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The security company Fingerprint discovered how on Firefox browsers, websites could track users even if they used private browsing tabs or the anonymity focused TOR browser. Mozilla closed the vulnerability in Firefox 150, that was released on April 21st 2026.
This vulnerability is another example how a subtle lack of entropy in the software industry can undermine privacy and security.
The vulnerability is around how browsers retrieve non-sensitive stored metadata. The retrieval of database metadata is ordered in a specific way that can be unique to the user’s browser. This could allow the fingerprinting of systems, allowing tracking, that could persist even with full privacy protections are in place.
Essentially, the data retrieval process lacked sufficient entropy in how it presented metadata, creating consistently unique formats based on individual systems, allowing users to be matched and therefore tracked.
This is a big deal to people who wish to protect their privacy. Using TOR and private browsing are popular ways to keep others from tracking your online activities, but this flaw could partially undermine such measures.
Great job to Fingerprint in identifying and responsibly reporting the vulnerability so Mozilla could close the weakness.
I expect more such issues to be discovered across browsers as the next generation of AI models are released, like Anthropic’s Claude Mythos.
#cybersecurity #privacy #firefox
This vulnerability is another example how a subtle lack of entropy in the software industry can undermine privacy and security.
The vulnerability is around how browsers retrieve non-sensitive stored metadata. The retrieval of database metadata is ordered in a specific way that can be unique to the user’s browser. This could allow the fingerprinting of systems, allowing tracking, that could persist even with full privacy protections are in place.
Essentially, the data retrieval process lacked sufficient entropy in how it presented metadata, creating consistently unique formats based on individual systems, allowing users to be matched and therefore tracked.
This is a big deal to people who wish to protect their privacy. Using TOR and private browsing are popular ways to keep others from tracking your online activities, but this flaw could partially undermine such measures.
Great job to Fingerprint in identifying and responsibly reporting the vulnerability so Mozilla could close the weakness.
I expect more such issues to be discovered across browsers as the next generation of AI models are released, like Anthropic’s Claude Mythos.
#cybersecurity #privacy #firefox
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Probably my favourite Linux YouTuber - Brodie Robertson - posted a video today about Floorp browser. It's a custom build of Firefox with a heavy focus on customization. Now, it's built off the ESR stream, so it's not going to have all the cutting-edge features that the latest main release would have, but most (if not all) of those features will probably end up in Floorp over time.
I think my favourite feature so far is the sidebar that lets you integrate websites that you can access on the fly. You can see in my screenshot that I created this post using a Tangled panel that I added. I've also got one for a Gacha game that I play way too much of. The biggest benefit of the paneled sites is that they remain open and with whatever you're doing while you flip tabs. I believe you can also close them, but the content will remain? I'll test after I post this - I don't want to accidentally find out I'm wrong 🤣 [EDIT: Confirmed, the content is stored even when you close the panel. You can right-click and "unload panel" if you want to fully close the containerized site]
You can watch Brodie's rundown on YouTube here
For anybody wondering, I'm running Arch and using SwayWM with waybar for the desktop environment. I use uLaunch in lieu of rofi/wofi, but I keep rofi running as a backup just in case.
#Arch #Linux #Browser #Firefox #Floorp
I think my favourite feature so far is the sidebar that lets you integrate websites that you can access on the fly. You can see in my screenshot that I created this post using a Tangled panel that I added. I've also got one for a Gacha game that I play way too much of. The biggest benefit of the paneled sites is that they remain open and with whatever you're doing while you flip tabs. I believe you can also close them, but the content will remain? I'll test after I post this - I don't want to accidentally find out I'm wrong 🤣 [EDIT: Confirmed, the content is stored even when you close the panel. You can right-click and "unload panel" if you want to fully close the containerized site]
You can watch Brodie's rundown on YouTube here
For anybody wondering, I'm running Arch and using SwayWM with waybar for the desktop environment. I use uLaunch in lieu of rofi/wofi, but I keep rofi running as a backup just in case.
#Arch #Linux #Browser #Firefox #Floorp
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