits of code have now landed in Firefox Nightly.

Note: Tab Groups in Firefox is not feature-complete at this point. There is no point in criticism Mozilla at this point, as development is still ongoing.

With that said, Firefox users who want to follow the development may enable Tab Groups in Firefox in the following way:

  • Make sure that Firefox Nightly is up to date (check Menu > Help > About Firefox Nightly).
  • Load about:config in the browser’s address bar.
  • Search for browser.tabs.groups.enabled.
  • Click on the toggle icon to set the value to true.
  • Restart Firefox.

Right-click on a tab and select “Add tab to new group” to create a new tab group in Firefox. You can drag & drop tabs between groups already. Some features, such as the ability to collapse and expand groups, are not implemented yet.

What is your take on tab groups in Firefox? Do you plan to use the feature once it lands? Feel free to write a comment down below.

Firefox

Mozilla removes Adjust marketing integration from Firefox Mobile

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has used Adjust in Firefox for mobile products for years for a very specific purpose: to determine if the installation of the mobile browser originated from an advertising campaign.

In other words, Adjust helped Mozilla track conversions of its advertising campaigns. It also send anonymous usage summaries occasionally, according to Mozilla.

Starting in Firefox 129.0.2 for Android and iOS, Adjust appears no longer integrated in the Firefox browser.

When you check Settings > Data Collection after upgrading to the latest version, you will notice that the Adjust option is no longer listed.

Firefox Mobile Adjust Marketing
Left side: Firefox with Adjust. Right side: Latest Firefox without Adjust

The Marketing data option is no longer available. It allowed Firefox users to enable or disable the sharing of usage data with Mozilla.

Mozilla did not mention the removal in the official release notes. It is therefore unclear why it has been removed, if you just look at the changelog.

Bugzilla listings confirm that this has not been done in error. Bug 1913363, for example, confirms the removal of the “metric service” and the toggle in Firefox. (via Sören Hentzschel)

Closing words

The removal addresses a major issue that some users have with Firefox: that the browser’s defaults are not ideal for a browser that strives to protect the privacy of users.

With Adjust gone, there is one less thing to worry about in this regard.

Which browser do you use on your mobile devices? Why do you use that browser and not another? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

0.0.0.0 Day: decade-old vulnerability affects all browsers

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Security researchers have disclosed a vulnerability that affects all modern browsers. What makes it particularly worrisome is that it has been known for 18 years; that goes back to a time before Google even thought of creating Chrome.

The details:

  • The researchers call the issue 0.0.0.0 Day.
  • It allows malicious websites to interact with services that run on the local network.
  • This could lead to unauthorized access or remote code execution attacks on local services from outside the local network.

In other words: the security issue allows the circumvention of security protections by malicious websites. Chromium’s Private Network protection does not protect against this, neither does Firefox. Apple’s Safari browser was also vulnerable, but the company has released a patch that blocks access to 0.0.0.0.

The blog post provides a technical description of the vulnerability. It also explains why it took this long to react on it.

The researchers found a Mozilla bug listing that dates back 18 years. It shows that the developers were not sure whether the reported bug was a security issue, a bug, or no flaw at all.

How Google, Mozilla, and Apple plan to react

Researchers at Oligo disclosed the vulnerability to security teams of major browsers in April 2024.

  • Google: plans to block access starting in Chrome 128 and finalize the rollout by Chrome 133. Other Chromium-based browsers will get this as well.
  • Apple: has implemented a change that blocks destination host IP addresses, if the IP is all zeroes.
  • Mozilla: fix is in progress. Firefox is special, as it never restricted Private Network Access in first place. Will implement Private Network Access, but no ETA on this one.

The fixes are important, but so is standardization of the issue. HTTP requests to 0.0.0.0 should be added to security standards according to the security researchers.

Closing Words

The security researchers note that use of 0.0.0.0 on the Web is on the rise. They use counters provided by Chromium for this. According to those, it is used by 0.015% of all websites. While that may not sound like much, it equates to roughly 100,000 public websites that may communicate with 0.0.0.0.

Malicious actors may exploit the issue in their attacks. Oligo points out that ShadowRay, a recent attack that targets AI workloads, could be executed from browsers using 0.0.0.0 as the attack vector.

It is unclear if browser extensions such as Port Authority for Firefox provide protection against this kind of attack.

What is your take on this new vulnerability? Seems that there is always something new, or shall I say old, that is affecting the security of browsers. (via Born)