This issue seems to be a rather new thing to pop up. I've been answering Firefox support questions for a good amount (~5 years) and this issue looks new as doing an advanced search on our site shows no threads. (Unless I'm doing it wrong but I'm sure I'm not)

If you believe that this is an issue with Firefox, I suggest filing a bug over at Bugzilla, Mozilla's bug-tracking system. You can file this in the General component: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Firefox

If IE has the same issue, then I suppose Microsoft developers needto work on that as well. As I said, please file a bug to see if developers have any additional information or if they can fix it, they'll send in a patch and probably either work it into a chemspill update (29.0.2) or they'll release it in Firefox 30.

Thank you Thanks for link

IE works as it should with the Office link to "cloud" account

Will do now Regards

If you do file a bug please list it here so others who have this same problem can CC themselves to follow the bug progress.

Thanks.

Ah Ive looked at bugzilla: probably beyond what I could at an appropriate level.

I can confirm that the same issue is present with chrome to the same web page ??

Malware targeting FF and Chrome ?? ( see other posts reporting different pages popping up. ) Same parsing error  ??

Regards

i can't speak for Google or Mozilla developers but I will say that this is an odd issue. I can't test it out as I use Linux and don't want to install Office via Wine. I could test it out on my VM and get back to you on that. What version of Office are you using? Is it a desktop client or is it Web based?

OK.. I have Office 365 Home premium subscription http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/office365home/

Combination desktop and cloud

Obviously not a common issue eh :(

Ah, yeah. I can't do that.

I've escalated this thread so that way someone from the full-time professional SUMO HelpDesk team can get back to you and provide you more information than I know. Please wait 24-72 hours for a response

Thank you

Hopefully they can respond to the other posters too  : )

Hi there, Thank you for your question, Help Desk here with some more investigation. I could not reproduce this, but I am wondering if this is due to a different operating system. http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-.../browser-hijacking.aspx suggests that there may be an add on or security being surpassed.

Please also update your Flash version, there were some security updates fixed in the new version. http://helpx.adobe.com/security/produ.../apsb14-13.html there are also some recommended malware scanners:

Also try a firewall on your computer and click the same url that opens up with a new one. Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

• Microsoft Safety Scanner
• MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
• TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility
• Hitman Pro
• ESET Online Scanner

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Thankyou for the attention and reply

I have scanned with -really- every available tool: many more than your suggestions : ) Have scanned in safe mode and with boot disc tools No scanner detects anything.

My flash is absolutely up to date. Deleted all LSOs

I have checked router settings.

I've run all the sysinternals tools

Telstra au my ISP has a notorious history of DNS redirects : I have rerouted my DNS servers: same issue

I have tried user agent switch add on to change to IE8: same problem

I'm not good enough to track exactly what is happening here

I have been using XP since inception and afaik have never been hijacked or "infected" with anything to date ( LOL: knocks head on wooden desk ) LOL: high level paranoia here as default: One of the reasons FF is my default : ) so doubly disappointing to have this issue

BUT: ...

I have found something interesting ... With FF If I type "office.com/myaccount" into the browser location bar, it suggests https://office.com/myaccount.

Use that link and all good: goes to Office sign in page !! Can bookmark the page and using bookmark all good !!

( despite the fact the site uses Java 'till it's coming out my ears !! )

Sadly , this suggests that there is a problem with FF/gecko handling what ever stupid scripting code MS has used on that button.

Obviously with Chrome having a similar issue .....

Heh: I wonder whether MS has "poisoned" the button: that would be a good story

By comparison, IE as default handles the button with no issue: why is that??

I do lock down every available security and scripting option I can in FF Is that the issue ??

I bet this wont be the last time you will hear about this !

SO: I have a work around atm.

This doesnt explain the FF launch when IE is set as default ??

Not withstanding the bizarre nature of this issue as per the other posters referenced , the second window/tab popping up ; that is a real concern

Really, I hope the Mozilla devs can look at this

I will pursue malware testing and report back if I find something

BTW: The other buttons on that page in Office: "Update options" and "About Word" are no problem.

Regards Stephen

Hi Stephen,

This is unfortunately not going to make progress unless someone can reliably reproduce the issue. As it only happens to some people it is going to be those seeing the the problem that need to help investigate further.

What happens when you disable Firefox and set IE as default.

1. Disable Firefox. (Maybe temporarily rename its folder or file, or uninstall it {doNOT use options to remove personal information}).
2. Test IE to check it works as the default browser.
   Open some other link other local HTML document or something to confirm it opens ok with IE as expected.
3. Try your button what happens now
4. If it opens with some other browser disable that browser too, and repeat tests.

Please give the details of what you did at each step and what happens. I am thinking that if the problem can be reproduced in IE maybe it will be easier to find others with the problem and to find a solution.

At present you are saying above

Even with IE as default, clicking the link opens FF 3 windows. !! Wot ?

That seems odd but could be an issue with Windows or the Windows registry.

From the MS support reply to your question this could even be a known issue, or at least is being considered as caused by alternative browsers such as Firefox

All the web browsers (including Internet Explorer in Desktop mode) opens two tabs from "Manage Account" button when either of the two products are installed. These clearly indicates that these products are creating the issue. 

My unanswered thought is it seen in IE ? Or is that supposition from the person replying.

The next step may be to test in IE but with other browsers actually uninstalled. Then follow up with Firefox installed to see if the problem goes away and then re-emerges. If others with this problem are able to reproduce that then maybe a bug can be filed. Maybe someone elses suffering the problem could file the bug.

I note you opened a question on Mozillazine but do not see any sign that the issue is being reproduced over there.

• Really need help please... http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2839457&p=13596965

I suppose I am inclined to wonder if this is malware targeting Office 2013 and going unreported as it only normally shows up on none IE browsers.

My thoughts are that if you can demonstrate the problem in IE you can then test if Firefox causes the issue, which seems unlikely. MS & Google are not interested if it is seen as caused by Firefox and resolved by uninstalling Firefox.

In the archived thread /questions/974954 the poster apparently managed to escalate the issue with MS support but I do not think the problem reported was seen in IE

This is unfortunately not going to make progress unless someone can reliably reproduce the issue. As it only happens to some people it is going to be those seeing the the problem that need to help investigate further. Agree.

I'm not sure how many people have Office 365 Home Premium on subscription and want FF as default and have clicked through to that button: eventually, must be some who will note this issue too.

This is part of complete redo of home/office set up for me. The subscription model is fairly new. Didn't really want it: I got it as it was the cheapest option for me to update multiple boxes and tablets systems with MS Office..

Sounds like the 4 people who have had this issue might be home users with particular setups. The new office options and subscriptions are quite tricky to get to terms with ( and the new office graphics are revolting !!) There are other ways to access Account manager, dont have to go through Office itself. I have never had a MS account till now. Long term MS "package" users prolly have their accounts bookmarked in IE

I almost never ever use IE as first choice.

AS per previous posts, with FF and IE installed, set IE as default: click on that button > FireFox opens with the same tabs !! Absolutely no idea why that would be.

Unistall FF: IE goes through without problems

Install Chrome with IE ( no FF ), same sequence exactly.

Uninstall Chrome, Reinstall FF, reboot, same issue.

so within IE alone, no FF or Chrome installed, no problem

I suppose I'm going to have to check with Opera and any other browsers too .. I'll see if I can. Just don't want other browsers,

From the MS support reply to your question this could even be a known issue, or at least is being considered as caused by alternative browsers such as Firefox I didn't get the impression that my local support had ever heard of it. LOL, not even sure that they new what FF was. I will go back when I have time and try for high level support

I am sure that subject to finding some malware, MS will of course try and pin the blame on Mozilla and Google (Chrome) This was very low level local support person & I suspect: took the party line: "if it works with IE, then it's not our problem". I did not have time to get the issue escalated, I was, of course, hoping for some enlightenment from Mozilla.

My thoughts are that if you can demonstrate the problem in IE you can then test if Firefox causes the issue, which seems unlikely. MS & Google are not interested if it is seen as caused by Firefox and resolved by uninstalling Firefox.

As described, Doesn't happen with native IE install.

I note you opened a question on Mozillazine but do not see any sign that the issue is being reproduced over there. Not much/No interest there as yet ... falling ... down .. the pages..., prolly no further responses.

There could of course be some deep setup option/config I cant see.

If you have some Mozilla contacts: maybe they would like to remote in? It might be unusual enough to catch someone's eye.? There's nothing very exciting on my system LOL.

I'll try and scope out the malware/crapware possibility further.

It really irks me that there is no clear why or wherefore here.

Thanks for taking an interest If any thing changes , I'll be in touch. I will check back here periodically. Regards Stephen

HI Stephen, That would be a story if the button was deliberately doing this. Unfortunately Mozilla does not have a live support, but their admins are in the forums :-) I am happy to hear that the work around is working.

Finding where this hidden operation is may help find the culprit. If I may ask, does this happen in a private window when you click on this link as well? If it does not it may be in the cache and clearing all the history and cookies from that specific site may temporarily resolve this issue. Try also to clear the cache of IE to this site.

Or is it a script? NoScript may be able to help, as it has an option to Forbid META redirections inside

Thanks again I had forgotten about some of the NoScript options. It is one of the first addond I put. Have tested "no meta redirections" and "No Iframe" Same result.

(

CAche and cookies cleared at each session: same

I think this www.69a.com is some ebay related site

Any other suggestions ?? Regards

Hello All. I think I maybe have the explanation for this (or at least some useful clues to further aid somebody who really knows what they are doing).

All the below is running on Windows 7 64bit Pro and Office 365 on a HP ZBook 14 more or less straight out of the box.

First of all, as a slight aside, my Office installation does not seem to share with Windows a common idea of what the current browser is. On Windows it can be set as IE but the 'Manage Account' button in Excel still fires up Firefox. Somewhere deep in the Office part of the registry I wonder if there is a separate 'current broswer' value to the overall Windows one.

Anyway, when I do get IE to be the office default and click the 'Manage Account' button in Excel, the following page is opened up in IE:

http://o15.officeredir.microsoft.com/r/rlidOfficeManagementPortal?ver=15&app=excel.exe&clid=0000&p1=0&lidhelp=0000&liduser=0000&lidui=0000&MachineKey=00000-000-000000%20609

(Please note that for probably unneccesary security reasons I have replaced all the numbers in the above with zeroes, i.e. my clid is not really "0000". However, I have maintained the real "%20609" at the very end which was indeed in my url. This is important.)

As the 'officeredir' part of the url suggests, this more or less instantly redirects to the live.com log in page that starts:

https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=... etc.

It appears that Excel is trying to pass to the login page useful information such as my Machine Key, Client(?) ID, etc. However, it's worth noting that you can mangle up these numbers and the login page still appears to me to be all functional and correct. IE and this web page seem to cope happily with various rubbish in the url.

Of course the reason for this post is that I too get an extra tab, which also gave me some real cause for concern. In my case, it is simply titled "609". It does not resolve to a web page and I get an "Unable to Connect, Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at 609". (Some of you will be ahead of me now, but I'll continue on).

You will probably have noticed, as I did, that my original url from the 'Manage Account' button had "%20609" at the end and that this is the url encoding of " 609", i.e. a space followed by "609".

There is a difference between IE and Firefox as to how they are called from the windows command line. For example, using the Windows command start to fire up a Google search for "608 609", i.e. a search for the numbers 608 and 609, in IE the command line is:

start iexplore http://www.google.com/search?q=608 609

If you run this from the command line, IE will pop up with a nice search for the two numbers (with, probably, some regulations from the US EPA coming up at the top of the results list). IE will url encode that space between 608 and 609 the make the (q)uery equal to "608%20609". You should be able to see this in the url for the new IE tab.

If you want to do the same in Firefox then you might reasonably go for:

start firefox http://www.google.com/search?q=608 609

However, Firefox interprets this differently. It thinks that you want two tabs to open in Firefox, one for "http://www.google.com/search?q=608" and one for "609". If you run this, Firefox will pop up two tabs. The first will be the google search for "608" (probably a Wisconsin area code as the top result) and the second tab will be just like the extra tab that comes up exactly as when I hit "Manage Account" in Excel - just a page called "609" that fails to resolve.

At this point, you might think that your symptons are a bit different. Your extra tab is "http://69A.com" or "http://4a1.com" or "http://54b.com" and, unlike my "609", it does resolve to a webpage of dubious usefulness if not outright malware suspiciousness. However, I think that this is just about how Firefox handles what you pass into the address (aka awesome) bar. If it's a pure number then it probably thinks it's an IP address or something and leaves it alone. Howerver, if it's got an alphabetic character in it it thinks that you've probably just forgotten to add in the ".com" at the end. This means that when you fire up the command line

start firefox http://microsoft

it usefully realises that "microsoft.com" is a registered domain and helpfully adds the ".com" you may have have forgotten. Thing is, most short urls are also registered by some site squatter or another. The command line

start firefox http://69a

will bring up a tab with the dubious looking "http://www.69a.com". When this is the extra tab that appears from 'Manage Account', I would guess that the button code generates a url that ends in "%2069a". If you get "http://www.4a1.com" then I suspect that your generated url ends in the characters "%204a1", etc.

I'm going to stray further out of my depth here and suggest that this is unlikley to be a virus (or it's a very subtle one). I think that the 'Manage Account' button in Excel makes a call to what (MS Office considers to be) the default browser and passes it a url to open up. This url appareantly can have a space in it. In IE this is handled harmlessley enough. In Firefox, the part of the url after the space opens a separate tab which, by coincidence, can open up a dodgy looking web page.

I think that the three characters at the end are probably dependant on your machine ID, your operating system, your username, etc. That is to say, they are not the product of some polymorphic virus but really are probably fairly random. If they are dependant on our details and our Office installation then they certainly should be different for each of us. It may even be some memory leak corruption thing and the code in Office is firing out some really random stuff on the end of that command line call. The coders in the Microsoft Office team would never notice it in IE and even if they tested in Firefox they may not be guaranteed to see anything.

Sorry that was all a bit TL;DR but the upshot is that I think that this is something for Microsoft to fix rather than Mozilla. Based on my experience on my laptop I think that 1) Office is sometimes losing track of what is the default Windows browser and 2) the code that the 'Manage Account' button fires off needs to be tightened up a bit and stop putting an unescaped space in the url passed to the browser. IMHO, this is one more job to be added to the doubtless lengthy queue of bugs for the Office dev team to fix.

As you can probably tell, I'm no expert in all this. Anyone who really knows about this stuff think that this might be along the right lines? If so, anyone know how to pass this issue to Microsoft so their software can stop frightening us Firefox users?

@FirefoxOffice365user

Dude! Outstanding !!

I thought this would be likely to be an ongoing circumstance for what is likely to be many users of this new MS subscription setup, particularly if there is one of the multi-license installs that will need 'cloud' management, sooner or later.

Hello All. I think I maybe have the explanation for this (or at least some useful clues to further aid somebody who really knows what they are doing. LOL, looks to me like you know what you're doing :) I am not good enough to get to where you are. I was hoping this would be the case: both, some coding stuff up, and, someone with enough expertise to pry it open.

I think you've pinned it. I'm going to stray further out of my depth here and suggest that this is unlikley to be a virus Ya. Have had to consider that some crapware had got in somehow, but had no idea how or where from. The symptoms were suspicious but not definite.

Sorry that was all a bit TL;DR but the upshot is that I think that this is something for Microsoft to fix rather than Mozilla. ...... IMHO, this is one more job to be added to the doubtless lengthy queue of bugs for the Office dev team to fix.

Agree it's remarkable how MS has stuffed up what is really a very mature software suite in terms of graphics/GUI and useability. ( LOL; cf W8 !! )

I am wondering how much of this has got to do with the "default cloud" orientation. We have seen how MS has managed to cruel several implementations of their cloud services again and again.

As you can probably tell, I'm no expert in all this. Anyone who really knows about this stuff think that this might be along the right lines? If so, anyone know how to pass this issue to Microsoft so their software can stop frightening us Firefox users?

Very humble of you. Live in hope.

Not withstanding MS stuff ups, really, what we have come to expect. Considering we all rely on FF and support the Mozilla efforts, the Mozilla devs need to look at how FF ( and forks of ) are handling this call parsing of an interface with one of the most ubiquitous software suites on the planet.

As noted exactly the same issue with Chrome for me , did you test that too ?? Heh: Google and MS and Mozilla face off again??

No grandstanding here, but I bet this will be one of the most hit on threads in the Mozillaverse very soon.

I have been holding off using that box, and redoing home setup with new HW and new W7 install over 4 systems and 2 Laptops till this got cleared up.

Heh: been driving the domestic manager spare: "well, what are u doing?, how long?, when is all this stuff going to be sorted?, when are u going to clean all this stuff up?, when am I going to see the floor again......"

Looking forward to seeing further responses. Regards.

never mind: side issue

Browsing the office support sites: Multiple issues with Office tools: outlook, excel, hyperlinks in sheets and mail and documents unless IE is default and FF and Chrome uninstalled.

Similar threads to this popping up all over: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_365hp-office_install/ms-office-opens-with-google-chrome/ff375e76-e1df-4c0c-b60e-a1d655350526

Argh: Where can I get Office 2010 ??

If anyone still interested, been doing an interesting experiment here: This thread at NoScript forum: http://forums.informaction.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19753

Well, well.

regards

Follow up: I also created a bug with Office365User's theory. I could reproduce the command line issue as well.