Can't Log In to SSA Website
About six months ago, I posted here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1265504 b/c I was unable to log into the AT&T website. Seems others had the same issue but on various other wireless service sites and for various reasons - mine ended up being that either AT&T or UBlock had made some changes and I was forced to turn off UBlock at least for the log-in page. Later, I ended up having to kill both UBlock and AdBlock on another provider's website or the system would not recognize that I had scheduled a payment.
Now I find that I cannot log into the Social Security Administration's website. I started off by pausing AdBlock with no luck. I then turned off UBlock - no help. Turned both ad blockers OFF for the site - no luck. I then went into Options and tweaked various settings, reloading tabs if that was required, otherwise I relaunched the browser before trying to log in to the SSA site again.
When I first experienced an issue attempting to log in on the SSA on 20 November, I had FF vs 70.0.1. Yesterday, FF started nagging me to upgrade to 71.0 - which I did so today before attempting again to get logged in to the SSA site. I was hoping that would fix the problem....
I do not visit the SSA website often, but I had never had any log-in issue until 20 November. While on the phone with a SSA site support rep on 04 December, I expressed that I felt my blocking of tracking cookies and 3rd party cookies should not be the issue - the rep agreed. And just FYI, the rep also agreed that my ad blockers should not have been an issue. Reluctantly, I went to MS Edge - I was able to log in. I am not well-versed in MS Edge's settings/options, but I do know that advanced settings/options are only available while signed in to a MS account. I neither trust nor use Edge (or IE for that matter) and do not have a MS account, so I had no intention of creating one just to see how to lock down and make that browser more secure - if that's possible.
I have checked the post "Fix login issues on websites that require a username and password." *Options>Privacy & Security>Cookies and Site Data>Manage Permissions>https://secure.ssa.gov - ALLOW *FF is (and always has been) set to clear history each time the browser is closed, so as I expected, I found nothing in Library>History>Show All History, and so could clear nothing *FF is (and always has been) set to clear cookies and cache each time the browser is closed, but I followed the Library>History>Clear Recent History>Time Range:Everything and hit the "Clear Now" button anyway *Add-ons and security settings tweaked as advised above, to include reducing "Enhanced Tracking Protection" down to only 'Standard.' *I did not check for corrupt cookie files as I prefer to leave this as a last resort. However, I do not use the 'saved log ins' feature or use a master password - I get the impression that is what would be affected if I followed the provisions outlined, and so may not apply to my issue. Right?
All that said... does anyone have any idea why I cannot log in to the SSA site using FF?
All Replies (4)
FitAintBrkDntFxIt said
I ended up having to kill both UBlock and AdBlock
Having more than one program doing the same job may cause issues.
Make sure you are not blocking content.
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link}
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop
Hello FredMcD - It was not my intention to let this drag out so long.
I did go into safe mode as you recommended and I was able to log in to the SSA website. After returning to FF in a normal status, I disabled the last four extentions I had installed since the last time I signed in to SSA. Unfortunately, I still could not log in after disabling those last four extentions.
Plug-ins & Extenstion:
- I have 10 extensions
Of the 10 extenstions:
- Two are disabled (came with antivirus program) and always have been
- Four others (noted above) have been disabled in trying to figure out which extension(s) might be causing the problem
- The remaining four extensions - two of which have been disabled specifically for the SSA site (the 2 ad-blockers) - existed before the log-in issue
- There are 3 plug-ins:
Of the 3 plug-ins:
- Two are set to activate when needed
- One is set to ask before activating
In your reply, you advised, "Make sure you are not blocking content." I Noted above my settings in options. I do not log in to the SSA website often - I have no need to. At the moment, I am mulling over whether or not to use MS Edge whenever I do need to go to the SSA site as I'm able to log in on that browser. I do not feel I should have to tear down all my security just to log in to the SSA website in FF in light of the fact that my security settings are the same as they have been for several years and I logged in to the SSA website in the past under those conditions. I can't help but believe for now that the SSA website has changed something which is now in conflict with settings I've had for years.
I do appreciate your help and ask that you consider leaving this open for a little longer... I may continue disabling extensions and plug-ins and trying to sign in, but even with only 8 extensions (that I actually use) and 3 plug-ins (that I don't believe are the problem), I get locked out for 24 hours after each three failed attempts at logging in. So I'm sure you can appreciate that it is somewhat of a frustrating elimination process.
You can check the Web Console (Tools -> Web Developer) for messages about blocked content and about the presence of mixed or unsafe content.
You can check the Network Monitor to see if content is blocked or otherwise fails to load.
If necessary use "Ctrl+F5" or "Ctrl+Shift+R" (Mac: Command+Shift+R) to reload the page and bypass the cache to generate a fresh log.
You can remove all data stored in Firefox for a specific domain via "Forget About This Site" in the right-click context menu of an history entry ("History -> Show All History" or "View -> Sidebar -> History").
Using "Forget About This Site" will remove all data stored in Firefox for this domain like history and cookies and passwords and exceptions and cache, so be cautious. If you have a password or other data for that domain that you do not want to lose then make sure to backup this data or make a note.
You can't recover from this 'forget' unless you have a backup of involved files.
If you revisit a 'forgotten' website then data for that website will be saved once again.
You can create a new profile to test if your current profile is causing the problem.
See "Creating a profile":
If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.
Ad Blockers can be disabled on any website you want in their settings.
It could be the work of one of your add-ons,
or it could be Hardware Acceleration.
How to disable Hardware Acceleration {web link}
Type about:addons<enter> in the address bar to open your Add-ons Manager. Hot key; <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> A)
In the Add-ons Manager, on the left, select Extensions. Disable a few add-ons, then Restart Firefox.
Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All Of them.
If the problem continues, disable some more (restarting FF). Continue until the problem is gone. After, you know what group is causing the issue. Re-enable the last group ONE AT A TIME (restarting FF) until the problem returns.
Once you think you found the problem, disable that and re-enable all the others, then restart again. Let us know who the suspect is, detective.