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ssl_error_decode_error_alert in https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Kaddath

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Environment Windows 7 Pro 64 bits with Firefox 34.0.5.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/

First I disabled all addons and when that didn't work, i ran Firefox in SAFE MODE but still get:

I can't connect to Secure Connection Failed

An error occurred during a connection to addons.mozilla.org. Peer could not decode an SSL handshake message. (Error code: ssl_error_decode_error_alert)

The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified. Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.

I tried many of the suggestions outlined in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1025272 And yes, the mozilla addons page open in IE, Opera, Chrome, but not in Firefox anymore.

Please help and thanks in advance.

(I of course can't click the Automatically add button below because it give the same error!)

Environment Windows 7 Pro 64 bits with Firefox 34.0.5. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/ First I disabled all addons and when that didn't work, i ran Firefox in SAFE MODE but still get: I can't connect to Secure Connection Failed An error occurred during a connection to addons.mozilla.org. Peer could not decode an SSL handshake message. (Error code: ssl_error_decode_error_alert) The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified. Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem. I tried many of the suggestions outlined in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1025272 And yes, the mozilla addons page open in IE, Opera, Chrome, but not in Firefox anymore. Please help and thanks in advance. (I of course can't click the Automatically add button below because it give the same error!)

All Replies (6)

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If that site is using SSL only, that is the problem. SSL is now disabled and TLS is the only security method in use. You could re-enable SSL from about:config, but it is not considered to be safe to use any more. The setting: "security.tls.version.min;" is set to 1. If you want to use SSL, change it to 0.

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That made no difference. I checked with another Windows 7 box and the securilty.tls setting were all identical. Setting that one to 0 (I even restarted FF) still give the error, so I've now set it back to 1.

The odd thing it's Mozilla's own addons site this copy of FF can't reach.

Regards,

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Separate Issue; Your System Details shows;

Installed Plug-ins

Garmin Communicator Plug-In 4.0.4.0 Garmin Communicator Plug-In 4.2.0.0 BETA

Having more than one version of a program may cause issues.

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The Mozilla Add-ons website should work without any problems.

Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps.

Try to rename the cert8.db file (cert8.db.old) and delete the cert_override.txt file in the Firefox profile folder to remove intermediate certificates and exceptions that Firefox has stored.

If that has helped to solve the problem then you can remove the renamed cert8.db.old file. Otherwise you can rename (or copy) the cert8.db.old file to cert8.db to restore the previously stored intermediate certificates. Firefox will automatically store intermediate certificates when you visit websites that send such a certificate.


Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

See also:

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I'll try the Safe mode later when I can reboot this machine and follow your instructions.

As for malaware, I had already ran MalwareBytes and don't have any critters.

I'll keep you posted.

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One more thing: Why if i run Firefox in Safe Mode (Windows still loaded normally, not Safe Mode), I still can't get to the Mozilla addons page?