Firefox blocks my staging website which requires authentication
I have a staging site for my website which is protected (not visible to the public) and requires authentication with the username and password to be accessed.
Firefox is blocking access with the authorisation window coming up empty again and again and again when I enter the credentials.
So - I have to use a different browser just to access this one site.
I have cleared the cookies and cache, removed the site from the browsing history - Firefox is still blocking the access.
how can I unblock it?
I use Windows 64 bits on my PC.
All Replies (17)
Please provide a public link (no password) that we can check out. No Personal Information Please !
Make sure you are not blocking content.
Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode {web link}
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop
Many site issues can be caused by corrupt cookies or cache.
Warning ! ! This will log you out of sites you're logged in to. You may also lose any settings for that website.
- How to clear the Firefox cache {web link}acking-protection-firefox-desktop
hi
thanks for your reply.
I'm not comfortable providing the link to my staging site (even to the login page) on a public forum as it is meant to be invisible.
regarding your other suggestions:
I have already cleared the cache and deleted the cookies. Did not help.
I'm reluctant to run the troubleshooting mode as last time I did, I lost all my website settings and customisation, and had to redo them from scratch, which is a hassle.
my key question is - is this a known/common issue? based on the number of posts on google about it, it looks like it is. Rather then telling people to troubleshoot their browser, are you planning to fix it with a patch or something?
thanks
Sometimes we see complaints of the webpage, or parts of, being blocked.
magicpowers888 said
I'm reluctant to run the troubleshooting mode as last time I did, I lost all my website settings and customisation
That should not have happened unless you selected Refresh.
Look on your desktop. Do you see a folder called; Old Firefox? Look inside. Look for the folder with the latest creation date.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-user-data-missing-after-firefox-update
@FredMcD
Recovering the lost data is not the issue here.
The issue is that for the past few months Firefox hasn't been allowing me to login to my staging site which is protected on the server to be invisible to the public.
This sort of "security" block is ridiculous and doesn't serve anyone.
If I need to use a different browser to login to the sites that Firefox is blocking from me, I might as well change the browser altogether.
Developers - please advise how to bypass this block and please remove it in the next update!!
Remove History For One Site {web link}
Open the History Manager <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> H. In the search bar, enter the name of the site. Right-click on one of the listings and select Forget About This Site. This should remove all information, including any site settings
I have done this - did not help.
still can't log in.
You can check the Web Console for possible related error messages and warnings.
- "3-bar" menu button -> Web Developer or Tools -> Browser Tools -> Web Developer Tools
- https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Web_Console
You can remove all data stored in Firefox for a specific domain via "Forget About This Site" in the right-click context menu of an history entry ("History -> Show All History" or "View -> Sidebar -> History").
using "Forget About This Site" will remove all data stored in Firefox for this domain like history and cookies and passwords and exceptions and cache, so be cautious. If you have a password or other data for that domain that you do not want to lose then make sure to backup this data or make a note.
You can't recover from this 'forget' unless you have a backup of involved files.
If you revisit a 'forgotten' website then data for that website will be saved once again.
@cor-el
ok, thanks but this still doesn't explain or address the blocking of my site!
WHY is Firefox blocking the protected site out of a sudden? this started after one of the updated (can't remember which one) few months ago.
I would be grateful for advice how to remove this block rather than any further information about clearing the data.
Did you check the console for messages ?
yes I have. Nothing related there.
Of interest - when I reported this to my website host, as I thought that this is an error on the server - they tested it and could login with my credentials on Firefox as well as Chrome.
So if they can and I can't log in on the same browser - what does it mean?
You might try looking at the https vs dns settings in FF.
Copy the below and paste in URL field, then enter. Then go to bottom to network settings.
about:preferences
ok, what am I looking for?
it says - Use system proxy settings and nothing else is ticked
It's just a shot in the dark. But try ticking that is not ticked
Try changing the defaults to other options in that section.
The rationale is that if other options are provided, then there is a reason for them - like perhaps for a site like yours
You can create a new profile as a quick test to see if your current profile is causing the problem.
See "Creating a profile":
If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.
thank you both but these are just blind guesses what could be wrong.
This issue started with one of the browser updates about 2-3 months ago.
Nothing to do with my profile or network settings, so I won't be fiddling with them
I'd like to hear from the developers what they have done that is blocking authentication of protected sites.
I have seen many posts on Google about this issue so it is not isolated to my computer.
After updating Firefox to 89.0 I was hoping that this bug - which is clearly a bug - has been fixed.
I was wrong - it's still there.
Rather than blind guesses from the well meaning moderators and support, and advice to reset my profile (which is a lot of hassle), I really would like to hear from the developers about this.
Since there are MANY posts on Google about this very issue going back few years, clearly it must be know to developers.
So my question is - rather than shifting the onus of finding the workaround on the user - what are you going to do about it and when?