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Why would two FF 3.6.6 dll files be flagged as not trustworthy by File Insight feature of Norton Internet Security 2010?

  • 22 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by Morbus

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I upgraded from Firefox 3.6.4 to 3.6.6. Before I had a chance to manually run 3.6.6, Norton Internet Security 2010 (v17.7.0.12) Insight Protection feature flagged freebl3.dll and nssdbm3.dll as not trustworthy and put them in quarantine. A manual virus scan of the Firefox folder discovered zero problems.

Norton prompted for a restart to fully "fix" the alleged problem. I uninstalled 3.6.6 (leaving personal data/settings intact), restarted, reinstalled 3.6.6, and manually invoked a Norton File Insight scan of the two dll files. Same results as immediately after the first install of 3.6.6.

I uninstalled 3.6.6, restarted, and installed 3.6.4. A manual virus scan of the Firefox 3.6.4 folder discovered zero problems. A manual Insight Protection scan of the 3.6.4 variant of the freebl3.dll and nssdbm3.dll files resulted in a trustwothy status for both.

The "problem" might, I guess, automatically fix itself, once 3.6.6 is installed by a larger number of people who use Norton Internet Security and have the Community Watch feature turned on.

Later, when I have time, maybe I'll reinstall 3.6.6 and manually "tell" Insight Protection that I trust the two "not trustworthy" dll files. I have no idea if the Community Watch feature will report that decision to Norton HQ.

No big deal, as I'm the least likely person to need the additional 30 seconds of plug-in timeout in 3.6.6.


== I installed Firefox 3.6.6

I upgraded from Firefox 3.6.4 to 3.6.6. Before I had a chance to manually run 3.6.6, Norton Internet Security 2010 (v17.7.0.12) Insight Protection feature flagged freebl3.dll and nssdbm3.dll as not trustworthy and put them in quarantine. A manual virus scan of the Firefox folder discovered zero problems. Norton prompted for a restart to fully "fix" the alleged problem. I uninstalled 3.6.6 (leaving personal data/settings intact), restarted, reinstalled 3.6.6, and manually invoked a Norton File Insight scan of the two dll files. Same results as immediately after the first install of 3.6.6. I uninstalled 3.6.6, restarted, and installed 3.6.4. A manual virus scan of the Firefox 3.6.4 folder discovered zero problems. A manual Insight Protection scan of the 3.6.4 variant of the freebl3.dll and nssdbm3.dll files resulted in a trustwothy status for both. The "problem" might, I guess, automatically fix itself, once 3.6.6 is installed by a larger number of people who use Norton Internet Security and have the Community Watch feature turned on. Later, when I have time, maybe I'll reinstall 3.6.6 and manually "tell" Insight Protection that I trust the two "not trustworthy" dll files. I have no idea if the Community Watch feature will report that decision to Norton HQ. No big deal, as I'm the least likely person to need the additional 30 seconds of plug-in timeout in 3.6.6. == I installed Firefox 3.6.6

All Replies (20)

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Hello Paul.

It's possible that you are having a problem with some Firefox add-on that is hindering your Firefox's normal behavior. Have you tried disabling all add-ons (just to check), to see if Firefox goes back to normal?

Whenever you have a problem with Firefox, whatever it is, you should make sure it's not caused by one (or more than one) of your installed add-ons, be it an extension, a theme or a plugin. To do that easily and cleanly, run Firefox in safe mode (don't forget to select Disable all add-ons when you start safe mode). If the problem disappears, you know it's from an add-on. Disable them all in normal mode, and enable them one at a time until you find the source of the problem. See this article for information about troubleshooting extensions and theme and this one for plugins.

If you need support for one of your add-ons, you'll have to contact its author.

In any case, you can always check Firefox's source code yourself and see that there is no malicious code. It's probably a false positive by Norton, and you probably need to contact Norton about it. Unless those files are not from Firefox, of course, in which case it's possibly some add-on or something.

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I have the same issue from Norton, I am assuming it is a false positive as well.

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ho lo stesso problema sopra descritto con l'aggiornamento 3.6.6

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Yes, I have this too.

Quite worried at first, but good to know it's not isolated.

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It is a Norton Insight problem. Read this: http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-Internet-Security-Norton/What-is-WS-Reputation-1/m-p/243005/highlight/true

Here is how to find this kind of information: In Google search type "firefox norton freebl3.dll nssdbm3.dll" (including the quotation marks) and it is the second item.

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Same problem, went back to the previous version and will wait for a fix.

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Tal The "fix" will have to come from Norton. See my post just above yours.

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Problem hit on freebl3.dll, softokn3.dll and nssdbm3.dll all related to ws.reputation.1. I uninstalled FireFox. I used IE8 to go to Mozilla.com and downloaded Firefox. I ran Live Update to get the latest NIS data. I reinstalled Firefox 3.6.6. I am reporting this problem using the reinstalled Firefox 3.6.6. I am running a full system scan while adding this entry. I will add additional info if NIS reports any additional problems.

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Same problem

I have restored and added to the Norton exceptions the three files VirusTotal finds nothing wrong with these files What is its origin?

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It is a false positive.

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Apparently Norton sometimes flags stuff based solely on their "reputation system". Which basically consists of how many Norton users are using a given file. Genius.

Norton is garbage. I'm switching back to Kaspersky ASAP.

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Same answer as I posted above at 7:42 PST this morning.

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In my personal opinion, that's a very good move Gabe :)

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@ TXGuy If that was directed at me, no, you posted links to answers. I posted a concise summary of info I found in a few different places. But if credit is that important to you, it's all yours. All glory to TXGuy.

@ Morbus hehe, thanks! ;)

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I have the same problem. I have found that I can access websites when I check mail through AIM if that helps anyone.

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Gabe -That was in response to Anonymous. -I agree whole-heartedly with your decision regarding Norton!!

Don't be so sensitive, defensive and rancorous without getting the facts first.

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Same problem here. I told Norton to restore the files, and restarted Firefox, and it's working again now.

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@TXGuy

Apologies, I looked at the chronology of posts and it didn't seem to make sense as a response to anything else.

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I had the same problem with FireFox no longer able to connect to the internet when Norton360v4 removed the following files which belonged to FireFox: freebl3.dll softokn3.dll nssdbm3.dll

For the moment, I simply get Norton360 to release these files from quarantine. I think someone at Norton should make a note of this problem. Also, I'm not sure what these files actually do, so that should be made clearer by Mozilla.

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