1458304 - Why different os (linux/windows) can't see/read the saved passwords ANYMORE?

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1453372

(Toolkit :: Password Manager, defect)

Description

[criconst]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; Win64; x64; rv:59.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/59.0
Build ID: 20180427210249

Steps to reproduce:

I have a profile created in a folder of my choice. 
I use firefox with this profile folder as default on both Windows and Linux.
Until recently i was able to use this profile without any problem other than the extension note being active after switching between OSes (this problem started around v45-49 i think)
Two days ago i wanted to use linux after being away from it for 1-2 months.
Surprise: Linux can't see the stored password. Not even in preference/saved logins witch is empty.
If i return back to windows I have no problem. It like somehow linux version of firefox decided to use other means to store login forms.
I've tried to switch between OS for 3-4 times but i got same results.
Windows version of firefox (59.0.2) is still able to see saved logins
Linux version of firefox (59.0.2 - downloaded from firefox page) has no saved logins.
Everything else seems to be there (bookmarks/tabs/extensions - all disabled)

Comment 1

[Cristina Badescu [:cbadescu], Experiments QA]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; Win64; x64; rv:59.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/59.0
Build ID: 20180427210249

Hello,

I have managed to reproduce this issue on latest Firefox release 59.0.3 and also on an older Firefox version 58, using Ubuntu 16.04 x86 and Windows 8.1 x64.

I have created a new default profile on Windows 8.1, in a custom location. I have opened the browser with the created profile, installed some add-ons and logged in and saved the passwords on several websites. Afterwards, I switched to Ubuntu 16.04 x64, create a new default profile using the same location of the profile created on Windows 8.1. I have opened the browser with the created profile on Ubuntu, and it seems that the add-ons were disabled and the logins were not remembered.

Comment 2

[Matthew N. [:MattN]]

(In reply to Cristina Badescu from comment #1)
> Afterwards, I
> switched to Ubuntu 16.04 x64, create a new default profile using the same
> location of the profile created on Windows 8.1. I have opened the browser
> with the created profile on Ubuntu, and it seems that the add-ons were
> disabled and the logins were not remembered.

What files were copied to the new profile? The whole directory? Specifically I would like to know about logins.json, key4.db, and pkcs11.txt.

I think if you delete pkcs11.txt in the new computer then it will work again because it (IMO incorrectly) stores an absolute file path. If so, this is a dupe of bug 1453372.

Comment 3

[Cristina Badescu [:cbadescu], Experiments QA]

Hello Matthew, on Ubuntu I open the new created Default profile using the path to the Default profile from Windows and all the mentioned files are in the folder.

I deleted the "pkcs11.txt" file from the profile's folder created in Windows, opened the new created Default profile on Ubuntu and the saved logins were remembered. However, the installed add-ons were still disabled.
Tested on Firefox 60.0 and Firefox 59.0.3.

Comment 5

[vasile da firles]

1453372 bug is only about passowrd managment
What about the extensions?
Should us keep activating them every time we switch OS?
The extensions are still there, its just that every one of them are disabled after every os switch.

Comment 6

[Matthew N. [:MattN]]

(In reply to vasile da firles from comment #5)
> What about the extensions?
> Should us keep activating them every time we switch OS?
> The extensions are still there, its just that every one of them are disabled
> after every os switch.

I believe that's intentional and unrelated to the password issue to avoid malware just dropping an extension into your Firefox profile folder. I suspect there are existing bugs on that if you search for them.

Comment 7

[vasile da firles]

I see. So it like let the user chose witch os he/she wants to get some nice malware.
That feature worked perfect a while ago.
It's not like switching the os and reactivating the extension manually every time will prevent users from getting a malware.
It just seem to be a bug. if it was intentional those extensions probably should not be listed at all, not just disabled.

Probably i should make a new report