Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Hierdie gesprek is in die argief. Vra asseblief 'n nuwe vraag as jy hulp nodig het.

firefox upgrade triggers AVG malware detection

  • 5 antwoorde
  • 11 hierdie probleem
  • 5 views
  • Laaste antwoord deur dewood

more options

A firefox upgrade screen appeared indicating an upgrade was needed for both firefox and flash.

The notice is from "http:// firefox .perl.sh/" and requests the download of the file "firefox-update.exe"

My virus detection program detected a malware file as the firefox-update program was run.

I then stopped the program and put all the detected files into AVGs virus vault.

I've never had anything like this come up on updating firefox.

I could not find a revision history to double check on line.

I have the update executable saved and the page this came from is still open in a tab.

Hairs went up on the back of my neck, so I looked a bit further.

Any help you could give me would be appreciated

edited by a moderator to make that address not clickable

A firefox upgrade screen appeared indicating an upgrade was needed for both firefox and flash. The notice is from "http:// firefox .perl.sh/" and requests the download of the file "firefox-update.exe" My virus detection program detected a malware file as the firefox-update program was run. I then stopped the program and put all the detected files into AVGs virus vault. I've never had anything like this come up on updating firefox. I could not find a revision history to double check on line. I have the update executable saved and the page this came from is still open in a tab. Hairs went up on the back of my neck, so I looked a bit further. Any help you could give me would be appreciated ''edited by a moderator to make that address not clickable''

Gewysig op deur the-edmeister

All Replies (5)

more options

That is a fake update web page, not a legitimate Mozilla URL. I just reported it as a Web Forgery.

When you come across a page like that, you can report it yourself using Help > Report Web Forgery

more options

Ok, in the past I only remember seeing a page resembling this after the update has been completed. Having one come up to prompt an update was new to me. But things change, and it did look good.

I was hooked and reeled in.

I figure I'll get more of these; at the very least I figure they have my IP address.

Thanks for your help, I gotta go and blow away some stuff before any accidents happen.

Cheers, Dave W.

more options

Don't assume a web page is legitimate just because Firefox or Mozilla appear somewhere in the address bar, especially when it isn't a secure HTTPS connection. There's a lot of fakes out there, and as soon as SafeBrowsing "flags" as URL as a fake, another appears to replace it. IMO, that URL won't last 24 to 48 hours before it becomes useless for that type of exploit, and they replace it with another that either Google has to find on its' own or it gets reported by an alert user and that one is then blocked.

I doubt if they are targeting users by IP address. They're probably targeting Firefox users by reading the UserAgent and then doing re-direct to fake pages like that via JavaScript.

My advice is to install NoScript, at least for the redirect alert bar.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722
http://noscript.net/

Another thing I forgot to mention, Firefox updates aren't packaged in an .exe file, Mozilla delivers them via a .mar file that installs automatically only from an "authorized" mirror website. There's no external "file handling" for the user with a Firefox update.

Gewysig op deur the-edmeister

more options

Always use "Help > Check for Updates" to update Firefox and never via a link on a web page, unless you install a full version from the official Mozilla website.

more options

Thanks Everybody!