saved logins appearing as a dropdown box
I didn't know if this needed to be in Privacy and Security Settings or Cookies, so please feel free to move this to wherever it fits best. Here is my problem. I have saved logins on a lot of sites that all work perfectly. There are several websites that I have multiple accounts that all have their login credentials saved. My problem is that there is one specific website that until recently was operating just fine, but in the last week has started a nuisance issue. When I log into the website I select the login profile I need and everything starts off just fine. About 5 minutes later, whatever I am working on gets hijacked by a dropdown appearing in the upper corner of the screen that lists the six logins that I have for that website. If I continue to try typing, nothing happens (as in, the dropdown list stays there and whatever form I was typing on no longer has any data being entered). If I press ESC, the dropdown list goes away but it also closes down the form I was using. If I use the mouse and click anywhere on the screen, then the dropdown list goes away and I can continue using the form I have open. About 5 minutes later, or if I open up a new form, the dropdown list comes back and I have to do this all over again. I have talked to IT of the website and they stated that they have never seen this issue before. Other users that also use Firefox have never mentioned this to them before. Is there a setting that I need to change? Do I need to clear the cookies for this website? Do I need to just delete all of the saved login information and then re-save it? Thank you for your help.
All Replies (6)
All questions here get loaded on the same site; there are no sections for particular categories.
Do you mean that the drop down list appears after you have logged in and are using a different website on another tab?
This drop-down list would normally be anchored to the input field you are working on instead of floating.
Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or if userChrome.css/userContent.css is causing the problem.
- switch to the Default System theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
- do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/diagnose-firefox-issues-using-troubleshoot-mode
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-extensions-themes-to-fix-problems
Current Firefox releases include sub domains as a suggestion in the drop-down list. You can set signon.includeOtherSubdomainsInLookup = false on the about:config page to disable this feature to show sub domains.
To test whether a specific field triggers it: If you tab to the next field, does it go away? And if you tab back to the previous field does it come back? [I should have said Shift+Tab back...]
If so:
I wonder whether the data somehow became corrupted for one of the saved logins for the site. When you save a login, Firefox stores the associated username and password field names. If Firefox thinks the cursor entered a username or password field on that site, it may show all logins for the site, even the ones intended to be filled in other user name and password fields.
Logins are saved in the logins.json file in your currently active profile folder, along with the user name and password field names, as in this example:
(The user names and passwords are encrypted using the key in the key4.db file, so it's normal that those fields are indecipherable when you look at logins.json.)
To investigate this theory, you could open logins.json in a tab in Firefox to take advantage of the JSON viewer (pictured above). The easiest way to access the file is to use the Troubleshooting Information page. Either:
- "3-bar" menu button > Help > More Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > More Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows File Explorer.
Move/resize that window so you can see the Troubleshooting Information page, and then drag-and-drop logins.json onto it to load the file. After a few minutes, it should reformat to the more readable layout.
Can you find one of the logins for the site is not like the others in the username or password field? If so, it may make sense to go to the Passwords page and delete that one, and resave it again later in the correct location.
Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
Some websites use hidden input fields and use a 'fake' input field and copy data to the actual username and password field when you submit the form. I'm not sure whether Firefox always uses the name of a field and not looks for a password field on the page and moves up in the DOM to use the first field with type="text" for the username.
You can right-click and select "Inspect" to open the built-in Inspector with this element selected.
To answer all of the questions at once...
1) @Dropa, I have installed no extensions or mods on this browser except for "SentinelOne" that was added by my company's IT department and I cannot disable or remove and I am not using userChrome.css or any other mods on the Browser.
2) @Terry and @cor-el, the drop down list first initially appears when I am logging into the website and is anchored to the "username" box as is expected and normal. It is only after logging in and continuing to work in the website that the dropdown starts appearing randomly and is always anchored up in the top left corner of the screen as shown in my screenshot. This only appears on this website and only on this tab. If I go to any other tab I see no odd dropdowns until I go back into this specific tab. The dropdown only shows the logins associated with this company/user login. I don't feel that this is a "hidden input" field issue since other users that use Chrome and Edge have not experienced this issue, just me :)
3) I will attempt rebooting in "Troubleshooting" mode and see if I see something that I can post about.
4) @jscher2000, this is not a field specific issue. It will happen nearly every time I move to a different portion of this webpage and multiple times on each portion going through different fields, and not always the same field each time.
Something I forgot to mention in my initial post, is that this website is logging into a remote desktop, but I am guessing you already figured that out by looking at the website address in my picture :)
Now that you mention the address... is the page framed? If you right-click (or Shift+right-click) the page, is there a "This Frame" menu?
Just wondering whether there is a zero-width/zero-height frame somewhere with a login form where the cursor somehow entering either the user name or password field.
(There is a credential theft attack that involves using a hidden frame, but that seems unlikely in this case.)