Mozilla releases fix for problems with disabled add-ons Firefox – Update 2

An expired certificate has disabled all add-ons for many Mozilla Firefox users. Reactivating and reinstalling are not options either. Mozilla says it is working to fix the problem as soon as possible.

More information besides being a certificate issue is not available at the time of writing. Mozilla keeps users informed via a status page, but it is not always easily accessible due to all the interest. There is no indication of how long the problem will continue.

Firefox add-ons must be digitally signed since version 48, which came out in 2016. This is to prevent malware spreading via malicious add-ons. ZDNet writes that a workaround is to reset the computer clock and date to before 2:00 AM on May 4, when the problem started to occur. Workarounds are also shared that include temporarily disabling the certification requirements. This will make add-ons work again, but also pose security risks.

Update, 13:42: Mozilla says on the status page that a hotfix is ​​being distributed for the release, beta and nightly versions of Firefox. In the next few hours, it should arrive on its own to users, but they must be enrolled in Firefox Studies, which also enables certain telemetry. After the hotfix has been installed via Studies, Studies can be turned off immediately. Further explanation about the fix is ​​given in a blog post.

Update, Sunday: Firefox version 66.0.4 for desktop and Android has been released and contains a fix for the issue. Firefox ESR 60.6.2 has the fix too. A small number of add-ons may disappear from the add-on list or be marked as ‘not compatible’. A reinstall should fix that problem. The data from those add-ons will not be lost, Mozilla says. Add-ons using the Container functionality and affected by this issue will lose their data and need to be reset.