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security error on ff launch. can not open https sites.

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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I have to use IE to see most of my sites. When I launch Fire Fox, an error pops up. "Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix the problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behaviour when accessing security features."

I checked the profile file settings, windows and webroot firewall and security settings, rebooted several times. Keep getting the same launch error.

I checked and both SSL3.0 and TLS1.0 are selected for use. In spite of that this is what displays when I try to access a https site.

Secure Connection Failed An error occurred during a connection to personal.vanguard.com. Can't connect securely because the SSL protocol has been disabled. (Error code: ssl_error_ssl_disabled)

   *   The page you are trying to view can not be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
   *   Please contact the web site owners to inform them of this problem. Alternatively, use the command found in the help menu to report this broken site.

This problem is not happening with IE.

In addition to the above, I read the article about SSL and FF needing to connect to itself. My firewall is not on the list (Webroot) however I found the permission screen of my firewall and verified that FF is allowed through and is a parent application.

I have to use IE to see most of my sites. When I launch Fire Fox, an error pops up. "Could not initialize the application's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your application's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the application and fix the problem. If you continue to use this session, you might see incorrect application behaviour when accessing security features." I checked the profile file settings, windows and webroot firewall and security settings, rebooted several times. Keep getting the same launch error. I checked and both SSL3.0 and TLS1.0 are selected for use. In spite of that this is what displays when I try to access a https site. Secure Connection Failed An error occurred during a connection to personal.vanguard.com. Can't connect securely because the SSL protocol has been disabled. (Error code: ssl_error_ssl_disabled) * The page you are trying to view can not be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified. * Please contact the web site owners to inform them of this problem. Alternatively, use the command found in the help menu to report this broken site. This problem is not happening with IE. In addition to the above, I read the article about SSL and FF needing to connect to itself. My firewall is not on the list (Webroot) however I found the permission screen of my firewall and verified that FF is allowed through and is a parent application.

Modified by gggcc

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You also need to allow the loopback connection that Firefox uses to communicate with the Software Security Device.

Remove all rules for Firefox from the permissions list in the firewall and let your firewall ask again for permission to get full unrestricted access to internet for Firefox.


Rename or delete secmod.db (secmod.db.old) and possibly cert8.db (cert8.db.old) in the Profile Folder in case there is a problem with those files.

The file cert8.db stores your user certificates, so if you have user certificates then you may want to export them now and import them after having removed cert8.db.

See Tools > Options > Advanced > Encryption: Certificates: View Certificates

If that works then you can delete the renamed files or undo the changes if you want to revert the process.