A recent vulnerability was discovered in Mozilla Firefox that left passwords that had been saved on a particular server for the purposes of facilitating easier log ins. You have probably saved your password on a server like this by allowing Mozilla Firefox to remember the passwords you use with specific accounts. This login information is usually protected by using a master password, but the aforementioned vulnerability could potentially allow malicious actors to gain access to these details even if they don’t have the master password.
One of the most fundamental aspects of this security threat is that the malicious actor needs to share a server with their victim, and if they do, they would be able to get a list of all of the passwords and their associated usernames and accounts that are stored for a user that has chosen Mozilla Firefox as their browser of choice. However, Mozilla Firefox has now patched this vulnerability with their latest update, so as long as you have the latest version of Firefox you shouldn’t be worried about your passwords getting stolen by someone that is trying to illegally access your online accounts.
While this bug has been patched and the problem has been resolved, the fact that a problem of this nature was able to occur in the first place is something that will be a cause for concern for a lot of people. After all, the login details that we often save on these browser servers aren’t just linked to social media accounts. Online banking details and other such sensitive information is usually stored on these servers as well, and even social media accounts tend to have a lot of personal information which, if accessed, could compromise your safety or at the very least your privacy.
While Mozilla rated this as a “moderate” threat to user privacy, only time will tell whether such threats will continue to be a problem.
Photo: David Tran Photo/Shutterstock)
Read next: Almost 1.5% logins are under threat after the database breach, suggests a study by Google
One of the most fundamental aspects of this security threat is that the malicious actor needs to share a server with their victim, and if they do, they would be able to get a list of all of the passwords and their associated usernames and accounts that are stored for a user that has chosen Mozilla Firefox as their browser of choice. However, Mozilla Firefox has now patched this vulnerability with their latest update, so as long as you have the latest version of Firefox you shouldn’t be worried about your passwords getting stolen by someone that is trying to illegally access your online accounts.
While this bug has been patched and the problem has been resolved, the fact that a problem of this nature was able to occur in the first place is something that will be a cause for concern for a lot of people. After all, the login details that we often save on these browser servers aren’t just linked to social media accounts. Online banking details and other such sensitive information is usually stored on these servers as well, and even social media accounts tend to have a lot of personal information which, if accessed, could compromise your safety or at the very least your privacy.
- Also read: Extended Validation Certification to Be Removed from Both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox
While Mozilla rated this as a “moderate” threat to user privacy, only time will tell whether such threats will continue to be a problem.
Photo: David Tran Photo/Shutterstock)
Read next: Almost 1.5% logins are under threat after the database breach, suggests a study by Google
