# Lifestyles & Discussion > Privacy & Data Security >  Firefox Add-Ons Disabled EN MASSE After Mozilla Certificate Issue

## DamianTV

https://www.zdnet.com/article/firefo...ificate-issue/




> An expired certificate on the Mozilla Add-ons infrastructure is disabling Firefox add-ons for millions of users, and is also preventing users from re-activating or (re-)installing extensions.
> 
> The issue doesn't impact all Firefox users, but it impacted enough to trigger a massive surge of complaints on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media sites.
> 
> At the time of writing, the issue is still impacting Firefox users. The browser maker has formally acknowledged the issue in an email to ZDNet, on Twitter, in a status page, and in a bug report.
> 
> "We're sorry that there is currently an issue where existing and new add-ons are failing to run or be installed on Firefox," a Mozilla spokesperson said. "We know what the issue is and are working hard to restore add-on functionality to Firefox as soon as possible."
> 
> "We'll continue to provide updates via our Twitter channels. Please bear with us while we get the problem fixed," the browser maker said.
> ...


If you use Firefox and your addons are disabled, be patient, they should be back online shortly.  There is no reason to sell your soul to Google by switching to chrome.  Chrome is by design SPYWARE.  Hell, maybe take a break from the internet and go connect / reconnect with some real people in REAL LIFE!

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## Bern

Was just coming here to post the same story.

Privacy Badger stopped working on my Firefox browser this morning.  Disabled it, removed it, could NOT reinstall it.  Thought I might have contracted the computer AIDS, so ran malware checks and everything came back clean.  Did some searching and looks like there is a bug that Mozilla developers are working to fix:

https://www.windowslatest.com/2019/0...ns-extensions/

Fortunately, NoScript is still working on my Firefox.

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## ATruepatriot

Yep... They just disabled all of mine on the fly while reading a page. It didn't even wait for a page refresh. This pisses me off that it is so micromanaged and hooked in real time to their system and so dependent like that. It should be stand alone and be independent until you update it. This is not what they advertise...

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## ATruepatriot

Man... I really do not like cruising without script and tracker blocking. Might go fire up Vivaldi...

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## ATruepatriot

Rumor is it is fixed... But if you have problems there is a play by play with fixes on Bugzilla.

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## DamianTV

> Rumor is it is fixed... But if you have problems there is a play by play with fixes on Bugzilla.


Link?  Manual Update?

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## ATruepatriot

> Link?  Manual Update?


Hold on, be right back, finding it for you. I had to "remove" all mine and reinstall them. still doing that so still not for sure if it cured it for me yet or not.

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## DamianTV

Ugh I hope I dont have to fully reset UBlock Orign, that thing is a pain in the ass but highly effective.

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## ATruepatriot

> Link?  Manual Update?


OK here is the official update page at Mozilla.

https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/cert...-install/39047

It says to turn on "studies" and refresh it and then turn studies back off after everything is enabled again. I did not try that, I decided to remove and reinstall instead. Let me know if you get it fixed and how you did it please so that I can share with others.

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## Swordsmyth

Use Waterfox, it uses all the same add-ons.

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## Bern

Not fixed on my end.  Still can't download Privacy Badger.

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## ATruepatriot

> Ugh I hope I dont have to fully reset UBlock Orign, that thing is a pain in the ass but highly effective.


This is major and you can basically call it a crash. lol So you might have to go through it all again. Friggen Mozilla...  But try what they suggest, maybe it will return back to what you had.

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## ATruepatriot

> Not fixed on my end.  Still can't download Privacy Badger.


Did you find "studies"? 

Preferences>Privacy and security>Firefox data collection and use

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## ATruepatriot

> Use Waterfox, it uses all the same add-ons.


I would but it doesn't like some linux for some reason. I have been playing with it now and then though.

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## unconsious767

I've been using this page's advice until the certificate is repaired.

*1: Temporarily loading extensions

Extensions installed via Firefox's debugging tools are installed "temporarily", meaning they will be automatically disabled again on browser restart.

All of your extensions currently reside in the "extensions" folder inside your profile folder. Go to ☰ > Help > Troubleshooting Information, then copy or make note of your "Profile folder" in the table.

Next got to about:debugging and click Load Temporary Add-on.... Navigate the file dialog to your profile, then to the "extensions" folder inside. You should see a list of .xpi files - these are your add-ons. Load one, then repeat for all of them.

Note: This method can also be used to install add-ons from addons.mozilla.org. Simply navigate to the extension page (such as uBlock Origin) and right click on the "Add to Firefox" button, then select "Save Link As..." and load it as described above.*

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## ATruepatriot

> I've been using this page's advice until the certificate is repaired.
> 
> *1: Temporarily loading extensions
> 
> Extensions installed via Firefox's debugging tools are installed "temporarily", meaning they will be automatically disabled again on browser restart.
> 
> All of your extensions currently reside in the "extensions" folder inside your profile folder. Go to ☰ > Help > Troubleshooting Information, then copy or make note of your "Profile folder" in the table.
> 
> Next got to about:debugging and click Load Temporary Add-on.... Navigate the file dialog to your profile, then to the "extensions" folder inside. You should see a list of .xpi files - these are your add-ons. Load one, then repeat for all of them.
> ...


Thank you for sharing that!

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## timosman

Google had the same issue in 2015 - https://arstechnica.com/information-...-mail-hiccups/

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## DamianTV

> Did you find "studies"? 
> 
> Preferences>Privacy and security>Firefox data collection and use


I always have that disabled.  Still cant enable my addons but dont really have time to monkey with it right now.  Gonna be a pain in the ass if I have to remove and reinstall all of those plugins...  Maybe I will try with one of the ones I dont have to configure, but try it later...

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## ATruepatriot

> I always have that disabled.  Still cant enable my addons but dont really have time to monkey with it right now.  Gonna be a pain in the ass if I have to remove and reinstall all of those plugins...  Maybe I will try with one of the ones I dont have to configure, but try it later...


Thanks for the thread! I am in the same boat. I am out of my high speed allotment for the month and going to have to wait until I get that back before adding mine all back. lol

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## Bern

Looks like I might be SOL as I'm surfing on Win XP and Firefox is well past EOL on this platform.  There is no "studies" option on the last version made for this OS.

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## DamianTV

https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/cert...-install/39047




> *Certificate issue causing add-ons to be disabled or fail to install:
> 
> 8:58 p.m. PST*
> 
> *We are not releasing permanent fixes tonight (Pacific).*Some users are reporting that they do not have the “hotfix-update-xpi-signing-intermediate-bug-1548973” study active in “about**:studies. If this is you, we’re sorry for the inconvenience and urge you to sit tight – you’ll get an update via a deployed hotfix or on a permanent dot release sometime soon. (May 4, 23:05 EDT)There are a number of work-arounds being discussed in the community. *These are not recommended as they may conflict with fixes we are deploying.* We’ll let you know when further updates are available that we recommend, and appreciate your patience. (May 4, 15:01 EDT)
> 
> *10:50 a.m. UTC / 03:50 a.m. PDT:* We rolled-out a fix for release, beta and nightly users on Desktop. The fix will be automatically applied in the background within the next few hours, you don’t need to take active steps.
> 
> In order to be able to provide this fix on short notice, we are using the Studies system. You can check if you have studies enabled by going to Firefox Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Allow Firefox to install and run studies.
> ...

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## unconsious767

> https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/cert...-install/39047


Thanks, enabling studies worked after a few minutes. I restarted FF and everything is working (temporarily) okay. There doesn't seem to be any conflict when used in conjunction with above mentioned temporarily enabling extensions.

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## angelatc

I quit Firefox when they ousted the CEO for being conservative.

We let them take over schools, business and the internet, then we wonder why they win elections.

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## Swordsmyth

RELATED?




> Yes, this extension is amazing.  No ability for all  of these msm websites to censor what people want to say regarding the  website/article.  It's the best way I have seen so far to overcome the  mass censorship currently occurring.  Hoping to see more of these types  of anti-censorship products coming out to counter the media overlords.
> 
> Looks like the Streisand effect may be taking place after Mozilla  disabled Dissenter from their browser.  Getting a lot of publicity now.
> 
> Tim Pool covered it here:

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