Root Certificate Expires Tomorrow for Older Firefox Versions – Update Urgently

Users of older versions of Mozilla Firefox are advised to update before March 14, otherwise they risk getting non-working extensions, failures when playing DRM-protected media files, and other errors because the root certificate is expiring.

Image source: mozilla.org

The problems affect users of Firefox versions below 128, which was released on July 9 last year, as well as the extended support release of version 115.13. On March 14, the root security certificate, which is used to verify digitally signed content, protected media files, and extensions, expires. Firefox users on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android will need to update the browser to a more recent or, ideally, the latest version — the iOS version is not affected because it runs on the WebKit engine. Firefox is also the basis for the Tor browser, so its users should also make sure that they are using the latest version of the Mozilla browser.

The troublesome root certificate was issued by Mozilla to protect the browser itself and the ecosystem around it, and it will not affect competitors like Chrome, Edge, and Safari. In addition to the functionality issues, an expired certificate can also be a security issue, as it can allow users to install a malicious extension or visit a dubious website. This time, Mozilla decided to warn about the certificate expiration in advance – in May 2019, it happened suddenly and caused discontent among users, and the company had to fix the situation.

On Saturday, March 15, Mozilla’s updated Root Certificate Storage Policy (MRSP v3.0) is released. It is designed to improve the handling of revoked security certificates. CAs will also be required to phase out dual certificates that handle TLS and S/MIME, as this practice does not provide adequate security.