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My Firefox profile is blocking GitHub.com!

Hello.

Firefox prevents me from opening the following URL, citing Google Safe Browsing advisory:

https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases

Google, however, denies having issued any recommendation to block.

I have noticed that the problem has something to do with my own profile. The problem doesn't appear under the following circumstances:

  • I start Firefox in troubleshooting mode
  • I start Firefox with a new profile

I tried manually disabling all my add-ons, but even with all of them disabled, I can still reproduce the problem.

Any idea what could be wrong with my setup?

Hello. Firefox prevents me from opening the following URL, citing Google Safe Browsing advisory: https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases Google, however, denies having issued any [https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=https:%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fsandboxie-plus%2FSandboxie%2Freleases recommendation to block]. I have noticed that the problem has something to do with my own profile. The problem '''doesn't appear''' under the following circumstances: * I start Firefox in troubleshooting mode * I start Firefox with a new profile I tried manually disabling all my add-ons, but even with all of them disabled, I can still reproduce the problem. Any idea what could be wrong with my setup?
Attached screenshots

Fleet Command மூலமாக திருத்தப்பட்டது

தீர்வு தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டது

Looks like someone reported it for some reason.

Fleet Command said

The problem doesn't appear under the following circumstances:
  • I start Firefox in troubleshooting mode
  • I start Firefox with a new profile

A new profile may not have retrieved the Safe Browsing lists yet, so that could explain it.

I didn't think the result would be different in Troubleshoot mode, but I notice unlike normal mode, Firefox doesn't alert on the test links in the help article:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-malware-protection-work#w_how-do-i-use-the-phishing-and-malware-protection-features

So I guess phishing/malware protection is disabled in Troubleshoot mode.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (17)

Is it normal that I am not seeing the description of my problem above? I wrote a whole explanation of the problem. But only the word "Hello" appears.

Fleet Command மூலமாக திருத்தப்பட்டது

தீர்வு தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டது

Looks like someone reported it for some reason.

Fleet Command said

The problem doesn't appear under the following circumstances:
  • I start Firefox in troubleshooting mode
  • I start Firefox with a new profile

A new profile may not have retrieved the Safe Browsing lists yet, so that could explain it.

I didn't think the result would be different in Troubleshoot mode, but I notice unlike normal mode, Firefox doesn't alert on the test links in the help article:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-malware-protection-work#w_how-do-i-use-the-phishing-and-malware-protection-features

So I guess phishing/malware protection is disabled in Troubleshoot mode.

jscher2000 said

Looks like someone reported it for some reason. A new profile may not have retrieved the Safe Browsing lists yet, so that could explain it.

Then the URL is indeed in Mozilla's blacklist. But also, as I said, Google Safe Browsing database doesn't have this URL. (See my link above.) Does it mean Mozilla's database is out of sync with Google?

Anyway, how am I supposed to go about fixing this false positive? (It is a false positive after all. Sandboxie is a valid security solution. To further establish trust, it has received WHQL certification for its device driver.)

You don't see what I see?

Chrome shows me the same:

jscher2000 said

You don't see what I see?

Huh? I indeed do no see that! This is what I see:

Fleet Command மூலமாக திருத்தப்பட்டது

jscher2000 said

You don't see what I see?

No, I indeed do not see that. From here, Google says "No available data".

I tried to post a screenshot, but my reply got flagged and is now awaiting moderator's approval. This is getting more embarrassing by the minute.

I don't have Google Chrome, but Microsoft Edge doesn't filter GitHub.

When I click on the link you provide here, I get the same warning.

However, when I enter  github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie  it takes
me straight to the page   (releases are on the right side).

@cor-el and @jscher2000: Thank you both. I now have a good idea of what's happening:

  • Google Safe Browsing has flagged the URL (erroneously, if I might add)
  • For some reason, Google's Safe Browsing site status is not telling me that they have flagged GitHub
  • Troubleshooting Mode disables malicious site blocking

All in all, this was a simple problem with a lot of false trails in it.

Fleet Command said

All in all, this was a simple problem with a lot of false trails in it.

No false trails;   you just need to use the correct URL. I posted such URL (with a referral to the releases) after your penultimate post,
but got the message that my post needed to be cleared by a moderator first ....... I will now post that URL again and make it unclickable: https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie (you'll find the releases on the right side)


Edit: About 17 hours later my original post has been cleared and does now show under
cor-el's post.

Rodney மூலமாக திருத்தப்பட்டது

Only the releases link is blocked by Google Safe Browsing as far as I can tell.

The Sandboxie link and the release/latest links I posted above work for me. I'm not sure how you ended up with the releases link (bookmark) ?

Hi Fleet Command, I think the "No available data" indicates that the background request generated by the page either didn't retrieve the JSON data with the current status, or the script that fills in that box failed in some way.

* The background request URL is https://transparencyreport.google.com/transparencyreport/api/v3/safebrowsing/status?site=https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases => this returns a brief textual response but specifies a response.bin file name so Firefox will show a download dialog if you try to open this URL directly.

jscher2000 said

The background request URL is https://transparencyreport.google.com/transparencyreport/api/v3/safebrowsing/status?site=https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases => this returns a brief textual response but specifies a response.bin file name so Firefox will show a download dialog if you try to open this URL directly.

Hello, Smart guy. I tried your link on Microsoft Edge and I receive something like this (in a response.bin file): )]}'

[["sb.ssr",2,0,1,0,0,0,1626128076721,"https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases"]]

But I tried it on my Firefox profile and I received something this:

)]}'

[["er",null,null,null,null,400,null,null,null,3]]

The cause of this malformed JSON is an add-on called CleanURLs. Firefox recommended this add-on to me as part of the Recommended Extensions Program. Serves me right for installing someone else's recommended extension.

Fleet Command மூலமாக திருத்தப்பட்டது

jscher2000 said

The background request URL is https://transparencyreport.google.com/transparencyreport/api/v3/safebrowsing/status?site=https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases => this returns a brief textual response but specifies a response.bin file name so Firefox will show a download dialog if you try to open this URL directly.

Hello, Smart guy. I tried your link on Microsoft Edge and I receive something like this (in a response.bin file): )]}'

[["sb.ssr",2,0,1,0,0,0,1626128076721,"https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/releases"]]

But I tried it on my Firefox profile and I received something this:

)]}'

[["er",null,null,null,null,400,null,null,null,3]]

The cause of this malformed JSON is an add-on called CleanURLs. Firefox recommended this add-on to me as part of the Recommended Extensions Program. Serves me right for installing someone else's recommended extension.

Aha, great detective work!

Sometimes cleaning the parameters from a URL makes it useless. You would notice the problem immediately with a normal link, but since this is a background request, the problem was invisible in this case.

I filed an issue on the extension's tracking site (#183), but with over 100 open rules issues, I don't know the prospects for a solution any time soon.