Mozilla Had A Rough Night With Add-Ons Getting Disabled Due To An Expired Certificate

[Danny3]

I don't get it.
Aren't these certificates needed only when you install the add-on?
Do firefox phones home every time I open my browser and if they don't like something they disable it, like in this case?
I thought that once you install firefox and and the needed add-ons, then you have everything on your computer and you are in control.
No wonder that Firefox it's rapidly turning into Windows 10 with the forced upgrades,, disabling features remotely, etc...
It was a good browser in the past.

[microcode]

I no longer have any respect for Mozilla.

Not only do they use their signing authority for political reasons (removing Dissenter because they don't like the user generated content), but they can't even manage to keep the signatures up to date. Mozilla has made a transition from moral principle to moral prostitution, and from technical competence to technical illiteracy.

Rest In Peace.

[misGnomer]

Mozilla Add-ons Blog has an update on this issue and that might be a good place to search for the latest info.

Some Linux distros like Mint package Firefox independently from Mozilla and I suppose the proper fix (updated certificate) will also percolate through the packager.

[ssokolow]

Given how I don't consider it safe to make any HTTP requests on the modern web without extensions like uMatrix, Decentraleyes, and CanvasBlocker, this makes me very glad that I always run versions of Firefox that obey xpinstall.signatures.required=false.

I didn't notice anything had changed until I read this article and went to my addons listing to find a list of (advisory but unenforced) "... could not be verified for use in Firefox. Proceed with caution." messages.

[schmidtbag]

Funny, I was hoping to see a news article on this when I opened up Phoronix today. Glad I wasn't left disappointed.

Stuff like this is why I don't commit to a single browser. I like Chrome and Firefox about equally (Firefox slightly more, since when the add-ons work, they're better for my needs) so whenever one of them makes a big mistake like this, it's not hard for me to adapt.

[JMB9]

It is quite impressive that companies like Mozilla or Google are not capable of managing events ...
Suddenly Googles deb-keys for Chrome and Earth expired - and it took them more than 24 hours for chrome and several more days for Google Earth.
Now Mozilla got expired certificate ... maybe they should force those people in charge of such calendar-critical events working for that companies to use Lightning (Thunderbird Calendar Add-on developed by Mozilla - not liked to have more time to concentrate on Firefox - and now seeing `some' care again).
Maybe Google should not try making moon-shots but stay on earth doing their boring work.
Both companies should not waste time to change GUIs - there should be several ones to chose from anyway - but focus on functionality.
Anyway, nice to see IT experts showing the perfect use of computers ... probably a booklet would currently do a better job for them!

This is pretty annoying. EVERY extension and theme (image and like 2 colors in a manifest, does this even need a signature that involves waiting for Mozilla's approval?) is disabled for me right now, it hit me somewhat later than others, and I thought it was just a heavy shilling operation (it is, but it's aligned with a major blunder on Mozilla's part). Turns out it isn't, and I've decided to wait for Mozilla to resolve their issue the proper way. It's pretty annoying to not have an ad blocker, and being forced to put up with malware running in my browser (that's what modern ads are).
Solutions like Certbot exist, I'm perplexed by the fact that outdated certificates are still a thing.
I'm not saying Mozilla is perfect, but at least they're not Google, and their browser is pretty much the only option other than webkit at this point.

[Grinch]

Just got my Firefox addons back, had to enable 'Firefox Data Collection and Use' and the suboption 'Allow Firefox to install and run studies' to get the hotfix, (you can disable the options again as soon as you get the update).

I have no idea what is going on over at Mozilla for something like this to happen, first they remove the user option of using unsigned addons and then they can't even keep their certificates updated.

[Ironmask]

Already uninstalled Firefox and installed Waterfox in it's place, and it's a wonderful drop-in replacement. There is absolutely no excuse for this.

[Kepsz]

I did not experienced any problems. uBolcok Origin and other extensions worked fine today.