1524873 - Trackers are not classified in Safe Mode

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Toolkit :: Safe Browsing, defect, P1)

Description

[Itiel]

Not sure if this is an issue only with the icon not showing up on the URL bar, or with Content Blocking not working at all in Safe Mode.
This may very well be marked as INVALID if this is the intentional behaviour.

Comment 1

[Itiel]

Johann, is the Tracking Protection component the right one for this bug?

Comment 2

[Johann Hofmann [:johannh]]

Oh, thanks for the nudge, this didn't appear in my triage list. Not sure what I did wrong there...

This would be the right component for these bugs, but trying it out I get the following errors logged in the console:

NS_ERROR_XPC_GS_RETURNED_FAILURE: ServiceManager::GetService returned failure code: UrlClassifierListManager.jsm:67
NS_ERROR_XPC_GS_RETURNED_FAILURE: ServiceManager::GetService returned failure code: SafeBrowsing.jsm:185

And accordingly, all of the trackers on the page are found but none are classified as trackers (see the sub-panel in the site identity popup)

Which makes me think that this is a urlclassifier issue. Dimi, can you take a look, please?

Thank you!

Comment 3

[Dimi Lee [:dimi]]

SafeBrowsing is disabled intentionally in Bug 1134954 so Content Blocking doesn't work.

Johann, do you have any concern about this? If no, I will mark it as INVALID.

Comment 4

[Johann Hofmann [:johannh]]

Hmmm I find the argument presented in bug 1134954 a bit weak (something crashed to we disable it in Safe Mode). Nowadays this is affecting Content Blocking and Safe Browsing, which I would consider essential enough features that they might continue to be turned on in Safe Mode.

There's a definition of Safe Mode here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode

Safe Mode is a special Firefox mode that can be used to troubleshoot and fix problems. Safe Mode temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes) that might be causing problems. By comparing Firefox behavior in normal mode to its behavior in Safe Mode you may be able to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

This says "resets some settings", but doesn't really mention entirely disabling default browser features.

CC'ing other folks who might want to chime in.

Comment 5

[Dimi Lee [:dimi]]

(In reply to Johann Hofmann [:johannh] from comment #4)

Hmmm I find the argument presented in bug 1134954 a bit weak (something crashed to we disable it in Safe Mode). Nowadays this is affecting Content Blocking and Safe Browsing, which I would consider essential enough features that they might continue to be turned on in Safe Mode.

I think the intention in Bug 1134954 is just to disable SafeBrowsing update, not features that using safe browsing database, which I think it makes sense because SafeBrowsing update is not something really necessary in Safe Mode.

My bad that I didn't get it in the first place, I'll check why "Disable SafeBrowsing Update" becomes "SafeBrowsing not working"...

Comment 6

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Johann Hofmann [:johannh] from comment #4)

There's a definition of Safe Mode here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode

Safe Mode is a special Firefox mode that can be used to troubleshoot and fix problems. Safe Mode temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes) that might be causing problems. By comparing Firefox behavior in normal mode to its behavior in Safe Mode you may be able to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

This says "resets some settings", but doesn't really mention entirely disabling default browser features.

See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode/history
The Mozilla Support article was recently updated to include more information. Should we also update the article to add that Content blocking/ETP and Safe Browsing features are disabled in Safe Mode?

Comment 7

[Dimi Lee [:dimi]]

(In reply to Alice Wyman from comment #6)

See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode/history
The Mozilla Support article was recently updated to include more information. Should we also update the article to add that Content blocking/ETP and Safe Browsing features are disabled in Safe Mode?

You are right, this is what is happening so far, we should update that.
I am going to work on this bug this quarter, hope we can turn those features on in Safe Mode soon.

Comment 8

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Dimi Lee [:dimi][:dlee] from comment #7)

You are right, this is what is happening so far, we should update that.
I am going to work on this bug this quarter, hope we can turn those features on in Safe Mode soon.

Thanks. I updated https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode/

Comment 9

[Dimi Lee [:dimi]]

Attachment: Bug 1524873 - Enable SafeBrowsing in Safe Mode. r?gcp

This patch enables SafeBrowsing in Safe Mode because features based
on SafeBrowsing are essential for Firefox(For example, Enhanced Tracking Protection).

Since Safe Browsing update is nondeterministic, we disable periodical
SafeBrowsing update to make troubleshooting easier. Manually trigger an
update via about:classifier is still enabled.

Comment 10

[Dimi Lee [:dimi]]

Attachment: Bug 1524873 - Enable SafeBrowsing in Safe Mode. r?gcp

This patch enables SafeBrowsing in Safe Mode because features based
on SafeBrowsing are essential for Firefox(For example, Enhanced Tracking Protection).

Since Safe Browsing update is nondeterministic, we disable periodical
SafeBrowsing update to make troubleshooting easier. Manually trigger an
update via about:classifier is still enabled.

Last, SafeBrowsing tables provided by Google will be ignored in Safe
Mode to ensure the SafeBrowsing warnings are update-to-date.

Comment 11

[Dimi Lee [:dimi]]

Attachment: Bug 1524873 - Enable SafeBrowsing in Safe Mode. r?gcp

This patch enables SafeBrowsing in Safe Mode because features based
on SafeBrowsing are essential for Firefox(For example, Enhanced Tracking Protection).

Since Safe Browsing update is nondeterministic, we disable periodical
SafeBrowsing update to make troubleshooting easier. Manually trigger an
update via about:classifier is still enabled.

Last, SafeBrowsing tables provided by Google will be ignored in Safe
Mode to ensure the SafeBrowsing warnings are update-to-date.

Comment 12

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/e72506f78ff1
Enable SafeBrowsing in Safe Mode. r=gcp

Comment 13

[Cosmin Sabou [:CosminS]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/e72506f78ff1