Expiring Root Certificate may disable Firefox browser Add-Ons and Security Features

13 March 2025.

The Hacker News report that Mozilla "is urging users to update their Firefox instances to the latest version to avoid facing issues with using add-ons due to the impending expiration of a root certificate."

Mozilla are reported to have announced: "On March 14, 2025, a root certificate used to verify signed content and add-ons for various Mozilla projects, including Firefox, will expire".

"Without updating to Firefox version 128 or higher (or ESR 115.13+ for ESR users, including Windows 7/8/8.1 and macOS 10.12-10.14 users), this expiration may cause significant issues with add-ons, content signing, and DRM-protected media playback."

The latest version of Firefox includes a new root certificate that will prevent this from happening.

This announcement is important because the root certificate is used to verify that a browser add-on was approved by Mozilla.

Read more: Expiring Root Certificate may disable Firefox browser Add-Ons and Security Features.

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Protect Your Web Connection

The security and privacy settings of most applications used to connect to the web do not by default offer much protection at all.

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Read more: Protect Your Web Connection.