What is this Firefox addon?

darael · 20 Sep 2016 at 21:08

I've just updated my addons for Firefox and watched as an addon called Firefox Hotfix 20160826.01 added itself. It is also there on another PC, but don't recall being asked for my permission to install it.

Does anybody else have this addon?

SexyGreyFox · 20 Sep 2016 at 21:12

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Firefox+Hotfix+20160826.01

darael · 20 Sep 2016 at 22:01

I had already tried Googling it, but didn't really find much helpful information.

Orcvader · 20 Sep 2016 at 22:56

Just checked mine, FF 49, it's not there for me, although I only just updated to 49 so it might appear for me later.

From the Google result: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/firefox-hotfix/

Addon is from the actual Mozilla team.

This official add-on enables Firefox to provide quick fixes for selected issues.

Latest version is 20160826.01 released on the 30th Aug.

A link in the description explaining what it is: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Features/Desktop/Add-on_hotfix

Basically it's a way for Mozilla to release updates to Firefox that don't require a completely new version of the browser, and also allows the user to uninstall it if it does cause problems.

jpaul · 21 Sep 2016 at 08:46

Firefox is pretty stable and its functionality changes little - no ?
so I no longer allow it to update itself, as in the past, those essential add-ons, can become incompatible, and then, trying to roll-back is painful (just looked I have 31/43/40 currently running)

Punt · 21 Sep 2016 at 09:03

jpaul said:
those essential add-ons, can become incompatible, and then, trying to roll-back is painful

I run the ESR (Extended Support Release) version for this very reason. Still gets updated but doesn't mess with my add-on compatibility. YMMV

mrk · 22 Sep 2016 at 10:34

jpaul said:
Firefox is pretty stable and its functionality changes little - no ?
so I no longer allow it to update itself, as in the past, those essential add-ons, can become incompatible, and then, trying to roll-back is painful (just looked I have 31/43/40 currently running)

This hasn't been the case for ages now. I always update, and none of the 15 or so addons I use have become incompatible.

joeyjojo · 23 Sep 2016 at 10:01

jpaul said:
Firefox is pretty stable and its functionality changes little - no ?
so I no longer allow it to update itself, as in the past, those essential add-ons, can become incompatible, and then, trying to roll-back is painful (just looked I have 31/43/40 currently running)

You should probably keep it up to date if at all possible.

To illustrate the point, just yesterday there was an update for the debian package which covered the following security flaws

Package : firefox-esr
CVE ID : CVE-2016-5250 CVE-2016-5257 CVE-2016-5261 CVE-2016-5270
CVE-2016-5272 CVE-2016-5274 CVE-2016-5276 CVE-2016-5277
CVE-2016-5278 CVE-2016-5280 CVE-2016-5281 CVE-2016-5284

Multiple security issues have been found in the Mozilla Firefox web
browser: Multiple memory safety errors, buffer overflows and other
implementation errors may lead to the execution of arbitrary code or
information disclosure.

In August it was

Package : firefox-esr
CVE ID : CVE-2016-2830 CVE-2016-2836 CVE-2016-2837 CVE-2016-2838
CVE-2016-5252 CVE-2016-5254 CVE-2016-5258 CVE-2016-5259
CVE-2016-5262 CVE-2016-5263 CVE-2016-5264 CVE-2016-5265

Multiple security issues have been found in the Mozilla Firefox web
browser: Multiple memory safety errors, buffer overflows and other
implementation errors may lead to the execution of arbitrary code,
cross-site scriping, information disclosure and bypass of the same-origin
policy.

In June:

Package : firefox-esr
CVE ID : CVE-2016-2818 CVE-2016-2819 CVE-2016-2821 CVE-2016-2822
CVE-2016-2828 CVE-2016-2831

Multiple security issues have been found in the Mozilla Firefox web
browser: Multiple memory safety errors, buffer overflows and other
implementation errors may lead to the execution of arbitrary code or
spoofing.

etc. etc.!

jpaul · 23 Sep 2016 at 11:42

Thanks, I did not know of esr releases, seems it gives you stability for a year, and released once a year (if I read that right).
I use noscript (and commonsense) so hopefully not exposed to some of the security risks.
It has been the vertical tab add-ons that I have principally found incompatible, not sure why that is not part of mozilla (have not checked very recently) ...
(afterthought maybe most users have portrait mobile phones)

KIA · 23 Sep 2016 at 18:07

jpaul said:
I use noscript (and commonsense) so hopefully not exposed to some of the security risks.

Borderline suicidal.

jpaul · 23 Sep 2016 at 22:20

Before they died, my parents told me stories about how the world once was; what it was like long before I was born; before noscript. They remembered a green world, vast and beautiful, filled with laughter and hope for the future. It's a world I never knew. By the time I was born, all this was gone.

It is not so bad, once you have a core set of sites you spend 80% of your time on, configured, better than adblock plus where your data gets sold
and in terms of pain insignificant compared to windows10 hassles and windows 7 updates (rollups imminent in October)

a more difficult quote

windows 10: an OS from a dying planet. It's destination: the Earth. It's purpose: to make it *their* world. David Vincent has seen it. For him, it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a shortcut that he never found. It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. It began with the upgrade . Now, David Vincent knows that windows 10 is here, . Somehow, he must convince a disbelieving world, that the nightmare has already begun...