Browser Plugin Problem with Firefox 57

@skipole: That's not something I've ever encountered before, so I appreciate you bringing it up. It may help others in the future, if not those present now. :)

@datafan, @alembic: What we typically see is that "security" software is or has made changes to the browser, which either prevent a secure connection from being established in the first place to download the file, or subsequently prevent it from being installed. This could be something you have running on your computer currently, or whose leavings have Firefox in a state with broken security certificates and/or settings. I can't be more specific than that unfortunately since I know nothing about your systems.

To clarify, this is common in Firefox but not Chrome, because Google doesn't have the legacy baggage Firefox does and has a zero tolerance policy with regard to 3rd parties modifying it — nothing against Firefox, as Google had the benefit of learning from Mozilla's challenges).

There's a bit of a bandaid that can help: you can probably download the Firefox extension XPI using a different browser and simply drag it to Firefox to install it. Unfortunately that does not solve the root issue, which will probably cause problems for you going forward as well if left unaddressed, especially with updates. So I'd encourage you to look into it and put a stop to whatever is the cause. There just isn't anything we can do to stop other software or settings from interfering with Firefox's normal operations, but it would be good to hear what you find in case others are in a similar situation. :blush:

@alembic,

This really sounds like you're missing a ~/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/NativeMessageHosts folder to me.

Rudy

@alembic,

Nope, that all looks correct.

Next thing to check is that the system thinks the signature for Firefox is intact:

paste this into Terminal.app and hit return, it will check the code signature of the Firefox binary to see if its valid on disk.

codesign -d --verify --verbose=3 /Applications/Firefox.app

Rudy

@alembic: As I mentioned in the other thread where we ran into each other, I did take a read through this to see if I have any ideas. I have a few theories, but I'm not going to be as handy as Rudy sorting through things using terminal commands, but I can take a look at some diagnostics from your Mac to see if any of the usual suspects are to blame here:

https://support.1password.com/diagnostics/

If you'd like, send that report over to support@agilebits.com and let me know the Support ID you receive back here. I'll take a gander and see if I can move things along. :chuffed:

@alembic: Thanks! I see that we've received your email, so we can continue the conversation there. We'll take a look at the diagnostics and get back to you shortly! :)

ref: MBL-52987-456

@bhusari: It's certainly possible. Typically we see self-signed certificates used to perform person-in-the-middle attacks, which is usually present to the user as "HTTPS/TLS/SSL Scanning" or similar. For a number of reasons, that's bad for security; but it also will prevent you from connecting securely to websites, and ours is very strict about not allowing eavesdropping or impersonation. Ironically, while the 1Password extension can function just fine in that environment anyway, you will not be able to download it if the OS and/or browser has been modified in such a way. You may, however, be able to download it using another browser and then install it in Firefox, as I mentioned above. Did you try that?

Rudy solved the issue. For macOS Sierra and newer, when installing Firefox, the application MUST be copied from the disk image to the /Applications folder using Finder. I was using Path Finder and that occasions a mount of the new Firefox binary to a temp folder to be launched from there (rather than from /Applications folder) as a specific TransLocation flag in the application fails to be cleared when the copy is performed by anything other than Finder. 1Password was unable to ensure Firefox's identity because of that errant pathname. Thanks Rudy!

@alembic: Aha! That explains it. Thanks for the update. On behalf of Rudy, you are most welcome!

Indeed, that's actually why we moved to using an installer for the launch of Sierra, due to these security changes. In case it helps you or anyone else, there's a good writeup here about the App Translocation feature:

macOS Sierra will break many installers and updaters (The Eclectic Light Company)

Anyway, it sounds like you should be all set, but don't hesitate to reach out if we can be of further assistance. We're always here to help! :)

@hedgeddown: Indeed, we've gotten reports that Firefox is not creating the NativeMessagingHosts folder for some people. I couldn't tell you why it wouldn't, but creating it yourself may help. Try this:

1. Go to Finder and choose Go > Go to Folder
2. In the box that pops up, enter ~/Library/Application Support
3. In the folder that opens, you should find a Mozilla folder. If not, create it.
4. Inside the Mozilla folder, create a folder named NativeMessagingHosts if it does not exist.
5. Go to 1Password and choose Help > Troubleshooting > Restart 1Password mini

Let me know if that helps! :)

Sure thing! Glad that did the trick! It sounds like you should be all set, but don't hesitate to reach out if we can be of further assistance. Cheers! :)