How do I make Firefox never use any plugins without my direct approval?
Greetings.
I have a problem with the way Firefox handles plugins.
First, plugins automagically appear in the list as enabled. This is terrible, because I do not want ANYTHING to appear in my browser without my consent. I don't care, I just do not.
Second, even if I disable them, they get automagically enabled back. And that's not trojan or virus, that's Google Update and Ubisoft Uplay - perfectly legal plugins from big companies behaving like that. Why is this ever allowed? If I disabled something, I want it to stay that way. Period.
Third, Firefox does not allow me to delete them! I have to delete them manually.
Is there any way to fix this? Is there a way to make Firefox NEVER discover and add to its list any plugin without my approval? Is there a way to make plugin FORVER stay disabled after I clicked "disable" on it?
Thanks.
All Replies (9)
Hi Istrebitel, Thanks for the suggestion looks like this part is under development and is scheduled for this year's Gsoc. You are surely gonna see this in upcoming versions.
Cheers!
So, right now it is possible for any program to stick its plugins into Firefox without my consent, but in the future this will be disabled, right?
No not without your consent, actually i have confronted many people being embarrassed by home page hijacking and dirty toolbars sticked on firefox, these all are because somewhere while installing softwares, we donot care about "Install Free XYZ Toolbar" an then we simply say yes to quickly complete a software installation. The place from where they enter into your Firefox profile is that place only and even if you try removing that addon it will not disappear because there is a malware running in background monitoring it. So all you can do is go to control panel and then remove those Free Toolbars.
Yeah currently the configuration file of Firefox is globally accessible by any software on your machine, Fx Dev's are building an API that will restrict it sooner or later in this year to be applied.
Cheers!
I see, it's kinda stupid it was made this way, but good to hear a fix is coming.
Plugins like Flash, Java and such are not actually installed in Firefox like Extensions and Themes are as to why you cannot uninstall them like Extensions/Themes and only click on Disable to tell Firefox to not make use of the supported plugins it found.
No, I was not speaking about those, but about plugins like obnoxious Google Update, or DRM stuff like Ubisoft Uplay
The Flash and Java were just examples of Plugins as Plugins are not installed in Firefox. Normally if you disable a Plugin it should stay disabled in being used the next time you start Firefox.
Thats not the case everytime, some plugins often come up with malwares, so we have no way to disable or move them.
I have this same issue. Google Update installs and enables itself. I don't have Java installed on my computer but somehow I always have a Java Deployment and Toolkit plugins installed and enabled.
This feature is broken.