This Bug Can Crash Firefox by Forcing Repeated Downloads

There's a new Firefox bug that can crash the browser and potentially your PC.

Security researcher Sabri Haddouche is demonstrating the flaw with a web link that'll freeze the Firefox browser when it attempts to open the page.

The problem occurs in a Firefox-supported API that tin can prompt the browser to automatically initiate a download. Haddouche discovered this API could be abused to freeze the browser by making it repeatedly download a file that contains an obscenely long name.

Firefox bug

In Haddouche's demo of the bug, he created a file with a proper name over 26,000 characters long. "You can't download it," he told PCMag. "Firefox cannot recover and needs to be restarted by force."

On Mac, the bug merely froze the Firefox browser. However, on Windows, the flaw can reportedly cause the whole operating organisation to hang, forcing you to reboot. So examination the problems at your own risk. (Y'all can practise that here.)

The flaw affects the latest version of Firefox, 62, as well equally the experimental releases. Haddouche has submitted the problems to Mozilla for patching. "We are enlightened of this issue and are actively working on mitigating it," Mozilla told PCMag in an email.

The bug can also piece of work on Google'south Chrome browser by filling information technology upwards with repeated download requests. A temporary gear up for either browser involves going into the software's settings and blocking information technology from automatically running Javascript.

Haddouche disclosed the bug a week after he discovered a separate flaw involving Apple's Safari browser that can crash your iPhone. The bug will exist triggered when a webpage has been designed to load a massive number of HTML elements, which the browser will struggle to return. Apple tree has yet to publish a gear up.