61276 - PSM only starts if user can write to MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME/psm/components

Status: VERIFIED DUPLICATE of bug 49507

(Core :: Security: PSM, defect, P3)

Description

[Brian Teague]

Linux 2000112208

The user running mozilla must be able to write to the directory
MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME/psm/components to use the PSM.  Because the PSM can only be
installed root, this means that for other users of the system to employ the PSM,
this directory must be world-writable.

By default, this is not the case.  (For security reasons, it shouldn't be!)

The bug is most annoying when Tasks->Privacy and Security->Personal Security
Manager is selected, because the user interface doesn't work while waiting for
it to start, and it steals the cursor, making an X restart necessary.  When
connecting to a secure site (as a user other than the owner of the above
directory), the page just never loads; when the Stop button is clicked, the
browser hangs.

This was observed with a "virgin" install of the Linux PSM onto the above
nightly build.  It has not been tested elsewhere.

Comment 1

[John Unruh]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 49507 ***

Comment 2

[timeless]

vrfy dupe