717458 - Comcast/Xfinity inserts bookmarks into places.sqlite with missing required values ("Found a page without a GUID!")

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Web Compatibility :: Site Reports, defect)

Description

[Matthew N. [:MattN]]

Attachment: Screenshot of moz_places WHERE guid IS NULL

Assertion failure: !haveNullGuids && "Found a page without a GUID!", at /mozilla-central/toolkit/components/places/Database.cpp:1719
encountered on shutdown which leads to "Segmentation fault: 11".

I was required to install some Comcast software (ComcastDesktopInstaller_FarmC_1108.pkg) in order to activate my internet service in November and it installed 8 bookmarks in Firefox.  I deleted them from the bookmark UI but entries remained in moz_places.  I'm not sure what the database other database entries looked like before I deleted them. Some of the required columns are missing data such as `rev_host` and `guid`.  The lack of a guid leads to this assertion failure in debug builds.

Deleting the moz_places entries shown in the screenshot gets rid of the assertion failure.

I can provide a link to a download of the software for Mac if desired but I'm not sure if I should provide it publicly.

Comment 1

[Chris Lawson (gone)]

Is the goal to get them to do it properly, or not to do it at all? I'd personally prefer other applications don't mess with my bookmarks, ever, without my explicit permission, and I'm gonna take a wild guess Comcast didn't ask you to do that.

Comment 2

[Jared Wein [:jaws] (please needinfo? me)]

(In reply to Chris Lawson from comment #1)
> Is the goal to get them to do it properly, or not to do it at all?

Not to do it at all.

Comment 3

[Karl Dubost💡 :karlcow]

Nobody contacted anyone. 
We never had duplicate on this it seems. 
I doubt the issue is still valid.

I will close as INVALID. but if you still have the issue, please REOPEN.

That said, there is a more general issue about allowing bookmarks that would be invalid or create issues in the browser.