1274629 - Active profile data can be deleted from profile manager window with no specific warning

Status: NEW

(Toolkit :: Startup and Profile System, defect)

Description

[Paul Oiegas [:poiegas], PM for (Ecosystem QA, Services QA, WebCompat QA, Hubs QA teams)]

Attachment: Before and after active profile delete.png

[Affected versions]:
- All versions of Firefox

[Affected platforms]:
- Windows All
- Mac OS All
- Linux All

[Prerequisites]: 
- A profile containing multiple bookmarks and history was previously created.
- Add  "-p -no-remote" commands in Firefox shortcut at "Target" section or open the browser with the commands trough terminal (depending on OS).
- As a suggestion, open the active profile directory to better observe the behavior.

[Steps to reproduce]:
1. Start Firefox with the profile previously created that contains history and bookmarks.
2. Click again the Firefox shortcut and from the profile manager select the active profile.
3. Chose to delete the profile and select to delete also the profile data when prompted.
4. Observe the profile manager and the profile folder behavior.

[Expected results]:
User is notified that the running / active profiles cannot be deleted and the profile folder files remain untouched.

[Actual results]:
On Windows - The profile it's removed from profiler and most of the stored data from profile folder is deleted with no specific warning.

On Mac OS and Linux - The profile it's removed from profiler and the profile folder is entirely deleted with no specific warning.

[Regression]:
I don't think this is a regression since I have tested this with older releases and it behaves exactly the same (40.0, 35.0, 30.0, 25.0, 20.0, 15.0 and 10.0).

[Notes]:
- On Windows platform not all profile data is deleted. If you create a new profile and point to the deleted profile folder will bring all the history and bookmarks from it. However, any extensions previously installed will have to be reinstalled at the start.
- On Windows and Linux (Ubuntu), if you try to sync the deleted profile from the browser window with the active profile, it always crashes. 

Message displayed:
"The application had a problem and crashed. 
Unfortunately, the crash reporter is unable to submit a report for this crash.
Details: The application didn't leave an application data file."

- Since in "about:profiles" page of the browser you have "This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted." message displayed for the profile in use, I would expect to have the same limitation on the profiler side.
-  This can also be achieved from the profiler window of a second opened version of Firefox (eg: release opened and active profile deleted from Nightly).
- it seams that other browser session / browser version is not able to detect active profiles. Each one detects only its own opened profile.

Comment 1

[MarjaE]

duplicate of bug 302087

Comment 2

[Paul Oiegas [:poiegas], PM for (Ecosystem QA, Services QA, WebCompat QA, Hubs QA teams)]

It is related as it is a problem of deletion from Profile Manager, but definitely not a dupe. I'm reporting that the Profile Manager lets you delete your profile in use, while the about:profile page does not. Profiles in use should be protected by deletion from profile manager especially since it can be a data loss issue.
The bug you mentioned is talking about deleting non-Firefox files beside the profile data, so a bit different.

Comment 3

[MarjaE]

Yesterday, I accidentally deleted my running profile using about:profiles. So it can be done.

Comment 4

[Paul Oiegas [:poiegas], PM for (Ecosystem QA, Services QA, WebCompat QA, Hubs QA teams)]

Well, I've logged this issue 4 years ago, maybe it regressed. If not, you could add a set of steps in a new comment to emphasize on that.

Comment 5

[MarjaE]

1. Back up all profiles.

2. Create new profile in /Profiles.

3. Realize it's the wrong location and delete the profile.