Browser extension is opening new tab in Firefox waiting for Helper.

DoctorBrown

Over the last few weeks, the first time I click the 1Password Firefox browser extension, a new tab opens with the pane that says: Looking for 1 Password helper. Then a few seconds later I see the pane say 'The 1Password Extension is ready to go.' Sometimes I will get a message that says the '1Password helper was not found. Retry.' I find this very annoying. Up until a few weeks ago, this did not happen. I don't know where to start to find out why it is happening now. It seems that there is some kind of delay that has cropped up in the startup of the Browser Helper.

How do I determine what is causing this? Can I disable this warning?

Greg

Hello @DoctorBrown,

Thank you for reaching out! This behaviour is indeed strange. Could you please specify the following:

• The versions of 1Password app and 1Password extension you are using.
• Do you have any antivirus software installed?

I am sure together we will get to the roots of the issue. :) Thanks in advance!

++
Greg

DoctorBrown

Of course. I intended to include the versions in the first post.
1Password Version: 4.6.1.616 (19)
Extension version: 4.6.1 (Mozilla Firefox)
OS version: 6.1.7601 SP 1
Anti-Virus: Kaspersky Total Security, version 17.0.0.611

I did recently update to this newer version of Kaspersky. I just ran a test with the Kaspersky protection disabled. The new tab is still occurring the first time I click the Browser extension after starting the browser.

AlexHoffmann

Hey @DoctorBrown,

Can you please reenable Kaspersky, remove the 1Password browser extension, restart Firefox, and the add the extension again?
Maybe there's a hiccup in Kaspersky that causes this issue or maybe it's something else on your system.
We haven't had reports of issues with 1Password caused by Kaspersky in quite a while.

Cheers,

Alex

pepperwhiteknight

I am having the same annoying tab popup since updating to the latest build (4.6.1.616) from whatever was the last non-beta.
I do not use Kaspersky.
I use ESET NOD32 Antivirus 9.0.402.0.
I would think that Agilebits tests the software with systems running common antivirus solutions.
I submitted a ticket to support a few minutes ago.
No response necessary. Just letting DoctorBrown and the customer base know they are not alone.

DoctorBrown

I deleted the Browser extension. While in the preferences to install the Browser extension, 1P asked which profile. It had found an old profile that I was no longer using. I also deleted that profile from within FF. Then I reinstalled the 1P Extension and rebooted my system.

Alas, the problem is still occurring.

duanej

I'm also having this problem. Only in Firefox. I can access the extension fine in IE.

1Password Version: 4.6.1.616
Extension version: 4.6.1 (Mozilla Firefox)
Anti-Virus: Norton 360

AlexHoffmann

Thanks for chiming in @pepperwhiteknight

The fact is, 1Password isn't doing anything malicious, and the browser integration uses standard inter-process communication technologies (based on WebSocket communication at the localhost IP address 127.0.0.1). If an anti-malware software blocks 1Password, it's a false positive at best, a malfunction at worst.

We do test 1Password against the most popular anti-malware software solutions and actively reach out to the developers if we find anti-malware software is needlessly blocking 1Password features like the browser integration. In many cases, the developers fix the bugs that are causing this behaviour, add exceptions to their applications, or work with us on finding workarounds that let users make full use of both the anti-malware software and 1Password. The latter is the case with ESET software: Configuring ESET NOD32 Antivirus

Please let us know if this helps!
Oh and we'd appreciate if you could report this to ESET as well. Maybe they can improve the compatibility of ESET software with 1Password.

@DoctorBrown I'm sorry to hear that and actually a bit surprised. I'm not ruling out that Kaspersky is the culprit and we're going to reach out to them just in case. That said: can you please tell us if you're using a VPN or a proxy or any other security software or potentially invasive extension in your browser?

Thanks!

@duanej Sorry you're experiencing issues. Similar to Kaspersky, we haven't had reports of issues with Norton 360 in a long time. The reason the 1Password Internet Explorer add-on still works is because it doesn't connect to 1Password using the WebSocket protocol but the Windows Messaging Service, something that is rarely blocked and exclusive to Internet Explorer.
Same question from you: are you using a proxy or VPN or any other potentially relevant software?

Thanks!

DoctorBrown

I believe I have narrowed down the symptoms of the problem of the Browser helper tab opening. It appears that, in my case, the Kaspersky Protection add-on is involved. When I disable the add-on, the tab does not appear. With the add-on enabled, if I wait 20 seconds after FireFox starts before trying to open the 1Password extension, the tab does not appear.

To disable the Kaspersky Protection add-on when Firefox starts do the following:
Open the Kaspersky Total Security.
Go to: Settings > Protection
Turn off Web Anti--Virus

In Firefox:
Open add-on manager: Tools menu > Add-ons. Click Disable for the Kaspersky Protection.
Restart the browser.

DoctorBrown

P.S. Short of uninstalling Kaspersky Total Security, I have not found a way to remove the add-on from Firefox.

AGAlumB

@DoctorBrown: Thanks for following up! Just to make sure I understand correctly, you're saying that uninstalling Kaspersky's Firefox add-on allowed 1Password to work on your system? Or do you mean that the add-on is installed along with the Kaspersky software, and there isn't a way to remove it individually — but it can be disabled?

That may explain why I'm seeing a number of Firefox add-ons by Kaspersky, but probably not the one you're referring to. Is it on this list? It sounds like it's called "Kaspersky Protection" or "Kaspersky Total Security", but I'm not seeing either of those offered among the signed add-ons on Mozilla's official repository. I have it on one of my machines, but I may not be seeing that because it's an older version. Let me know what you find!

DoctorBrown

The Kaspersky Protection Firefox add-on was installed when I installed Kaspersky Total Security 2016. I recently upgraded to Kaspersky Total Security 2017. I did not have the 1P problem up until recently which suggests that the problem is related to the upgrade to the 2017 version. I have not found a way to uninstall the Firefox add-on individually. The Kaspersky Protection add-on as listed by my install of Firefox is not in the list you pointed to.

With the add-on disabled (but still installed), that seems to allow 1P to operate normally. I am able to disable it by following the instructions in my previous post. But disabling it or uninstalling it is not a good solution because I loose a significant piece of the protection offered by Kaspersky.

AlexHoffmann

@DoctorBrown Thanks for getting back to us with this information. I'm going to retry using 1Password with Kaspersky Total Security version 17 later today to see if there might be another way.

duanej

Right, so I tried the same thing as DoctorBrown above, disabling the following from the Web security section in Norton 365:

• Identity Safe
• Browser Protection
• Safe Surfing, and
• Download Intelligence

After this I could successfully register the 1Password browser plugin with the app.
I have now re-enabled the Norton settings and continue to be able to access the plugin as previously.

Thanks,
Duane.

AGAlumB

@duanej: Thanks so much for letting us know! It's odd that it would block 1Password initially, but not do so after re-enabling it. I'm glad to hear it's working for you now, and this may help others in a similar situation. Cheers! :)

duanej

Actually. Now that I have rebooted, I have noticed that I continue to get the authorization page :)
I too would appreciate some kind of solution here.
Thanks.

AlexHoffmann

@duanej Sorry to hear that. Seems like something is being permanently blocked.
I'm adding Norton 360 to my list of applications to put through a suite of tests. Sorry for the inconvenience.

duanej

I thought that I should add, I have 1Password 6 installed on the same machine. Could this be causing any issues/conflicts?

AGAlumB

@duanej: Oh dear. Yes, it certainly could! Thanks for mentioning that. This happens to me all the time, since I switch back and forth between them. The best thing to do would be to use one or the other. But if you need both for some reason, you will need to re-authorize each time you switch. The extension can only connect — and authenticate — with one app at a time. Let me know how you'd like to proceed!

duanej

Well i had been using just version 4. Then, even though I had 6 installed, I was only using 4 when I was attempting to authenticate the browser extension too. I was still having the above issues. Recently I did manage to get version 6 to authenticate... but then back to the same problems again on restart.

I use both the cloud and folder based vaults (for different purposes) and thus the biggest problem with 6 for me is that I can't edit/update my non-cloud based passwords (i.e. my folder based vault). And I can't access my cloud vaults from version 4.

As it currently stands, I'm happy to use version 4 predominantly, and either just use version 6 when I need to (which isn't all that often at the moment, but will increase), or remove version 6 until it supports editing for folder based vaults.

AlexHoffmann

If you disable 1Password 6 in the Task Manager prior to attempting to use the 1Password browser extension with 1Password 4, does it work?
I've run a test on Norton Internet Security recently and didn't find any issues at default settings but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
We're committed to getting this fixed for you.

AGAlumB

@duanej: I just wanted to make a suggestion based on my own use, since I have both as well.

As Alex mentioned, you can End Task 1Password 4 ("1Password (32-bit)" or "Agile1PAgent.exe") in Task Manager to make sure that 1Password 6 connects to the browser instead. This is more of a temporary measure though. I find it's more convneient — at least for my use — to disable 1Password's Startup item in Task Manager completely. That way, if I want to use 1Password 6, all I need to do is open it. And if I want to use 1Password 4 instead, I can open the app and go to Help > Restart 1Password Helper to launch the Agent to connect to the browser. Cheers! :)

AlexHoffmann

Hey @duanej,

As I mentioned before, we've been running a few tests on various anti-malware software, including Norton Security.
Yesterday I started to a behaviour similar to what you've described.

I launch Firefox, click the 1Password browser extension button, and I get the page where it tells me that it's looking for the 1Password Helper. After between one and three seconds, the 1Password Helper connects, I see the 1Password mini window and I can use it normally.

The really odd thing is that this only happens if I click the 1Password Firefox extension button before the start page has finished loading. If I hold off on clicking the extension button until the start page has finished loading, the "Looking for 1Password Helper" page doesn't show up and instead I immediately get the 1Password mini window.

Can you confirm this? Are you seeing something similar in Chrome as well? I'm asking because I haven't had any issues with the 1Password browser extension there, no matter how many pages I've set to start when launching the browser. It always shows the 1Password mini window immediately after I click the button.

I'd be grateful if you could tell me what you're seeing. It might help us confirm a theory about Firefox.

Cheers,

Alex