Mozilla Issues Second Update to Fix Firefox 66 Extensions Problem

Mozilla is still tackling a bug in its Firefox 66 browser version and has issued another update to solve the problem. It started last week when the browser started randomly deleting extensions (add-ons) accidentally. Mozilla sent out version 66.0.4 as a hotfix, but problems persisted. Now the company has sent out Firefox 66.0.5. The company says this patch will now allow users with master passwords to use their web add-ons again. As we reported earlier this week, the problem began last week when browser extensions suddenly and randomly started being disabled. Users were also unable to add new extensions to Firefox 66. Mozilla confirmed the problem. It was caused because engineers forgot to renew signing certificates. The browser does not allow unsigned extensions, so all add-ons were disabled. It was an embarrassing mistake, but one that should have been easy to fix. Mozilla acted quickly with its 66.0.4 fix in Nightly releases and across all channels later. However, it did not solve the problem for everyone.

Mozilla Response

Kev Needham, from Mozilla's add-on team, said in a blog post the release of version 66.0.5 should fix the issue: “Firefox 66.0.5 has been released, and we recommend that people update to that version if they continue to experience problems with extensions being disabled. You'll get an update notification within 24 hours, or you can initiate an update manually. An update for ESR users will be available tomorrow. We're also working on a fix for older versions of Firefox and will update this post and on social media as we have more information.” We'll keep you posted if this update fails, but Mozilla seems confident this should put an end to the problem. If you want the release, you can grab Firefox 66.0.5 here.