Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • 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
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • 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 Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity

    Mozilla Dials Back on Firefox Opportunistic Encryption

    By
    Sean Michael Kerner
    -
    April 7, 2015
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Mozilla Firefox security

      Mozilla has had a change of heart regarding opportunistic encryption—for now. The company rolled out its open-source Firefox 37 Web browser on March 31, with one of the key new features being a capability known as opportunistic encryption. However, due to a security issue related to opportunistic encryption, Mozilla disabled the feature in the Firefox 37.0.1 update released April 3.

      The security issue is located in Mozilla’s HTTP Alternative Services (Alt-Svc) implementation, which is connected to the opportunistic encryption capability.

      “If an Alt-Svc header is specified in the HTTP/2 response, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate verification can be bypassed for the specified alternate server,” Mozilla warned in its security advisory. “As a result of this, warnings of invalid SSL certificates will not be displayed, and an attacker could potentially impersonate another site through a man-in-the-middle (MTIM), replacing the original certificate with their own.”

      Opportunistic encryption is designed to encrypt potentially sensitive data that would otherwise have been sent unencrypted and in the clear. The opportunistic encryption capability makes use of the new HTTP/2 protocol, which is the next generation of the HTTP protocol that dominates the Web today.

      “Opportunistic encryption is a related but separate feature that depends on Alt-Svc,” Chad Weiner, director of product management at Mozilla, told eWEEK. “Opportunistic encryption was disabled because of its use of Alt-Svc.”

      When asked whether the Alt-Svc vulnerability was a protocol problem or just a misconfiguration issue, Weiner explained that the issue is an implementation problem in Firefox Alt-Svc handling. There is currently an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) draft of the Alt-Svc approach. According to the IETF abstract, Alt-Svc enables “alternative service for HTTP, which allows an origin’s resources to be authoritatively available at a separate network location, possibly accessed with a different protocol configuration.”

      Rather than try and quickly fix the Alt-Svc issue, Weiner said that Mozilla decided that the quickest and safest approach was to disable Alt-Svc.

      “We plan to re-enable this feature once we’ve had time to fully investigate the issue,” Weiner said.

      It’s not known at this point if Alt-Svc and the associated opportunistic encryption capability will be re-enabled in the Firefox 37 browser or if it will take until Firefox 38 for the feature to re-emerge. Mozilla develops Firefox on an agile rapid release cycle with new major milestone releases approximately every six weeks.

      Firefox 38, currently in beta, is scheduled to debut May 12. However, it will be a significant release in that it is set to be the base for the next Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR), which is a version of Firefox that is maintained for approximately one year.

      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.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      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.
      © 2022 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.

      ×