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Why do latest Firefox versions disrupt or fail to process 3D authentication process of MasterCard?

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Since the last two updates Firefox (I'm currently on version 68.0.2) seems to cause a problem with the 3D authentication process when making online purchases with MasterCard or Visa. Having spoken to the credit card issuers, it looks like Firefox blocks the outgoing request for authentication since neither MasterCard nor Visa had any record of a transaction being attempted or authentication being requested. Consequently, the authentication window stays open for ever with nothing happening. I have already alerted my MasterCard issuer, a major retail business, in the hope that their complaint to Mozilla will carry more weight than mine. In the meantime, I wonder if anybody knows of a tweak or change of settings that may resolve this problem until Mozilla role out a fix.

Since the last two updates Firefox (I'm currently on version 68.0.2) seems to cause a problem with the 3D authentication process when making online purchases with MasterCard or Visa. Having spoken to the credit card issuers, it looks like Firefox blocks the outgoing request for authentication since neither MasterCard nor Visa had any record of a transaction being attempted or authentication being requested. Consequently, the authentication window stays open for ever with nothing happening. I have already alerted my MasterCard issuer, a major retail business, in the hope that their complaint to Mozilla will carry more weight than mine. In the meantime, I wonder if anybody knows of a tweak or change of settings that may resolve this problem until Mozilla role out a fix.

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Hi w.meieraugenstein, we normally would suggest testing in Firefox's Safe Mode or in a new profile to rule out potential issues cased by extensions or custom settings. As we are nearing the release of Firefox 69 (Sept. 3rd) it's also a good idea to test the upcoming version to see whether the issue has already been resolved (but wasn't included in Firefox 68.0.2).

However, since purchases are involved, I don't know how practical that would be in this case. At least I can mention how you would do it:

New Profile Test

This takes about 3 minutes, plus the time to test the purcahse.

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like Aug2019, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

After creating the profile, scroll down to it and click the Launch profile in new browser button.

Firefox should open a new window that looks like a brand new, uncustomized installation. (Your existing Firefox window(s) should not be affected.) Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account or to activate extensions found on your system so we can get a clean test.

Does 3D authentication work any better in the new profile?

When you are done with the experiment, you can close the extra window without affecting your regular Firefox profile. (Aug2019 will remain available for future testing.)

Developer Edition Test

Firefox Developer Edition is based on the current beta test version of Firefox 69. It installs "side by side" with regular Firefox and uses its own profile. That said, it doesn't hurt to make a backup first.