I cannot save Facebook web pages using the 'save page as' function of Firefox.
Firefox works fine saving other web pages. I'm using MacOS High SIerra with all the latest updates. Same with Firefox.
When I save a Facebook web page and then open the resulting file, all I get is the text and images with no formatting of any kind. The problem started in August after I updated MacOS. Same problem opening older saved Facebook pages.
Chosen solution
For the older saved pages, one possible explanation might be a security fix in Firefox 68 which restricts the kinds of files that pages can load (and methods of loading) when you open them from a file:// URL. This change was made to prevent exfiltration of valuable data within reach of a local page, as demonstrated in an available exploit. More info:
- https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/HTTP/CORS/Errors/CORSRequestNotHttp
- https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2019-21/#CVE-2019-11730
You can roll back the patch as follows if you want to see what difference it makes:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.
(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste uniq and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click the privacy.file_unique_origin preference to switch the value from true to false
If you keep that setting, I suggest to mitigate the vulnerability:
If you save pages from untrusted sites, use a separate folder, e.g., Downloads/Untrusted. Then it would be difficult for an attacker to find any valuable content using local file links.
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Hi Claude, when I try saving a page from FB (it wasn't my news feed), the saved page looks like Facebook, except that I don't get anything below the compose box, even though Firefox has stored images from those posts and seemingly dozens of other files. There's something a little too complex about the page maybe?
I saved using the default "Save as type" of "Web page, complete" and it failed. I used the Retry arrow on the Downloads list to try again. Perhaps that led to the incomplete result?
Anyway, if the built-in "complete" format doesn't work well on a site, you could try an add-on such as:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/single-file/
Obviously if there are a lot of images, it's going to be a big file, but on the upside, no companion folder to worry about.
Or maybe a PDF or screenshot would be good enough??
Chosen Solution
For the older saved pages, one possible explanation might be a security fix in Firefox 68 which restricts the kinds of files that pages can load (and methods of loading) when you open them from a file:// URL. This change was made to prevent exfiltration of valuable data within reach of a local page, as demonstrated in an available exploit. More info:
- https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/HTTP/CORS/Errors/CORSRequestNotHttp
- https://www.mozilla.org/security/advisories/mfsa2019-21/#CVE-2019-11730
You can roll back the patch as follows if you want to see what difference it makes:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.
(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste uniq and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click the privacy.file_unique_origin preference to switch the value from true to false
If you keep that setting, I suggest to mitigate the vulnerability:
If you save pages from untrusted sites, use a separate folder, e.g., Downloads/Untrusted. Then it would be difficult for an attacker to find any valuable content using local file links.
It totally solved the problem! That is the reason why I was having trouble saving Facebook web pages. Thank you.
Glad to hear that solved it for you. It didn't work for the page I was testing, but maybe there's a different reason for that.