Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Firefox 51 Improves Security Notifications for Insecure Forms

    By
    Sean Michael Kerner
    -
    January 25, 2017
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Mozilla Firefox

      Mozilla released its first new browser milestone of 2017 on Jan. 24, with the debut of Firefox 51. The new open-source browser release includes enhanced capabilities that will further enable online gaming, as well as security enhancements and patches for 24 different security vulnerabilities.

      WebGL2, which is an 3D graphics standard, is now supported in Firefox 51, providing developers with the ability to deliver more robust gaming and visual experiences to users.

      “Firefox is the first browser to support the new WebGL 2 standard, which gives developers the ability to utilize compelling 3D graphics that are available for the first time on the web,” Nick Nguyen, vice-president of Firefox at Mozilla wrote in a blog post. “Expanding on the solid foundation of WebGL 1, WebGL 2 allows content creators to leverage more modern accelerated rendering features, like transform feedback, expanded texturing functionality, and multisampled rendering support. “

      Security is also a focus of the Firefox 51 release, with a new notification approach to help users stay safe. With Firefox 51, users will be alerted when they attempt to enter information into a form on a web page that has not been secured with SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layers/ Transport Layers Security). The risk is that if a user enters login information into a form on a site that isn’t secured, the information can easily be stolen.

      “The warning appears when Firefox detects that a non-secure page has a login field,” Tanvi Vyas, Tech Lead for Security and Privacy User Experience at Mozilla, told eWEEK. “We are using a variety of heuristics to do that detection.”

      Firefox 51 will not however be warning users about all non-HTTPS sites, that are not secured with SSL/TLS. Google has publicly stated that it intends to mark all non-HTTPS sites as insecure in an upcoming Chrome browser release.

      “We are interested in moving in that direction, but as we’ve said before, we need to have enough of the web on HTTPS that it doesn’t cause warning fatigue,” Vyas said.

      Not all SSL/TLS certificates are the same either. A web site owner can choose to ‘self-sign’ a certificate as opposed to getting an SSL/TLS certificate from a validated Certificate Authority (CA). The risk with a self-signed certificate is that there is no form of external validation. Vyas explained that Firefox 51, like its predecessor Firefox 50 which was released in December 2016, provides users with an interstitial warning page, when a site has a self-signed certificate.

      “If the user has gone through several clicks to add an exception and trust the self-signed certificate, the connection will proceed, but the icon in the URL bar will be a grey lock with a yellow warning triangle,” Vyas explained. “Clicking on the warning will show the message ‘You have added a security exception for this site’ and give the user the option to remove the exception.”

      Security Patches

      Firefox 51 also provides security patches for 24 different issues, five of which are rated as being critical. The critical issues include a pair of memory safety issues (CVE-2017-5373 and CVE-2017-5374) a memory corruption issue in the Skia graphics library (CVE-2017-5377) and a Use-After-Free (UAF) issue (CVE-2017-5376).

      The fifth critical issue identified as CVE-2017-5375, is a code allocation flaw that could have potentially enabled an attacker to bypass Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and Data Execution Protection (DEP) on a host operating system.

      There is also a high impact flaw (CVE-2017-5389) that is particularly interesting in that it could have enabled an attacker to install a browser add-on without a user’s permission.

      “WebExtensions could use the mozAddonManager API by modifying the CSP headers on sites with the appropriate permissions and then using host requests to redirect script loads to a malicious site,” Mozilla warns in its advisory. “This allows a malicious extension to then install additional extensions without explicit user permission.”

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and contributor to several leading IT business web sites.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×