gHacks technology news » Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:55:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Microsoft Silently Installing Windows Presentation Foundation Plugin For Firefox http://www.ghacks.net/2009/10/17/microsoft-silently-installing-windows-presentation-foundation-plugin-for-firefox/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/10/17/microsoft-silently-installing-windows-presentation-foundation-plugin-for-firefox/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:27:48 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=17393 If you have recently opened your Firefox web browser you might have noticed a notification from the web browser that the Windows Presentation Foundation plugin was disabled to protect the user and the web browser. Many users who received the message were a bit puzzled as they did not install the plugin in first place. Remember the Microsoft .net Framework Assistant incident earlier this year when Microsoft installed the plugin in the Firefox web browser without notifying the user? The installation of the Windows Presentation Foundation plugin is basically the same deal.

The Windows Presentation Foundation Plugin gets installed when the Microsoft .net Framework 3.5 SP1 gets installed in the Windows operating system. Users who noticed the installation also noticed that they were not able to uninstall the plugin, only disable it in the Firefox plugin manager.

Mozilla today blacklisted the Windows Presentation Foundation Plugin. Not because of the silent install but because of a security vulnerability, or to be precise a remote code execution vulnerability. The vulnerability was reported on October 16 and measures to block the plugin were initiated today. Interested users can read up on the vulnerability at the Bug listing at the Mozilla website.

This raises several interesting questions. Could Microsoft be held accountable if computer systems are successfully attacked? Microsoft is not the only developer that is adding plugins to Firefox without asking the user. The Mozilla developers should consider implementing a security control to block unwanted plugins from being installed. Users who have not received the message in Firefox yet should check in the plugin section if the plugin is installed and if it is enabled or disabled. It should be disabled immediately if it is not already.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/10/17/microsoft-silently-installing-windows-presentation-foundation-plugin-for-firefox/feed/ 40 Remove Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant From Firefox http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/09/remove-microsoft-net-framework-assistant-from-firefox/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/09/remove-microsoft-net-framework-assistant-from-firefox/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:02:33 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/09/remove-microsoft-net-framework-assistant-from-firefox/ If you take a look at the installed add-ons in Firefox you might notice an add-on called Microsoft .net Framework Assistant. That add-on is different from most other installed add-ons. The first thing that you will notice is that you cannot uninstall it as the uninstall option is inactive in Firefox. You might also realize that you did not install that add-on actively which means it must have been installed by another application.

The Firefox Extension Guru posted a walkthrough on how to remove the Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant. It basically comes down to the following steps (it might be a good idea to backup all data before proceeding).

  • Make sure Firefox is closed.
  • Go to C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Windows Presentation Foundation\DotNetAssistantExtension in Windows Explorer and delete everything in that folder but keep the folder name.
  • Start Firefox. The add-on should not be in the list anymore.
  • Type about:config in the Firefox address bar.
  • Filter for the entry general.useragent.extra.microsoftdotnet
  • Right-click that entry and select Reset

The process is apparently a bit more complicated for Firefox 3.1 beta versions as the Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant is not yet compatible with that version of Firefox and thus not completely installed.

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