Thunderbird 102.2.0 is a security and bug fix update

Martin Brinkmann
Aug 24, 2022
Thunderbird
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New versions of the open source email client Thunderbird are now available. Thunderbird 102.2.0 and Thunderbird 91.13.0 are now available. Both versions address security issues in the email client; the update to version 102.2.0 fixes a large number of issues on top of that.

Thunderbird 102.2.0 and 91.13.0 are available already. The new versions will be installed automatically on most client systems. Check Menu > Help > About Thunderbird to display the installed version and run a manual check for updates at the same time. Any new version is picked up automatically.

The security advisory lists several fixed security issues. The overall severity of the detected issues is high. Thunderbird shares code with Firefox, and some of the security issues are not Thunderbird-specific. Still, Thunderbird users may want to consider updating as soon as possible to protect the email client from potential exploits targeting the vulnerabilities.

Thunderbird 102.2.0

The official release notes divided changes into new, changed and fixed sections. Thunderbird 102.2.0 introduces a new configuration setting to disable "encryption is possible" reminder in the email client. To do that, Thunderbird users need to open the Settings, select Config Editor under General, search for the preference mail.openpgp.remind_encryption_possible and toggle its value so that it is False instead of true.

Thunderbird users who have used custom fields in the address book prior to version 102 will notice that the data is restored. Users who waited with the upgrade to Thunderbird 102 because of that may now upgrade, as it should be migrated. Address lines of contacts appear in the correct order now, according to the release notes.

On Mac OS, Thunderbird will prompt for the primary password on startup if one is set. Furthermore, Thunderbird won't offer to import incomplete OpenPGP keys anymore, and selectin or unselecting dictionaries in the Spelling compose toolbar button won't close the menu immediately anymore.

Thunderbird 102 includes a large number of fixes. The developers state that they have improved the startup performance of the email client in the new release. The remaining fixes address issues regarding POP and IMAP functionality, attachments, the entering of special characters using Alt+numpad, and address book fixes.

Two known issues are listed in the release notes. The Department field and the "Get Map" features are missing from the address book.

Now You: do you run Thunderbird 102 or 91? Or another email client?

Summary
Thunderbird 102.2.0 is a security and bug fix update
Article Name
Thunderbird 102.2.0 is a security and bug fix update
Description
New versions of the open source email client Thunderbird are now available. Thunderbird 102.2.0 and Thunderbird 91.13.0 are now available.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Ritzo said on August 24, 2022 at 3:49 pm
    Reply

    Ok 91.13 to 102.2 automatic upgrade mode

    1. owl said on August 24, 2022 at 11:18 pm
      Reply

      > Ok 91.13 to 102.2 automatic upgrade mode

      No, your perception is wrong!
      The correct answer is as follows,
      https://www.ghacks.net/2022/08/24/thunderbird-102-2-0-is-a-security-and-bug-fix-update/#comment-4546487

  2. owl said on August 24, 2022 at 9:28 am
    Reply

    Regarding Thunderbird 91.x

    Thunderbird — Release Notes (91.13.0)
    https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/91.13.0/releasenotes/?uri=/thunderbird/releasenotes/&locale=en-US&version=91.13.0&channel=release&os=WINNT&buildid=20220817215453
    Security Vulnerabilities fixed in Thunderbird 91.13.0 — Mozilla
    https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2022-36/#CVE-2022-38478
    CVE-2022-38478: Memory safety bugs fixed in Thunderbird 102.2, and Thunderbird 91.13

    “Thunderbird”
    Because it is a program that back ported Firefox ESR,
    Releases of Thunderbird 91.x will to follow with Firefox ESR 91.x.
    Unless there is a special reason (do not manually update to the upgrade version “102”),
    It seems safe to continue to leave it to the “automatic update (Enable Automatically install updates, Use a background service to install updates)” function.

    Special Notes
    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-enterprise-102-release-notes#w_special-notes
    There are two more planned releases of Firefox 91 ESR, and then it will go out of support on September 20, 2022. Users will then be automatically upgraded to the Firefox 102 ESR.

    1. owl said on August 24, 2022 at 10:25 am
      Reply

      Since it will be an upgrade to a major version (91.x to 102.x),
      Existing users of 91.x, etc. need to “be careful”.

      For existing users of Thunderbird 91.x,
      “Automatic upgrade” to the new version 102 are intentionally blocked.
      Currently, it is possible to manually upgrade at will, but compatibility issues etc. are assumed.
      Highly recommend that you refrain from manual upgrade.

      https://blog.thunderbird.net/2022/06/thunderbird-102-released-a-serious-upgrade-to-your-communication/#comment-2449
      Jason Evangelho (https://blog.thunderbird.net/author/jasonthunderbird-net/) wrote on June 29, 2022 at 08:36
      It will eventually be an automatic upgrade. We are in an initial period where we gather more version 102 feedback from users who intentionally download. After a period of collecting sufficient feedback, updates to version 102 will gradually be enabled, as we did with last year’s version 78 > 91.0 transition. Until then, users of version 91 will continue to receive updates to newer versions of 91.

      1. TelV said on August 24, 2022 at 8:06 pm
        Reply

        Wasn’t blocked on 91.12
        https://i.postimg.cc/LXh0W5ZH/update-to-102-1-2.png

        No problems with it since the update. Only thing I’m disappointed in is that themes don’t work anymore. But I seem to recall Martin mentioning that would happen in another article.

      2. owl said on August 24, 2022 at 11:12 pm
        Reply

        About the “automatic update” and “manual update” methods:
        There seems to be a misunderstanding among end users,
        ? (Menu) > Help > About Thunderbird >
        If you see [Update to 102.x], pressing the button will perform a “manual update”!
        If you see [Restart Thunderbird to Update], it means “automatic update” notification!
        In short, the display of [Update to 102.x] is just a notice that “You can update (upgrade) to 102.x”.

        Source:
        Managing Thunderbird Updates | Thunderbird Help
        https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/managing-thunderbird-updates
        Updating Thunderbird | Thunderbird Help
        https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/updating-thunderbird

        In the official announcement,
        Even Thunderbird 91.x is supported until September 20, 2022, with updates (providing security patches) as needed.
        Be careful not to run upgrade updates blindly.

      3. owl said on August 25, 2022 at 1:09 am
        Reply

        The “profile” that started with the major upgrade version 102.x cannot be reused with the downgrade version (91.13).

        If you want to downgrade and use the same profile,
        unable launch older version on profile | Thunderbird Help
        https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/unable-launch-older-version-profile
        Based on the article “unable launch older version on profile”,
        Dedicated profile per Thunderbird installation | Thunderbird Help
        https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/dedicated-profile-thunderbird-installation
        is details are described in.

        Note: Downgrade protection can be overridden by starting Thunderbird from the command line with the –allow-downgrade parameter.

      4. owl said on August 24, 2022 at 10:33 am
        Reply

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