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V-251548

CAT II (Medium)

Firefox must be configured to not automatically check for updated versions of installed search plugins.

Rule ID

SV-251548r1067552_rule

STIG

Mozilla Firefox Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V6R7

CCIs

CCI-000381

Discussion

Updates must be controlled and installed from authorized and trusted servers. This setting overrides a number of other settings that may direct the application to access external URLs.

Check Content

Type "about:policies" in the browser address bar. 

If "Preferences" is not displayed under Policy Name or the Policy Value does not include "browser.search.update" with a value of  "false" and status of "locked", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Windows group policy:
1. Open the group policy editor tool with "gpedit.msc".
2. Navigate to Policy Path: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Mozilla\Firefox\
Policy Name: Preferences
Policy State: Enabled
Policy Value:
{
  "browser.search.update": {
    "Value": false,
    "Status": "locked"
  }
}

macOS "plist" file:
Add the following:
<key>Preferences</key>
<dict>
  <key>browser.search.update</key>
  <dict>
    <key>Value</key>
    <false/>
    <key>Status</key>
    <string>locked</string>
  </dict>
</dict>

Linux "policies.json" file:
Add the following in the policies section:
"Preferences": {
  "browser.search.update": {
    "Value": false,
    "Status": "locked"
  }
}