Do I need a newer version of Firefox?

[philipjhunt]

I'm running Firefox Quantum 69.0.1 (64 bit). When I try to add the Malwarebytes extension it tells me I need a new version than 56. What's wrong?

[AdvancedSetup]

When you do Help About in  Firefox - what do you see?

 

[AdvancedSetup]

Try restarting your computer and let us know if that helps or not

 

[philipjhunt]

Exactly that.

[AdvancedSetup]

Please try the restart. It works quite well with that version. Something else going on providing the wrong version information

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/malwarebytes/

 

[philipjhunt]

Here's what it looks like (after restart)

[AdvancedSetup]

See, something is wrong there. That is Mozilla saying you're using an old version.

Do  you have a lot of other extensions installed or a highly customized/tweaked version of Firefox?

 

[philipjhunt]

You're right. Something is wrong. I disabled all my 3 extensions (Roboform, Track-Off and FAcebook Container). Shut down Firfox. Opened it up clean. Tried to install Malwarebytes BRowser Guard. Same message.

[AdvancedSetup]

Okay, I would ensure you have and know all your passwords to all sites. Then export your settings from each of those extensions. There should not be any issues with bookmarks but I'd still recommend you back them up as well to a folder outside of the Firefox folder structure.

Then first try deleting all your cookies
If still not working, then delete all History and Site data (if you don't know the passwords you'll lose them and be stuck, make sure you know your passwords to all sites first)
If still not working then I'd refresh Firefox. Click on the Help menu and select "Troubleshooting Information"

The click Refresh Firefox...

That will remove ALL of your extensions and put Firefox back to Factory Defaults. You will then have to reinstall any extensions you want to use.

 

[philipjhunt]

Understood. I'll let you know.

[AdvancedSetup]

I'm heading out but will check back on you again in the morning. Good luck

 

[exile360]

It could also be that your browser is sending the wrong user agent string causing sites to detect that you are using a different version of Firefox.  In fact, that 'Track-Off' extension you mentioned, assuming it is actually the product/extension 'TrackOff' that I found when doing a search for that term, very likely does this very thing since one of the features it boasts is feeding inaccurate 'fingerprinting' information to trackers/the sites you visit, and one of the most prominent fingerprinting data points is the browser's user agent string which reports to the sites you visit, among other things, the web browser and version you are using.  I suspect that product is the reason you're seeing those messages.

[philipjhunt]

Thanks exile360, but I had the problem even with the TrackOff extension disabled. 

[philipjhunt]

Resolved. The Reset Firefox made the false version report disappear. Btw, this version of Firefox restores itself back to the previous configuration after the reset. No need to reinstall your extensions. 

[exile360]

1 minute ago, philipjhunt said:

Resolved. The Reset Firefox made the false version report disappear. Btw, this version of Firefox restores itself back to the previous configuration after the reset. No need to reinstall your extensions. 

I bet it was caused by the TrackOff extension altering your user agent string (it's a setting in the browser, so even disabling the extension would not reset the values back to their default settings, though obviously resetting your browser's options would).  It is likely that you'd either have to change a setting in the extension itself while it is active (assuming they provide settings to control those features/functions which I hope they would since it could potentially break compatibility with some sites, though it is quite useful for spoofing the wrong info to tracking/fingerprinting servers), uninstall the extension completely, or go into the browser's options to change it manually, and even then the extension might change it back if enabled.

I could be wrong, but again, just based on what I read on their website and what I know of browser fingerprinting techniques (a subject I've studied in fair detail being a dedicated privacy advocate myself), I suspect that this is one of the methods they are using to conceal your true system and its specifications.

[AdvancedSetup]

If it restored I would assume you're possibly using the Mozilla sync service much like Google Chrome has. The issue often associated with those Sync operations is when a computer is infected. The Sync brings the bad stuff back too.

As long as all is working well for you again and Malwarebytes Browser Guard is now installing and working that's a good thing 🙂

Thanks for the follow up