Un4given Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Remove the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant (ClickOnce) Firefox Extension Intended For Windows 2000 Windows 7 Windows XP Windows Vista The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 update, pushed through the Windows Update service to all recent editions of Windows in February 2009, installs the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant firefox extension without asking your permission. This update adds to Firefox one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities present in all versions of Internet Explorer: the ability for websites to easily and quietly install software on your PC. Since this design flaw is one of the reasons you may've originally choosen to abandon IE in favor of a safer browser like Firefox, you may wish to remove this extension with all due haste. Unfortunately, Microsoft in their infinite wisdom has taken steps to make the removal of this extension particularly difficult - open the Add-ons window in Firefox, and you'll notice the Uninstall button next to their extension is grayed out! Their reasoning, according to Microsoft blogger Brad Abrams, is that the extension needed "support at the machine level in order to enable the feature for all users on the machine," which, of course, is precisely the reason this add-on is bad news for all Firefox users. Here's the bafflingly-convoluted procedure required to remove this garbage from Firefox: Open Registry Editor (type regedit in the Start menu Search box in Vista/Windows 7, or in XP's Run window). Expand the branches to the following key: On 32-bit systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Extensions On x64 systems: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Wow6432Node \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Extensions Delete the value named {20a82645-c095-46ed-80e3-08825760534b} from the right pane. Close the Registry Editor when you're done. Open a new Firefox window, and in the address bar, type about:config and press Enter. Type microsoftdotnet in the Filter field to quickly find the general.useragent.extra.microsoftdotnet setting. Right-click general.useragent.extra.microsoftdotnet and select Reset. Restart Firefox. Open Windows Explorer, and navigate to %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Windows Presentation Foundation. Delete the DotNetAssistantExtension folder entirely. Open the Add-ons window in Firefox to confirm that the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant extension has been removed. It will be a great day when PC users no longer have to waste this much time to protect themselves from those who write the software they use. (And if you're thinking, "Why not just use a Mac," may I remind you of the MobileMe junk recently installed on so many Windows machines without their owners' permission!) Credits go to Annoyances.org for this eye opening security fix. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc2003 Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 old news. and mozilla have rolled out an update which disables it automatically. anybody running the latest version of firefox would have seen a prompt on screen telling them this. https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=834612 Just got it myself ... Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591755708 Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasfrank09 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I heard about this on Security Now back in June - quite dastardly of Microsoft... I think they said something about it helping non computer savvy users - but hey, those users aren't on firefox... Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591798972 Share on other sites More sharing options...
soldier1st Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 this update don't block anything as i can enable or disable that addon. nice try though. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591799846 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance. Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Very sneaky of Microsoft :angry:! Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591799862 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddy* Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Thanks for the notification ... !!! all i can say is that I'm shocked to know this. Firefox offers the most secure browsing of the www in my opinion and i wouldn't want any extension (addon/plugin) to change that so thanks again. ;) Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591799916 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightwind Hawk Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Does uninstalling the add-on not do the same thing...? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591808492 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Thanks for the notification ... !!!all i can say is that I'm shocked to know this. Firefox offers the most secure browsing of the www in my opinion and i wouldn't want any extension (addon/plugin) to change that so thanks again. ;) hehe, yeah sure. maybe when they add built in sandboxing/safe mode like a certain other major browser, or come close to catching up to Opera on Secunia. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591808562 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chasethebase Reporter Posted November 6, 2009 Reporter Share Posted November 6, 2009 I got this about a week ago and I just disabled it because I can. No big issue with it though to be honest. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591812010 Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooky560 Veteran Posted November 6, 2009 Veteran Share Posted November 6, 2009 the uninstall option was never greyed for me, so I just uninstalled it :p the Java one however is impossible to uninstall Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591812096 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corris Veteran Posted November 6, 2009 Veteran Share Posted November 6, 2009 hehe, yeah sure.maybe when they add built in sandboxing/safe mode like a certain other major browser, or come close to catching up to Opera on Secunia. Firefox had a Safe mode last time I used it on windows? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591812120 Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Thank you for this. :) Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591921808 Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyntaxError Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 the uninstall option was never greyed for me, so I just uninstalled it :p the Java one however is impossible to uninstall Just remove the offending file (npjp2.dll) from the plugins folder and restart FF. Hardly impossible. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/838064-for-those-of-you-who-use-firefox/#findComment-591966034 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts