Authorizing Password Manager on FireFox fails after update on 13.09.24
Hello. On 13.09.24 there was a major program update for all engines and OneClient. After this update, my FireFox instances automatically lost the Password Manager authorization which has happened in the past too. This time, however, copying the new Autofill code didn't work - it fails with a message "Invalid authorization code". I have found a few threads here and tried all suggestions - from reinstalling the extension, to refreshing Firefox. None of these worked. At the same time, the extension is authorized on Chrome, but not FireFox. I don't think it's Mozilla issue, because FireFox did not update on 13.09.24, but F-Secure did. This is very frustrating and I hope I won't get a reply "just try to get rid of all your software and settings and start it all over again". This is not a solution (and it doesn't work). There is something wrong with the Extension for FireFox and it should be fixed.
Accepted Answer
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I just received a response from the technical department regarding the problem you have encountered. The problem is related to C runtime installer from Microsoft.
The latest C runtime gets installed when installing some 3rd party software that requires it. And the same C runtime update comes with Windows update later. We ship the latest C runtime dlls with the product (F-Secure), but do not install it systemwide. For some unknown reason Firefox does not load the dlls from Total installation folder but goes directly to Windows system32 folder.
In other words F-Secure program is shipped with msvcp140.dll version 14.40, which gets placed to product install folder. When Firefox loads native messaging host exe, for unknown reason the dependency dlls get loaded directly from system32 instead of product install folder, and if msvcp140.dll is not new enough, it crashes. As a comparison when Chrome loads native messaging host exe, the dependency dlls get loaded from product install folder.
So this can be fixed to some individual users by loading latest C runtime installer from Microsoft. It’s this one: Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn
This is, of course, a temporary solution. Currently, after analyzing this problem, our R&D technicians are working on introducing solutions that will not require the need to manually download the current version of C runtime Installer. This solution will be implemented in one of the upcoming versions of the program, but we are currently unable to give a specific date.
So until Microsoft provides an upgrade to the C runtime installer in a standard procedure, it remains to manually upgrade to the latest version by downloading it from the Microsoft website. I have pasted the link above.
I hope these explanations will be helpful.
Best regards.
Pawel
Making every digital moment secure, for everyone
Answers
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Hello,
On my Windows 10 PC, I get a "Invalid authorization code" across all of the supported browsers. I've tried all the copy paste options, including deleting the Clipboard history in Windows settings. I also tried reinstalling the extension. I had installed Total Security as a new install in August, but never enabled the PM until this weekend, as well as enabling PM on my Windows 11 PC this weekend. I only had two extensions enabled, both of F-Secure's browsing and PM. uBlock Lite was disabled, just in case it was a extension conflict issue.
On my Windows 11 PC, all of the supported PM browser extensions are working normally, and showing the login icons as well. But, on Chrome which I routinely use, the PM extension will randomly ask for the authorization code when I restart it (it just did), but it does work when I copy the code in. Everything is up to date on both PC's.
Sorry I can't help, as I have some of my own invalid code issues going as well. Just though I'd mention it.
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Well, it's really strange, because it has happened let's say 2-3 times every year since I started using F-Secure Total for a few years already. It usually happens when a major upgrade is applied and I thought it makes sense, because maybe the browser extensions have also been updated and they needed to be re-authorized with a new code. Every time it worked great on all browsers - both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Last Friday, however, my FireFox instances (I am using regular FireFox and teh Development Edition too) failed to authorize the code from the Vault. It worked well on Chrome, but I am not using Chrome. The suggestions I've found on old threads didn't even make sense to me. Clearing Cookies is not technically related to how the extensions work. Syncing settings also couldn't affect the authorization. Anyway, I've tried all suggestions, but they didn't work for FireFox. And I am pretty sure the last update on Friday did has something to do with this, because it happened minutes after it finished updating and I've got the notification that my F-Secure has been updated to version 19.6.
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And back about a year ago, I was faithfully using Total and PM as my default and had no issues with it in that time frame. When I started using Brave as my default browser, I went with 1Password, as Brave is supported by 1Password. But this weekend I'm now on board with Chrome and Edge, so I thought I'd start using Totals PM again.
And maybe that did make a difference, as far as 19.4 - 19.5 without any issues (as far as I remember)?
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Hello @Chipson
We welcome you to our forum and thank you for your post. If you have encountered a problem with accepting a code from the Password Vault in the Firefox extension, we recommend the following course of action.
First, you would need to verify check if the Firefox browser is up to date:
- Open Firefox
- Click on the Menu in the upper right corner
- Scroll down to Help
- Select About Firefox
- Check if the browser is up to date
If the step above doesn't help, check if you have the Sync and save data function enabled in Firefox. If yes, follow the steps to disable the function for add-ons:
- Open Firefox and log in to your Firefox account
- Go to Settings and select Sync from the menu of the left-hand side
- Click on Change and untick the box Add-ons in the Choose What To Sync window
In case that the steps above don't solve the issue, proceed clear all the browser history and cookies.
If clearing the browser history and cookies didn't help, refreshing the Firefox browser can be helpful. You wrote that you have refreshed Firefox.
Did you do this as described here?
Please let us know if you were able to solve the problem.
Best regards.
Pawel
Making every digital moment secure, for everyone
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Hello Pawel and thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, this is the same reply I've already found on a few older threads here. Yet:
- I've checked my browsers, they are all up to date.
- I've tried disabling Sync, no change.
- I've cleared the history and cookies, didn't help.
- I have also refreshed FireFox (losing all add-ons, extensions and settings), that didn't help either.
Of course, I tried the above steps with and without the Password Manager extension installed. None of this has helped - every time I install the extension again, the Autofill code is not accepted with the same message:
As I mentioned in my post, I am using F-Secure and the Password Manager for a few years already. Every time there is a major update of F-Secure, my browsers require new authentication of the extension and I found this reasonable. This time, however, the code is not accepted.
I am not sure if it will work if I remove FireFox completely - not just refreshing it, but de-installing the app and installing it again. But I'm not sure I'm going to try this, because it's not just about losing my add-ons or extensions - there is a lot more on FireFox and even if I de-install it, I will need to Sync my data in order to be able to restore it back. If I do this, it would be the same as refreshing the browser.
I still believe this has all happened after the last major F-Secure update last Friday and it is not related to the browser, but to either the extension Password Manager, or the Password Vault app which is generating wrong code.
Let me know if I am missing something, but thus far I am afraid that your reply above is simply automated…
Best regards,
Dimiter -
Hello @Chipson
When on any device there is a problem with accepting the code in the extension for ID Protection on Firefox then in the first place we recommend following these steps. In most cases this solves the problem. I'm sorry this didn't happen for you.
Therefore, in the next step it will be necessary to collect diagnostic data from our program on your device, so that our technicians can analyze it and see what is causing the extension to be unable to be associated with the program and the code is not accepted.
I will soon send you a message in a private message on our forum with instructions for downloading the diagnostic data. Please check your inbox on the forum.
Best regards
Pawel
Making every digital moment secure, for everyone
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Hello @AJC
We welcome you to our forum.
Please give us more details.
- On what device (operating system) did the problem appear?
- Does it occur only on Firefox?
- Since when did it appear?
If the problem appears only on Firefox then we will need diagnostic data from our program.
I will send you instructions for downloading the diagnostic data in a private message on the forum.
Please check your inbox.
Best regards
Pawel
Making every digital moment secure, for everyone
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Hello @PawełP ,
Thank you for your reply and also I would like to thank the technicians who managed to solve this, although with a temporary solution. I have installed the latest version of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable and after restarting the system FireFox has accepted the Autofill code.
I wonder why Windows itself hasn't updated this Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable version and it didn't appear in the regular updates. Maybe it would have been updated in the future automatically.
Just a thought you may share with your colleagues (I am a programmer myself, that's why I afford sharing advice) - when developing the software and especially when there are parts/applications which use and require shared resources, you should not include third-party software unless you can always ensure your applications will always refer to it. If FireFox are using the shared resource and not the one included in your package, you should always refer to the latest version of that resource which will always be available on the client machine.
Best regards,
Dimiter -
Hello @Chipson
Thank you for your feedback. I'm very glad that the given solution worked.
Thank you also for your comment. I will be happy to forward it to R&D. We are open to any suggestions that can help us improve our programs and provide even more security.
Also your comment will be carefully considered.
Best regards.
Pawel
Making every digital moment secure, for everyone
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