Open Bug 1919569 Opened 2 months ago Updated 2 months ago

Upgrading Firefox removing entries in registry on Windows 11 (from 130.0 to 130.0.1)

Categories

(Toolkit :: Application Update, defect, P3)

Product:
Toolkit
Component:
Application Update
Version:
Firefox 130
Type:
defect

Tracking

()

Tracking Flags:
Tracking Status
firefox130 + wontfix
firefox131 - wontfix
firefox132 - fix-optional

People

(Reporter: rey_dominique, Unassigned)

References

Details

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:130.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/130.0

Steps to reproduce:

Upgrade from 130.0 to 130.0.1 using the Help menu on the top

Actual results:

After the upgrade from 130.0 to 130.0.1 the following keys and subkeys have been removed form the registry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0]

Expected results:

They should be not removed, some applications are using it.

Component: Untriaged → Application Update
Product: Firefox → Toolkit

This happened to me and broke my Keepass integration.
Reinstalling from the full FF installer exe resolved the issue.
Installer acquired from https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/130.0.1/win64/en-US/

All applications using Selenium for web automation are affected, even Avast Software Updater does not recognize Firefox.
Reinstalling Firefox from mozilla.org resolved the issues.

This issue also reproduces in our environment. All web automation testing are affected.
Reinstalling resolved the issue.
Suggest to fix the issue asap.

Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true

The bug is marked as tracked for firefox130 (release) and tracked for firefox131 (beta). We have limited time to fix this, the soft freeze is in 6 days. However, the bug still isn't assigned.

:Amir, could you please find an assignee for this tracked bug? If you disagree with the tracking decision, please talk with the release managers.

For more information, please visit BugBot documentation.

Flags: needinfo?(ahabibi)

Is this a regression?

(In reply to Mike Kaply [:mkaply] from comment #5)

Is this a regression?

Maybe? The timeline and subject area lines up with https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1903615. It’s plausible that something in the environment impacts post-update and registry keys.

But I just tried to repro in the Windows Sandbox and I don't think it did repro.

  1. Launch Windows Sandbox
  2. Using Edge, navigate to https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/130.0/win64/en-CA/ and download https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/130.0/win64/en-CA/Firefox%20Setup%20130.0.exe
  3. Launch Firefox Setup 130.0.exe
  4. Install with standard options; launch Firefox on exit
  5. Witness Firefox 130.0 in about:support
  6. In regedit.exe, witness keys like Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 en-CA)
  7. Update Firefox from Help > About ... menu
  8. Witness Firefox 130.0.1 in about:support
  9. In regedit.exe, witness keys like Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 en-CA)

Note that my registry keys are tagged with architecture and locale, while the reporter's keys are not tagged in this manner. I'm vaguely aware that these keys have changed over time; perhaps starting from an older version of Firefox would reproduce?

Are the correct entries by chance in HKCU?

And we're confused by this value in particular:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0]

Did you mean:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 130.0]

As far as we can tell, we never had a version by itself.

The other ticket that could have impact in the area is https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1898792, landed in Firefox 129. That ticket fixed an error whereby HKLM and HKCU get mixed up; hence why Mike is asking about HKCU.

But as far as I can tell (see query), we only ever write one of

  • Mozilla Firefox/130.0 (x64 en-US)
  • Mozilla Firefox 130.0

But never

  • Mozilla Firefox/130.0

I've checked with an MSI package, just in case that is relevant, but I still can't reproduce the registry keys you see. Can we get more details about how you've installed Firefox, what system administration/antivirus software might be relevant, etc?

Flags: needinfo?(ahabibi) → needinfo?(rey_dominique)

Hello,
Firefox was installed several month or a year ago then upgraded from the help/menu regularly.
I am running Windows 11 pro latest update, and the antivirus/firewall is the free version of AVAST latest update too.
I still have a test virtualbox machine with Firefox 130.0 where I can reproduce the issue if you need.
Below the registry before the upgrade to 130.0.1 and the one after the upgrade:

<<<BEFORE >>>
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Firefox]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Firefox\Extensions]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Firefox\TaskBarIDs]
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox"="E7CF176E110C211B"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService]
"Attempted"=dword:00000001
"Installed"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService\965b7fc26dad90d340d2fa0a4879039f]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService\965b7fc26dad90d340d2fa0a4879039f\0]
"name"="Mozilla Corporation"
"issuer"="DigiCert Trusted G4 Code Signing RSA4096 SHA384 2021 CA1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService\965b7fc26dad90d340d2fa0a4879039f\1]
"name"="Mozilla Corporation"
"issuer"="DigiCert SHA2 Assured ID Code Signing CA"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox]
@="130.0"
"CurrentVersion"="130.0 (x64 fr)"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 fr)]
@="130.0 (x64 fr)"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 fr)\Main]
"Install Directory"="C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox"
"PathToExe"="C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 fr)\Uninstall]
"Description"="Mozilla Firefox 130.0 (x64 fr)"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 130.0]
"GeckoVer"="130.0"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 130.0\bin]
"PathToExe"="C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 130.0\extensions]
"Components"="C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\components"
"Plugins"="C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugins"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\com.avast.nativeproxy]
@="C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\AvastNM_firefox.json"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\net.downloadhelper.coapp]
@="C:\Program Files\net.downloadhelper.coapp\firefox.net.downloadhelper.coapp.json"

<<<AFTER Update >>>
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Firefox]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Firefox\Extensions]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Firefox\TaskBarIDs]
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox"="E7CF176E110C211B"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService]
"Attempted"=dword:00000001
"Installed"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService\965b7fc26dad90d340d2fa0a4879039f]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService\965b7fc26dad90d340d2fa0a4879039f\0]
"name"="Mozilla Corporation"
"issuer"="DigiCert Trusted G4 Code Signing RSA4096 SHA384 2021 CA1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\MaintenanceService\965b7fc26dad90d340d2fa0a4879039f\1]
"name"="Mozilla Corporation"
"issuer"="DigiCert SHA2 Assured ID Code Signing CA"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\com.avast.nativeproxy]
@="C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\AvastNM_firefox.json"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\net.downloadhelper.coapp]
@="C:\Program Files\net.downloadhelper.coapp\firefox.net.downloadhelper.coapp.json"

Flags: needinfo?(rey_dominique)

I can't reproduce this in the Windows Sandbox, with or without the Avast Antivirus. Definitely installing 130.0 (x64, fr) and upgrading to 130.0.1 (x64, fr) doesn't yield this issue.

I see you have an install in Program Files (x86), and it's possible we're seeing so 32/64 bit migration integration, so I also installed 130.0 (x86, en-CA) and then paved over with 130.0 (x64, en-CA). Registry looked as expected. I then upgraded to 130.0.1 (x64, en-CA) and still no registry entries removed. (Aside: I have a hard time imagining why we'd see this integration in 130.0.1 and not before.)

If you have time and energy, the next step to reproduce would be for you to run the entire update process while observing the registry with Process Monitor. That would help us identify the process that is deleting the registry entries. It almost certainly is the post-update helper.exe invocation, but I don't see how, exactly, that can be -- and this would point the smoking gun. Thanks!

Flags: needinfo?(rey_dominique)
Summary: Upgrade Firefox Windows11 from 130.0 to 130.0.1 will remove entries in registry → Upgrading Firefox removing entries in registry on Windows 11 (from 130.0 to 130.0.1)

Hello,
I captured the update from 130.0 to 130.0.1 using procmon, the size of the .PML file generated is 331MB.
I saw the delete of the registry keys in the capture file.
Where can I upload this file ?

Flags: needinfo?(rey_dominique)

(In reply to rey_dominique from comment #11)

Hello,
I captured the update from 130.0 to 130.0.1 using procmon, the size of the .PML file generated is 331MB.
I saw the delete of the registry keys in the capture file.

Ooh, do you see the delete happening in the helper.exe process? That would be very helpful.

Where can I upload this file ?

Perhaps we don't need to -- a few screen captures of the relevant places would go a long way. If we need to share it, I'll find a way to get some space somewhere.

Hello Nick,
I think I found where is the problem, the keys for 130.0 that are deleted are in HKLM part of the regedit and the keys added for the 130.0.1 are in the HKCU part !! see below

Deleted keys
...
21:38:53,9857564 helper.exe 12284 RegQueryKey HKLM SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x0
21:38:53,9857651 helper.exe 12284 RegOpenKey HKLM\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 fr) SUCCESS Desired Access: Delete
21:38:53,9857787 helper.exe 12284 RegSetInfoKey HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 fr) SUCCESS KeySetInformationClass: KeySetHandleTagsInformation, Length: 0
21:38:53,9857858 helper.exe 12284 RegDeleteKey HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 fr) SUCCESS
21:38:53,9858245 helper.exe 12284 RegCloseKey HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0 (x64 fr) SUCCESS
21:38:53,9858370 helper.exe 12284 RegQueryKey HKLM SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x0
21:38:53,9858436 helper.exe 12284 RegOpenKey HKLM\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox SUCCESS Desired Access: Query Value, Enumerate Sub Keys
...

Added keys (later)
...
21:38:58,7091228 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKLM SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x0
21:38:58,7091293 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKLM SUCCESS Query: Name
21:38:58,7091396 helper.exe 11556 RegOpenKey HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Mozilla\Firefox\32to64DidMigrate SUCCESS Desired Access: Read
21:38:58,7091529 helper.exe 11556 RegSetInfoKey HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Mozilla\Firefox\32to64DidMigrate SUCCESS KeySetInformationClass: KeySetHandleTagsInformation, Length: 0
21:38:58,7091602 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryValue HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Mozilla\Firefox\32to64DidMigrate\C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox SUCCESS Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1
21:38:58,7091697 helper.exe 11556 RegCloseKey HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Mozilla\Firefox\32to64DidMigrate SUCCESS
21:38:58,7091851 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x0
21:38:58,7091911 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU SUCCESS Query: Name
21:38:58,7092001 helper.exe 11556 RegOpenKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Firefox\32to64DidMigrate NAME NOT FOUND Desired Access: Read
21:38:58,7097525 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x0
21:38:58,7097603 helper.exe 11556 RegCreateKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr)\Main NAME NOT FOUND Desired Access: Set Value
21:38:58,7098024 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x0
21:38:58,7098092 helper.exe 11556 RegCreateKey HKCU\Software SUCCESS Desired Access: Maximum Allowed, Granted Access: All Access, Disposition: REG_OPENED_EXISTING_KEY
21:38:58,7098420 helper.exe 11556 RegSetInfoKey HKCU\Software SUCCESS KeySetInformationClass: KeySetHandleTagsInformation, Length: 0
21:38:58,7098512 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU\Software SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x100
21:38:58,7098573 helper.exe 11556 RegCreateKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla SUCCESS Desired Access: Maximum Allowed, Granted Access: All Access, Disposition: REG_OPENED_EXISTING_KEY
21:38:58,7099039 helper.exe 11556 RegCloseKey HKCU\Software SUCCESS
21:38:58,7099143 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x100
21:38:58,7099205 helper.exe 11556 RegCreateKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox SUCCESS Desired Access: Maximum Allowed, Granted Access: None 0x0, Disposition: REG_CREATED_NEW_KEY
21:38:58,7099636 helper.exe 11556 RegCloseKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla SUCCESS
21:38:58,7099735 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x100
21:38:58,7099810 helper.exe 11556 RegCreateKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr) SUCCESS Desired Access: Maximum Allowed, Granted Access: None 0x0, Disposition: REG_CREATED_NEW_KEY
21:38:58,7100223 helper.exe 11556 RegCloseKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox SUCCESS
21:38:58,7100321 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr) SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x100
21:38:58,7100397 helper.exe 11556 RegCreateKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr)\Main SUCCESS Desired Access: Set Value, Disposition: REG_CREATED_NEW_KEY
21:38:58,7100823 helper.exe 11556 RegCloseKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr) SUCCESS
21:38:58,7100904 helper.exe 11556 RegQueryKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr)\Main SUCCESS Query: HandleTags, HandleTags: 0x100
21:38:58,7100970 helper.exe 11556 RegSetValue HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr)\Main\Install Directory SUCCESS Type: REG_SZ, Length: 78, Data: C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
21:38:58,7101546 helper.exe 11556 RegCloseKey HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox\130.0.1 (x64 fr)\Main SUCCESS
...

Have a nice day
Dominique

(In reply to rey_dominique from comment #13)

Hello Nick,
I think I found where is the problem, the keys for 130.0 that are deleted are in HKLM part of the regedit and the keys added for the 130.0.1 are in the HKCU part !! see below

Amazing sleuthing, thanks so much! This really points to Bug 1898792, but that landed in Firefox 129. I don't have a reason why you'd see the issue when migrating from 130.0 to 130.0.1, but not before that. If you continue to have time and energy, could you pave over with Firefox 129.0 and update and see if the problem persists?

In the meantime, I'll see if I can put your log together with some code reading to identify what's been overlooked. Thanks again!

Flags: needinfo?(rey_dominique)

Hi Nick,
If I install 129.0, I have all the keys as usual [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 129.0].... after the upgrade to 130.0.1 I have the keys in both [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 130.0.1]... and [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Mozilla Firefox 130.0.1]...

If you want to reproduce it, I downloaded from https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/129.0/win64/fr/Firefox Setup 129.0.exe

  1. Removed all Mozilla keys/subkeys from HKCU & HKLM
  2. Removed the Mozilla directory from Program Files & Program Files (x86)
  3. Stopped the internet
  4. Install Firefox setup (all the defaults replies)
  5. Check the registry keys HKCU & HKLM
  6. Close Firefox
  7. Start internet
  8. Start Firefox and update to 130.0.1 from the "About" tab
  9. Check the registry keys HKCU & HKLM

And exactly the same procedure for 130.0

Have a nice day,
Dominique

Flags: needinfo?(rey_dominique)

P3/S4, under investigation but at this time unlikely to cause significant error in the common install.

Severity: -- → S4
Priority: -- → P3
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