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Is firefox Hello (v36.0) automatically opening a listening port when starting up? Is this a security risk?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by philipp

YourMindPlaysTricks
YourMindPlaysTricks
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After updating to firefox 36, windows firewall offered to block firefox. That usually happens when a program opens a port to accept INCOMING connections. Currently I have blocked it! Is firefox opening a listening port and is that a security risk?

Have fun

After updating to firefox 36, windows firewall offered to block firefox. That usually happens when a program opens a port to accept INCOMING connections. Currently I have blocked it! Is firefox opening a listening port and is that a security risk? Have fun

All Replies (2)

John99
John99
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Mozilla Firefox is very security conscious and privacy aware. Some of the connections made are intended to increase security by ensuring everything is updated.

See

I am not certain if the Hello & social button do anything, but you can experiment with the settings mentioned in the above article, although generally it would be best if after any experiments you returned to the default settings.

philipp
philipp
  • Moderator
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hi, firefox hello is not related to the firewall prompt that you are seeing. this is happening because of a new "send video to device"-feature that was introduced in firefox 36 - this is sending out packets to the local network to recognize compatible devices like roku or chromecast. if you don't make use of that you can safely block those requests with your firewall.