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Firefox disabled most of my add-ons claming they aren't signed but they are working in a different firefox profile, what's up?

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  • 10 have this problem
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  • Last reply by njbob1949

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Other people have posted about having thier add-ons disabled by Firefox today.

I have the same problem losing all my security add-on (e.g. NoScript). All these add-ons were working earlier in the day.

But another profile (same version of Firefox, same computer) has most of these add-ons and they are working.

In addition the disabled profile could not download any add-on I tried and the working profile couldn't update an add-on when I tried.

All the messages say they were disabled due to not being signed, e.g. HTTPS Everywhere by the| Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"NoScript could not be verified for use in Firefox and has been disabled" "Privacy Badger could not be verified for use in Firefox and has been disabled" etc...

Trying to download the version at Mozilla's site I get the message "There was an error download uBlock Origin"

Other people have posted about having thier add-ons disabled by Firefox today. I have the same problem losing all my security add-on (e.g. NoScript). All these add-ons were working earlier in the day. But another profile (same version of Firefox, same computer) has most of these add-ons and they are working. In addition the disabled profile could not download any add-on I tried and the working profile couldn't update an add-on when I tried. All the messages say they were disabled due to not being signed, e.g. HTTPS Everywhere by the| Electronic Frontier Foundation. "NoScript could not be verified for use in Firefox and has been disabled" "Privacy Badger could not be verified for use in Firefox and has been disabled" etc... Trying to download the version at Mozilla's site I get the message "There was an error download uBlock Origin"

Chosen solution

Hi Luke,

Actually, the team has identified and is starting to roll out a fix. This could take up to a few hours to work.

In order to be able to provide this fix on short notice, we are using the Studies system.

You can check if you have studies enabled by going to Firefox Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Allow Firefox to install and run studies.

You can disable studies again after your add-ons have been re-enabled.

Cheers, George

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All Replies (9)

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I don't think forum volunteers yet know the cause or remedy for this problem. However, know that dozens of people are reporting the same thing in recent hours, so it may be due to a rolling update gone wrong.

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jscher2000 said

I don't think forum volunteers yet know the cause or remedy for this problem. However, know that dozens of people are reporting the same thing in recent hours, so it may be due to a rolling update gone wrong.

Thank you for your post

I thought it was some failure on the Firefox, I posted, after seeing several other posts, because I had some data the other posts didn't. i.e. the difference between two profiles on the same computer

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CORRECTION TO THE BELOW: Firefox verifies the signature every 24 hours, but that is on a different schedule from updating, so the below turns out not to be relevant.

Maybe the difference between your two profiles is when they checked for updates?? You could see whether this staves off the problem:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste autoup and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the extensions.update.autoUpdateDefault preference to switch the value from true to false

With this setting, when you go the Add-ons page, from time to time you'll see an "Updates Available" item in the left column below the others.

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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I think you're correct.

I was using a different computer later last night with all the various add-ons working.

When, at 9:50 PM they were disabled without warning.

I've edited the about:config as you said for the one profile I have which hasn't had its add-ons disabled and will check on it occasionally to see if that remains true

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Hi Luke,

We're very sorry for the inconvenience here.

There has been a technical issue with Add-ons that the Firefox team is working on urgently (it affects in the installation of new add-ons and usage of installed add-ons). You can expect a resolution soon.

You can track updates to the issue through this post: https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/certificate-issue-causing-add-ons-to-be-disabled-or-fail-to-install/39047/

Sorry again, George

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Thank you

Do you know if jscher2000 idea of turning off auto updating for extensions will prevent this problem?

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Chosen Solution

Hi Luke,

Actually, the team has identified and is starting to roll out a fix. This could take up to a few hours to work.

In order to be able to provide this fix on short notice, we are using the Studies system.

You can check if you have studies enabled by going to Firefox Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Allow Firefox to install and run studies.

You can disable studies again after your add-ons have been re-enabled.

Cheers, George

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Just checked and the fix worked for my main profile, add-ons are back

Thank you

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Thank You. I changed the settings for allow studies and the within a few minutes the fixes were added to my system. Without the add-ins enabled my computer was not functional. No add blocking, no tracking blocking, etc.