945530 - Blocklist DVDVideoSoft Menu add-on

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Toolkit :: Blocklist Policy Requests, defect)

Description

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Conduit add-on installed by dvdvideosoft.com. Does not bypass about:newaddon but does change the default search engine before opt-in.

ID: {ACAA314B-EEBA-48e4-AD47-84E31C44796C}

Comment 1

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Apparently also goes by {872b5b88-9db5-4310-bdd0-ac189557e5f5}

Comment 2

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

Blocked:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i496
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i497

Comment 3

[Rich R]

Was any verification/investigation done before going ahead with blocking this add-on?

I have it installed and it did NOT change my default search engine or even for that matter add any new search engines to the list as far as I can see!

(In reply to Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] from comment #2)
> Blocked:
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i496
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i497

Comment 4

[Scott]

I'm with Rich on this one. I've got the plugins installed and NO malware, NO hijacked search engines present. Sounds like there's a user error with the first poster...

Can we get this plugin unblocked please? It's really frikkin' irritating to have firefox keep telling me that the plugin's been blocked, when it works just damn fine.

-S

(In reply to Rich R from comment #3)
> Was any verification/investigation done before going ahead with blocking
> this add-on?
> 
> I have it installed and it did NOT change my default search engine or even
> for that matter add any new search engines to the list as far as I can see!
> 
> (In reply to Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] from comment #2)
> > Blocked:
> > https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i496
> > https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i497

Comment 5

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

Kris, can you double check?

@Scott and Rich: note that this block was caused by the installer that bundles the add-on, which can change over time and can be different depending on where it is obtained from. One can argue that this is unfair to the people who have installed it in valid ways, which is why you have the possibility of enabling the add-on again from the Add-ons Manager.

Comment 6

[Scott]

Yes, but most of us are smart enough to UNCHECK THE BOX that says "please rape my computer with malware".

User ignorance does not mean the plugin needs to be blocked for everyone else.

It's a fully functional plugin that makes some of my day-to-day tasks at work a LOT easier.

Why doesn't Mozilla just block conduit as a search engine and make it impossible to add that search engine to firefox? Wouldn't that make more sense?

Comment 7

[Peter Miritello]

I agree with you Scott.  This add-on has *always* worked for me with no security threat whatsoever.

There are users out there who are not aware of sites like Conduit that have contracts with various software makers to *bundle* certain add-ons (such as DVDVideoSoft's YouTube MP3 and Video Download 4.2.1.9) as part of their(i.e., the other software makers) download package.

I, as well as other *knowledgable* users, including yourself, Scott, frequently use this add-on with no problems or trouble at all for as long as it has existed.

Therefore, I again, am in full agreement that Mr. Maglione, as well as those others whom are not well versed, should not be so quick to right-away put in a block request.

BTW, Mozilla should try considering the blockage of Conduit as a whole, as Conduit is, in my (and many others) opinion, just another greedy contractor, which will go to any length to make money, even to the point of causing others grief.

Comment 8

[Quentin]

I don't have any issue either with this plugin.

With virus total, detection ratio of 1/48 : https://www.virustotal.com/fr/file/9658268365031e888e5f16504219b92b51e4ab8621770a19bdb0903a7a089155/analysis/1386169604/

ESET-NOD32 found a Win32/OpenCandy : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCandy

That's what we see when installing the plugin :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/29/kx4m.png/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/22/ldkp.png/

Always think to check if there are boxes to untick when installing a software and there should be no problem with that.
I don't install the update anytime a new one is out because of that OpenCandy personnally.

Comment 9

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

(In reply to Scott from comment #6)
> Yes, but most of us are smart enough to UNCHECK THE BOX that says "please
> rape my computer with malware".

If by "us", you mean knowledgeable users, then maybe. Most users don't uncheck any of those options, which is why we have guidelines that make it easy for most users to have control over their browser. One of those guidelines is that any search changes should be done by the add-on and not the installer, so that choosing not to install the add-on doesn't make any changes in Firefox and, in case the add-on is accepted, removing it reverts any changes.

And, again, if you mean knowledgeable users, or users who really want the add-on installed, they should be able to enable it again in the Add-ons Manager, or uncheck the checkbox that appears in the block dialog.

> User ignorance does not mean the plugin needs to be blocked for everyone
> else.

Which is why we try to set a very low bar for these add-ons, and we allow blocks to be reverted by users in these cases.

> Why doesn't Mozilla just block conduit as a search engine and make it
> impossible to add that search engine to firefox? Wouldn't that make more
> sense?

We are blocking most add-ons installed by Conduit installers because they don't follow our policies, and ultimately it is up to the add-on developers to realize that they should probably move to different partners to avoid blocklisting. We don't have the capability to block search engines (plus, it would be easy to bypass by changing URLs), though we have some ideas for improving the "change search settings" interaction that is so common in these situations.

Comment 10

[Manon]

I've had the dvdvideosoft add-on for awhile now with no issues, but...  

Installed the plugin on another computer a few days ago and made certain to untick the unwanted "extras" - it did not work and installed junk all over the place.  I then fully uninstalled, checked for leftover/hidden files and decided to try it again, thinking perhaps I installed from a redirected site or had neglected to uncheck the added software option.  The same thing happened and I ended up having to restore the computer.  Awful stuff, feel like I need to format the OS.

Comment 12

[Johann]

After updating my dvdvideosoft add-on it happened when adding a new tab in my firefox browser
it was forced to open the "delta-search" website. It was hard work to repair this:

The solution was the Add-On named "Add Google Search To New Tab Page 1.0.2" by Graememcc.

Before installing this add-on i deleted any software and folders including the name "delta search".
Then i cleaned up my registry using "piriform ccleaner". Then i installed the add-on.

Now i use the old version of dvdvideosoft without updating.

Comment 13

[france-]

Can you remove your advertissement for DVDVideoSoft ? You are so ridiculous, check the multiple addons on your page that don't fonction right. Excuse my english but i'm a french women.

thank's

Comment 14

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Sorry, I forgot about this. What am I confirming?

In any case, I just tested this. The add-on is no longer silently installed, but the search engine is still hijacked.