![]() ![]() Last month, it warned Firefox users running outdated versions of Adobe's Flash Player to upgrade, then last week added a more thorough plug-in checking service to its arsenal. Mozilla has been aggressively pursuing risky add-ons and plug-ins of late. Later, Microsoft issued a follow-on update that made it possible to uninstall or disable the components without a registry edit. To add salt to the wound, the components were impossible to uninstall without editing the Windows registry, a chore most users avoid because any misstep could cripple the PC. Users were furious that the software was installed without their approval. NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) update, which was delivered via Windows Update. Firefox users complained last February, and then again in May, when they found out that Microsoft had pushed the components to their browser as part of the. ![]() Net Framework Assistant and Windows Presentation Foundation software is tangled and contentious. "These add-ons have a high risk of causing stability or security problems and have been blocked, but a restart is required to disable them completely," the Firefox warning message reads. Multiple Computerworld staffers have confirmed that Firefox is now blocking the Microsoft software. Mozilla, however, clearly felt that that was not enough, and took the unusual step of blocking the Microsoft add-on and plug-in. Later last Tuesday, Microsoft expanded on MS09-054 in a blog post by security engineers, and confirmed that Firefox was affected because of the add-on and plug-in. However, the MS09-054 bulletin, which provided details on the vulnerability, said nothing about Firefox. Microsoft maintained that users who applied the patches it issued last week as part of a record-setting security update would protect Firefox users from attack. ![]() The same vulnerability also affected all versions of Internet Explorer (IE), including the newest version, IE8. Last week, Microsoft's security team acknowledged that its software - which had been silently installed in Firefox as far back as February 2009 - contained a critical vulnerability that could be used by hackers to hijack Windows PCs. Net Framework Assistant and the Windows Presentation Foundation. In May 2008, for example, Mozilla added a Vietnamese language pack for Firefox to the blocking list when the pack was found to contain a worm.Īccording to Shaver, Microsoft gave Mozilla the go-ahead to block the. Mozilla has used the tool only nine times, including Friday's blocking of the Microsoft add-on and plug-in. The open-source company first used the blocker in 2007. Mozilla maintains an add-on/plug-in blocking list that automatically bars risky software from being used by Firefox. "Because of the difficulties some users have had entirely removing the add-on, and because of the severity of the risk it represents if not disabled, we contacted Microsoft today to indicate that we were looking to disable the extension and plug-in for all users via our blocklisting mechanism," Shaver said in an announcement posted Friday night to the company's security blog. The two-part Microsoft component - an add-on dubbed ".Net Framework Assistant" and a plug-in named "Windows Presentation Foundation" - have been blocked by Mozilla as a precautionary measure, said Mike Shaver, the company's head of engineering. ![]() Mozilla late Friday blocked the Microsoft-made software that had put Firefox users at risk from attack. ![]()
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