hi, are you a user of avast/avg security software?

The laptop has AVG. AVG has never blocked the site before. I accessed it on the laptop earlier in the day before the update to V61. The message I get is from FF not AVG. AVG isn't the software blocking the site. It's something like "Fire Fox has detected............."

avg is meddling with secure connections - apparently they're not correctly dealing with the more secure tls1.3 standard that's enabled in firefox 61 by default. please disable the scanning of https connection within the avg webshield like described here for avast (they are the same company): https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER#w_avast

I just edited my answer above. The message I get is a FF message. Not AVG. Give me a minute and I'll get on my laptop and get a more accurate quote of the message.

Yes, the message is from Firefox, but AVG is messing with the secure connection, breaking Firefox and causing this issue.

Honestly, AVG is not a good anti-virus anyway (This sort of man in the middle attack is not a good practice) so i suggest just uninstalling it and using Windows Defender.

Attached is a screenshot of the message.

I don't think Windows Defender is on Win7 is it? Is it something I can download?

that's called microsoft security essentials on windows 7 - besides that, have you seen my prior reply about the config change in avg that's known to fix this problem?

Yes "SSL_ERROR_RX_RECORD_TOO_LONG" occurs when Firefox and a website try to negotiate a connection using the latest TLS protocol (version 1.3) and the man-in-the-middle (Avast or AVG Web Shield) somehow messes it up.

As of now, I think your two workarounds are:

(1) Remove the man in the middle (disable Web Shield for secure connections)

(2) Disable TLS 1.3 in Firefox so the connection uses an older protocol

It is, it's simply disabled because you have AVG. Uninstall AVG, and it should be enabled. You can verify it easily.

philipp said

that's called microsoft security essentials on windows 7 - besides that, have you seen my prior reply about the config change in avg that's known to fix this problem?

I will try that. It'll take a few minutes to get to the laptop and try to do the procedure you recommend.

By golly, that worked! Thank you. I have Norton on my desktop. Will I run into the same thing on my desktop if I let FF update to V61?

Norton hasn't been reported yet, but they do shady things as well. I suggest removing all anti-virus and just using Windows Defender

Thanks to all for the help. This old man appreciates it. If the same thing happens on my desktop at least I have an inkling of what's going on. Thanks again.

I should note, this is what happened in this situation:

In Firefox 61, we released a new version of the protocol used for secure websites (TLS 1.3). Because AVG and Avast are doing shady things to your internet connection, they broke things. It is best to either uninstall those anti-virus, of disable the "features" that are basically hijacking your internet connection for the anti-virus can do whatever the hell they want to your internet.

For Windows, Windows Defender is a great anti-virus that is light-weight and far more capable than these shady antivirus