1435704 - Adding a bookmark to http://test.com and restarting causes test.com to be constantly loaded

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1384094

(Firefox :: New Tab Page, defect, P3)

Description

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

Attachment: testcom.html

I noticed this on a debug build as I was getting lots of error messages in the console, then tracked it down to what caused it.

STR:

1) Start Firefox
2) In the Bookmarks library window, add a new bookmark to "http://test.com".
3) Wait 20 seconds, then restart Firefox (not sure if the wait is necessary).

Expected Results

=> Firefox restarts & behaves nicely.

Actual Results

=> 40% CPU usage on a debug build, with test.com being constantly loaded according to the background log.

I've attached the current test.com web page that was being obtained in the background (output obtained via devtools).

Note that if I disable cookies, and visit test.com currently, I get the same result but in a tab - causes continuous reload.

Whilst it isn't too bad in a tab, it seems more dangerous if it is a background load, as the user wouldn't necessarily know which site is causing it.

I've marked this as security sensitive as although I think it probably isn't it feels a bit like it could be used for a denial of service attack.

Comment 1

[:Gijs (he/him)]

Ed, can you (find someone to) take a look at this?

Comment 2

[Ed Lee :Mardak]

One proposal is to have the thumbnailer abort after some number of page loads. Small enough to stop this particular behavior but high enough to let various pages redirect and settle to capture an appropriate thumbnail.

Comment 3

[Daniel Veditz [:dveditz]]

This is not a security bug. Obviously we should prevent our thumbnailer from going crazy if it doesn't get what it's looking for.

Comment 4

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

I'm a bit surprised this is getting continuously de-prioritized. Having the possibility in our code for background loops to happen for page lookups is slightly concerning. Whilst I agree the case here is less likely, are we sure that we're not going to be hitting other cases we haven't discovered yet?

Comment 5

[Ed Lee :Mardak]

There are indeed cases from the web that do trigger problems like this and bug 1384094. There's a suggestion in the other bug for storing a dummy/blank thumbnail so at least it won't trigger again after the first time.

Comment 6

[Tim Spurway [:tspurway]]

We will re-prioritize bug 1384094 and try to knock it down asap.