Codecv 1.0 blocked by Firefox
I saw on my Add-on page that an add-on named "Codecv 1.0" was blocked by firefox, since January 22 2013. It is on the firefox blocked add-on list.
I've read that this is malware and potentially a trojan and that it's a security threat..
So I wandered: since Firefox disabled and blocked this add on more than a year ago, does that mean that my browsing has been "safe" so to speak since then? Or do I have to remove it (click on "delete") before it's really disabled? I'm getting a little bit nervous that this has been a security-hole for over a year now..
All Replies (10)
By the way, I assume that my browsing was safe since I can't understand why Firefox would block and disable it without "doing anything" about it.
Disabled add-ons aren't in use. They simply sit there, doing nothing. When manually disabling add-ons in the Add-ons Manager, note that sometimes restarting Firefox is required. In that case a message to that effect will be displayed above the add-on's name.
You should definitely remove the add-on in question, and scan your system with up-to-date anti-malware software to be safe.
Hi! Thank you for your fast answer!:) I have removed the add-on, and searched my system with malwarebytes. It didn't find anything related to the add-on, so I think I'm safe.
Considering that Firefox disabled and blocked the add-on (I couldn't start it even if I wanted to), it should be the case that this Trojan/add on has not been "spying" at me since it was disabled?
Note that Firefox still searches for updates of disabled extensions, so best is always to remove such extensions if possible.
Note that extensions that do not have a "Remove" button are installed by other software and are not under control of the Firefox extension manager.
- Such globally installed extensions are usually found via a registry scan or are installed in a location that Firefox scans for installed extensions.
- https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Adding_Extensions_using_the_Windows_Registry
- Extensions installed this way need to be removed via the settings (options/preferences) of the program that has added this extension or this program has to be uninstalled via "Control Panel > Programs".
- In Firefox you an only disable such an extension.
This is the add-on:
hello toovaloo, you should probably also run a full scan of your system with different security tools like the free version of malwarebytes and adwcleaner to make sure that adware isn't present in other places of your system as well.
Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware
in addition, please update your plugins to close some security vulnerabilities.
Yes, I've run a full scan:)
But I just wandered: since firefox disabled it, because they flagged it as malware, that means that this add-on hasn't been monitoring my web-activity, right? It was disabled by firefox, I didn't choose to disable it:)
i can only echo Gingerbread Man's reply from above - as long as it has stayed disabled the addon couldn't have any working component monitoring your traffic.
Yes, that sounds reasonable:) I just thought that since this is malware, it would have some kind of "trick" to get pass the fact that firefox blocks it, and that the malicious add-on might just go directly to the web-log stored on the computer or something.. But Firefox is a safe browser, so I believe they have thought about that, and made the necessary adjustments, so that the add-on was in fact blocked, and not able to track my browsing.:)
I see that it seems as the CodecV is in Internet Explorer and Google Chrome as well.. But since it was disabled in Firefox, and that is the browser that I've used, it should be OK, right?:)