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antivirus has quarantined files from firefox program files directory as malware

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  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by szzqz

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These 3 files have been quarantined as heuristic viruses or Trojans: libegl.dll nssdbm3.dll webapprt-stub.exe

All 3 files are in the program files directory for firefox. After these files were quarantined and I tried to start FF I got error:

Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's file directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix this problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behavior when accessing security features.

Once I click OK it opens FF but it won't open the homepage. I want to be very sure these are actually FF program files and not some virus attempting to wreak havoc on my laptop. thanks.

unfortunately, I can't add any troubleshooting information as i'm in IE writing this up since I can't open FF.

These 3 files have been quarantined as heuristic viruses or Trojans: libegl.dll nssdbm3.dll webapprt-stub.exe All 3 files are in the program files directory for firefox. After these files were quarantined and I tried to start FF I got error: Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's file directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix this problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behavior when accessing security features. Once I click OK it opens FF but it won't open the homepage. I want to be very sure these are actually FF program files and not some virus attempting to wreak havoc on my laptop. thanks. unfortunately, I can't add any troubleshooting information as i'm in IE writing this up since I can't open FF.

Chosen solution

hello szzqz, yes judging from the filenames alone, those are files that come with firefox and are required for normal operations - so it's very likely that it's a false positive from your anti-virus program. just to be sure, please download the full version of firefox for your system again from the official source at https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ and install it on top of your current installation, which will replace all the missing files.

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Chosen Solution

hello szzqz, yes judging from the filenames alone, those are files that come with firefox and are required for normal operations - so it's very likely that it's a false positive from your anti-virus program. just to be sure, please download the full version of firefox for your system again from the official source at https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ and install it on top of your current installation, which will replace all the missing files.

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This might have been false positives.

See also:

Try to delete the cert8.db file and possibly the secmod.db file as well.


Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.

Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.

Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible, to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.

  • Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

  • (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.

If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.


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Thank you both, appreciate it. This seems to have resolved the issue.