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Major Firefox Addons Issue Strikes All Users

After Mozilla allowed a critical security certificate to expire, Firefox users worldwide are having their addons disabled

By Elnian Sat 04 May, 2019 7:06 PM
Coming home from dinner today, I turned on my computer and opened Firefox. Almost immediately, I noticed all of the addons I've been using are suddenly missing. I started the troubleshooting process, only to discover the addons are being classified as "Legacy", meaning Firefox will not load them as they didn't pass the strict verification requirements Mozilla has in place for addons.

Of course, I did what every other user would've done at this point. I attempted to download the addons again, only to be met with an error that states "Download failed. Please check your connection." I started searching the web for that error, and found a few posts on Reddit with others experiencing the same issue. I also came across a few issues filed on Github that were quickly closed as "spam". Needless to say, it was a very widespread issue.

Mozilla did attempt to downplay the severity of the issue, and even stated "...we need to discover how widespread this issue is..." on their own bugtracker. That comment didn't go down very well. Later on, a Mozilla developer confirmed it is a certificate issue that's causing the issue. Mozilla simply allowed the certificate to expire. That is a major oversight for an organization with millions of people who use their software.

Mozilla has been keeping up with updates on their official Twitter page, as well as on their community forums and a central issue on their bugtracker. As of the writing of this article, no new updates are available other than "We're working on it.". Hopefully they are able to renew the certificate quickly and install it. As a developer myself, I understand the intricacies of working with SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificates, and I always renew my certificates at least 2 weeks before they are set to expire.

Since the certificate expired, the browsers will now have to wait a certain amount of time before the browser checks for an updated certificate. Installing a new certificate before the old one expires is always easier, as there would be no interruption in service. Waiting until the expiration date is not a good idea since there will be a period of time in which a user's browser will still say the certificate is invalid; at least until the cache expires.

Keep an eye here at UFPlanets.com for more information on this developing story!

WRITTEN BY Elnian
EDITED BY Infinity
6 Comments
Sat 04 May, 2019 7:09 PM
I'm reading this using Mozilla. Seems to be working well for me. Maybe it's a regional update thing.
Sat 04 May, 2019 7:20 PM
From what I was able to gather, it did affect all users worldwide. However, most Firefox installs have a Firefox feature called Studies enabled by default. The studies are a way for Mozilla to quickly send out hotfixes and other updates without requiring a Firefox update to take place.

More information can be found here:
https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019...ns-in-firefox/
Sat 04 May, 2019 7:21 PM
only app i have is ublock and never had a issue
Sat 04 May, 2019 7:26 PM
only app i have is ublock and never had a issue
I got a couple of themes and google translate and what not. All good on my end to be honest, wasn't even affected in the least bit.
Sat 04 May, 2019 9:47 PM
Definitely affected me today, went downstairs to talk to my mum and when I came back everything was working, so no damage done! :') (For me at least!)
Wed 08 May, 2019 2:44 PM
Happened Friday night in my timezone. I was tired and just wanted to play some video games, so I didn't take any action other than whinge.
If it had been Saturday I would have quit Firefox after almost ten years straight of brand loyalty, migrating to Chrome.
It was fixed when I woke up Saturday afternoon.