Google search, Gmail and other google services stop responding in Firefox
For about a month now I have had an issue with Firefox where suddenly the search bar (with Google search) stops working. I input text, press enter but nothing happens. No page is loaded. I see the google search URL that the browser is trying to reach, and I see in the network tool that the request is made but nothing appears after that. Page doesn't change and response is not registered in the network tool. Also, my GMail account tabs stop working, and trying to refresh them, GMail freezes while loading.
If I restart Firefox all starts working, until the problem starts happening again (can be minutes or hours, I guess it depends on usage)
Another colleague of mine has the exact same problem.
I tried with NO success: - Clearing all cache and data; - Disabling all extensions; - Running firefox in troubleshoot mode; - Refresh Firefox; - Complete uninstall, with profile folder removal and start from scratch; - Disabling hardware acceleration; - Setting "browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar" to false; - Disabling "network.http.http3.enabled"; - Setting Proxy to "No Proxy";
All works on another browsers.
Can someone advise on how to further troubleshoot and fix this issue?
All Replies (3)
About the only thing you haven't tried is;
Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Secure websites. Is the problem still there?
Starting Any Computer In Safe Mode (web link) Free Online Encyclopedia
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/
https://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If the problem goes away with the computer in Safe Mode, the problem is with one of the other programs on the system.
As a test, disable your protection programs.
Thank you for your input.
Indeed, its looks like our FortiClient VPN agent (v6.4.3) might be the culprit here. Some policy that is set trough the Forticlient EMS is messing with certain traffic. If I disconnect the "Zero Trust Fabric Agent" component it unlocks the pages that weren't loading! (See attached image for reference)
I'm still not fully convinced. I will do more testing and if I reach a different conclusion I will post here. It is strange to me that no other browser is affected...
Contact FortiClient support on this.