Mozilla patches critical regression bug in Firefox

by Steve Ragan - Apr 29 2009, 17:30

On Monday, Mozilla released a new version of its Firefox browser, calling it a security and stability update. The additional update, released almost a week after the company pushed several fixes in version 3.0.9, is due to the unintentional addition of a bug amid the last round of patches.

The fix, addressing the regression bug introduced when the browser was last patched, caused some users to experience crashes, and an endless stream of crashes in the worst cases.

“Users of the HTML Validator add-on were particularly affected, but other users also experienced this crash in some situations.” commented Mozilla. “In analyzing this crash we discovered that it was due to memory corruption similar to cases that have been identified as security vulnerabilities in the past.”

This is the first time in a while that Mozilla has introduced a new bug while addressing and issuing patches for others. The fact that it has taken so long for the issue to appear again is a testament to the vigilance of coders and testers, and the staged release cycle.

The last time this happened, back in 2007, fixes were released within days after an update crippled two browser add-ons, causing users to complain and rendering some sites inoperable. Within hours of the update to Firefox 2.0.0.10, users flooded the support systems with error reports and requests.

If you were affected by the glitch, odds are you have the newest version available. The fix was pushed to all users on Monday evening, while others reported seeing the update on Tuesday night.

Checking for updates within the Web browser itself will deliver it if you have not seen the typical update notices.

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