Firefox 52.0 Released as ESR Branch, Will Receive Security Updates Until 2018

[Batu69]

Back in January, we told you that the development of the Mozilla Firefox 52.0 kicked off with the first Beta release and promised to let users send and open tabs from one device to another, among numerous other improvements and new features.

Nine Beta builds later, Mozilla has pushed today, March 7, 2016, the final binary and source packages of the Mozilla Firefox 52.0 web browser for all supported platforms, including GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows. The good news is that Firefox 52 is an ESR (Extended Support Release) branch that will be supported until March-April 2018.

There are now two ESR branches available, namely Mozilla Firefox 52.0 and 45.x. The latter was updated today as well, to version 45.8.0, and will get one more security update, versioned 45.9.0, next month, when the new 52.0 series will receive its first point release, versioned 52.1, giving system integrators enough time to move to Firefox 52 ESR.

What's new in Firefox 52.0 ESR

Prominent features of the Mozilla Firefox 52.0 ESR release include support for the emerging WebAssembly standard to boost the performance of Web-based games and apps without relying on plugins, the ability to send and open tabs from one device to another, as well as multi-process for Windows users with touchscreens.

With each new Firefox release, Mozilla's developers attempt to offer new way to improve the security of the widely-used web browser across all supported platforms. Firefox 52.0 ESR implements a "This connection is not secure" warning for non-secure pages that require user logins, along with a new Strict Secure Cookies specification.

"Implemented the Strict Secure Cookies specification which forbids insecure HTTP sites from setting cookies with the "secure" attribute. In some cases, this will prevent an insecure site from setting a cookie with the same name as an existing "secure" cookie from the same base domain," explain the Mozilla developers in the release notes.

Firefox 52.0 also improves the downloads experience by adding notifications for failed downloads, bigger buttons for restarting or canceling a download, and access to up to five of the most recent downloaded files. Other than that, it improves the text input for third-party keyboard layouts on Windows OSes.

Additionally, it removes support for NPAPI (Netscape Plugin API) plugins except for Adobe Flash Player, which means that Microsoft's Silverlight, Oracle's Java or Adobe's Acrobat plugins are no longer supported. Mozilla Firefox 52.0 also removes the Battery Status API reducing browser fingerprinting by various trackers.

For developers, Firefox 52.0 improves security for screen sharing, which no longer requires a whitelisted domain and displays a preview, enables CSS Grid Layout, and redesigns the Responsive Design Mode with network throttling, device selection, and other goodies. Download Firefox 52.0 for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows.

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Firefox 52.0 released: find out what is new

Spoiler

Mozilla Firefox 52.0 Stable was released on March 7, 2017 to the public through the web browser's automatic update functionality, and on Mozilla's website.

Note: Firefox 52.0 is being rolled out on March 7, 2017. The release is already on Mozilla's FTP server, but may not be yet available through automatic updating. All Firefox users and interested Internet users will have access to the release at the end of the day.

 

The new version of Firefox is a major release for several reasons. First, it is the first release that does away with NPAPI plugin support. Second, it marks the beginning of a new Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) cycle.

 

Mozilla updates all Firefox channels on the same day when a new major stable version is released. This means that Firefox Beta is updated to Beta 53.0, Firefox Aurora to Aurora 54.0, and Firefox Nightly to Nightly 55.0. Additionally, Firefox ESR 52.0 is available (and so is Firefox ESR 45.8).

Executive Summary

1. Firefox 52.0 is the new stable version of the web browser.
2. The new version does not support NPAPI plugins anymore, apart from Adobe Flash. So, no Silverlight, Java, Google Hangouts and other plugin support anymore.
3. Firefox ESR 52.0 is the new Extended Support Release version. You may enable NPAPI plugin support in it.
4. Windows XP and Vista users are automatically migrated to Firefox 52.0 ESR during update. Firefox 53.0 won't run on XP or Vista machines anymore.

Firefox 52.0 download and update

 

Mozilla Firefox 52.0 is available on Mozilla's public FTP server. The update will be made available today through the browser's automatic update feature, and also on the Mozilla website.

 

You can run manual check for updates in the following way in Firefox:

1. Open Firefox if it is not open already.
2. Tap on the Alt-key on your computer keybard, and select Help > About Firefox.

This displays the current version and channel of the browser. An update check is performed in the background, and new versions that are found during the check are either downloaded and installed automatically, or on user request.

 

The latest Firefox versions can be downloaded by following the links below as well:

• Firefox Stable download
• Firefox Beta download
• Firefox Developer download
• Nightly download
• Firefox ESR download
• Firefox unbranded builds information

Firefox 52.0 Changes

Non-Secure warnings for HTTP login pages

 

 

Firefox warns you with a security prompt when a page with a login form uses HTTP.  The browser displays a small notification underneath the login prompt when you activate it if HTTP is used on the page to submit the data.

 

Also, autofill disabled on these pages.

It reads: Logins entered here could be compromised. Learn more.

 

Strict Secure Cookies specification implemented

The Strict Secure Cookies specification has been implemented. It prevents insecure (read HTTP) sites from setting cookies with the secure flag. It prevents HTTP sites from overwriting cookies set by HTTPS sites with the secure flag.

 

You find the draft here.

Firefox 52.0 ESR

Firefox 52.0 ESR marks the beginning of a new extended support release cycle. This release is important for a number of reasons:

1. It is the only version of Firefox going forward that supports NPAPI plugins other than Adobe Flash. To enable support for other plugins, set plugin.load_flash_only to false on about:config.
2. It is the last version of Firefox going forward that supports Windows XP and Windows Vista. While Firefox 52.0 will install fine on machines running those operating systems, Firefox 53.0 will fail to run.
3. You may still disable the signature enforcement for add-on installations. Set xpinstall.signatures.required to false for that.
4. Service Workers, Push Notifications, and WebAssembly not enabled by default. To enable, set dom.serviceWorkers.enabled, dom.serviceWorkers.openWindow.enabled, dom.push.enabled and javascript.options.wasm to true.

Other Firefox 52.0 changes

• Added support for WebAssembly.
• Added automatic captive portal detection which should improve access to WiFi hotspots. "When accessing the Internet via a captive portal, Firefox will alert users and open the portal login page in a new tab".
• Adobe Primetime CDM is removed.
• A warning is displayed when when SHA-1 certificates are encountered that chain up a root certificate. Users may still override the warning.
• Improved text input for third-party keyboards on Windows. According to Mozilla, this fixes several keyboard issues such as chained dead keys and dead key sequences.
• Multi-process Firefox is now available on Windows systems with touch screens.
• Option to expose only whitelisted fonts to websites and services.
• Removed support for the Battery Status API for privacy.
• Sync enables Firefox users to send and open tabs from one device to another.
• When Direct2D is not used on Windows, Skia is used instead for content rendering.

Developer Changes

• The Responsive Design Mode of the Developer Tools has been revamped completely.
• CSS Grids highlighter in the Page Inspector module.
• New CSS features implemented. See developer notes linked at the bottom for details.
• New JavaScript features: async functions, trailing commas in functions, rest parameter destructuring, and more.
• Page Inspector: easier element highlighting, and display of whitespace-only text nodes.
• Referrer-Policy supports same-origin, strict-origin, and strict-origin-when-cross-origin directives.
• Rel="noopener" link type has been implemented.
• Selection API shipped.
• Service Worker State shown on about:debugging now.
• Several Firefox OS APIs removed.
• WebExtensions APIs: sessions, topSites, omnibox shipped.

Firefox 52.0 for Android

Many features that landed in Firefox on the desktop landed in Firefox for Android as well. The following changes are Android specific.

• The apk file size of the Firefox browser has been reduced by more than 5 Megabyte. This should improve download speed and installation time.
• Media controls are displayed in the Android notification area to pause and resume media playback.

Security updates / fixes

Mozilla reveals security updates after the final release. We will update the listing with information once Mozilla publishes it.

Additional information / sources

• Firefox 52 release notes
• Firefox 52 Android release notes
• Add-on compatibility for Firefox 52
• Firefox 52 for developers
• Site compatibility for Firefox 52
• Firefox Security Advisories
• Firefox Release Schedule

Now Read: The state of Mozilla Firefox

 

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