There is a hotfix for this extension issue released that is currently applied via a shield study, so you only get this hotfix when studies are enabled.

See:

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/add-ons-disabled-or-fail-to-install-firefox
• https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/05/04/update-regarding-add-ons-in-firefox/

How come this problem seeped through into the release channel? There should've been a nightly, developer, and beta channel that all three should've prevented this. On top of that, there's testing internally at Mozilla.

Please explain how this could've happened, and what actions are being taken to prevent such blatantly obvious problems in the future.

(not aimed at you, cor-el, but anyone with the knowledge to do so)

Also, "It may take up to six hours for the study to be applied to Firefox."

Unacceptable.

Had to find the workaround on reddit:

https://storage.googleapis.com/moz-fx-normandy-prod-addons/extensions/hotfix-update-xpi-intermediate%40mozilla.com-1.0.2-signed.xpi

Why *this* isn't suggested as the official workaround, is beyond me. Mozilla would rather annoy affected users *more*, it seems.

Ugh.

The reason that it can take longer is that Firefox only checks every now and then for Normandy shield studies (four times a day, hence the six hour window: 21600 seconds). This is similar to checking for updates that is done twice a day (43200 seconds).

thany said

How come this problem seeped through into the release channel?

A certificate critical to verifying extensions expired. All versions of Firefox since at least Firefox 48 are affected.