FIrefox occasionally asks for a master password, in a dialog-box, in middle of its window, instead of dropdown -- Do I have malware ?
FIrefox occasionally asks for a master password, in a dialog-box, in middle of its window, instead of the usual drop-down from the top of its window -- Do I have malware ?
( Can't uplaod the 1.6MB screenshot ) .
All Replies (20)
I'm used to seeing it in an ugly dialog in the middle of the window, and I can't remember seeing it in a nicer one. However, I run Windows 7...
On the Mac, even in "Preferences" (what, on Windows, might be called "Tools"/"Options"), it is a drop-down(from the top of the window)-menu . I just tested this .
In that case, the other format is suspicious.
As for why it appears, a sketchy or compromised web page, ad network, or add-on could be the source.
You can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:
- Command+Shift+a (Windows: Ctrl+Shift+a)
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
- type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return
In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.
Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. Anything suspicious or that you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).
Any improvement?
I wish that I could convince my European Mac anti-malware company (Intego), that it may be a legitimate concern .
Does that centered window looks the same as the usual master password window?
Does it reappear if you enter the wrong master password?
The centered Mac Firefox master password window, looks the same, as the MAC-admin-account's (NOT, necessarily, Firefox's) master password dialog-window .
I don't-yet recall, if it re-appears, if you enter a randomly-wrong-password -- I'll keep you posted .
BTW, I JUST updated, to Firefox v62.0.2 .
Hi, please give your self a Scan : https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/
I can't use MalwareBytes -- it appears to interfere, with the Intego Premium X9 anti-malware suite (as I found-out, to my dismay) .
Intego VBX9, finds, nothing, on a "full-scan" .
Well that may reassure you, but seen it.
Should disable it and run Malwarebytes then turn it back on.
While it can detect viruses, it lacks the features modern anti-malware software requires. https://www.macworld.com/article/3268748/software/intego-mac-internet-security-x9-review.html
Thanks for the review .
The free MalwareBytes version, that I had installed beside the Intego Premium X9, ran only for two minutes, so I don't know if it really did an adequate job .
If you see it again, could you try raising the zoom level in the page (e.g., hold down Command and tap + several times). If the dialog resizes with the page, it likely is in the content area, generated by a page or inserted by an add-on. You can reset the zoom level by holding down Command and tapping 0 (zero).
I haven't-yet tried the zoom, but the phenomena, just happened (the dialog-box in the middle-of-the-screen, just poped-up), and I entered a bad-master-password, whereupon the dialog disappeared & re-appeared, from the drop-down-from-the-top !
see this answer:
I entered the wrong master-password, on-purpose, when the "master-password-dialog-box", appeared, in the center-of-the-screen, to see if it was actually prompted by Firefox (which it seems, it was (even WITHOUT the suggested "zoom"-test), as the center-of-screen's-dialog-box disappeared, and the Mac's-"drop-down-from-top"-"Firefox's-master-password-dialog-box", re-appeared, to ask again) .
From this evidence, it seems, that it is a Firefox programming error, somehow .
When the master-password-dialog-box, just came-up, in the middle of my Mac's Firefox window, it was unaffected by the "zoom"-key-combinations mentioned-above, either inside the dialog-box, or outside the dialog-box, (but within the Firefox's window) .
Therefore, it seems to be a Firefox bug .
I don't know how Firefox would show a Windows-style dialog one moment and a Mac-style one the next.
Can you screenshot the one that's not in the correct platform style and indicate the circumstances that trigger it? Most likely the circumstances are that Firefox has saved a login for the site you're loading and you haven't entered the master password recently. But if it happens randomly that's troubling.
Did I mention, that when I enter the wrong master-password, on the primary-screen middle-of-the-screen-dialog-box of my mid-2015-Retina-MacBook_Pro, and THAT dialog-box disappears, the drop-down re-request for the Firefox master-password, re-appears in the 2ndary-monitor, in a pre-existing 2nd-window of Firefox ?
It's probably best if you file a bug report and flesh it all out for the developers if this is all about an error in rendering the dialog and not a potential security problem.