Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Outgoing Connections

  • 1 reply
  • 0 have this problem
  • 28 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

imajzineer
imajzineer
more options

Every time I launch Firefox, it attempts to connect to a number of domains automatically; some of which, it strikes me, may not be entirely necessary and should, therefore, not be automatic.

For instance, I have automatic extension/plugin updates off by default, so why does FF try to connect to versioncheck.addons.mozilla.org and/or versioncheck-bg.addons.mozilla.org every time I launch it?


How many of the following do I actually need to give a pass to in my firewall and how many can I safely block?

I appreciate that a couple (e.g. githubusercontent) may be related to specific extensions/plugins, but the majority are from Mozilla/Firefox, so what what is each of them for, specifically?

aus5.mozilla.org ciscobinary.openh264.org content-signature-2.cdn.mozilla.net example.org firefox.settings.services.mozilla.com ipv4only.arpa publicsuffix.org push.services.mozilla.com raw.githubusercontent.com redirector.gvt1.com services.addons.mozilla.org versioncheck.addons.mozilla.org versioncheck-bg.addons.mozilla.org


Thanks.

Every time I launch Firefox, it attempts to connect to a number of domains automatically; some of which, it strikes me, may ''not'' be entirely necessary and should, therefore, ''not'' be automatic. For instance, I have automatic extension/plugin updates ''off'' by default, so why does FF try to connect to '''versioncheck.addons.mozilla.org''' and/or '''versioncheck-bg.addons.mozilla.org''' every time I launch it? How many of the following do I actually ''need'' to give a pass to in my firewall and how many can I safely block? I appreciate that a couple (e.g. githubusercontent) may be related to specific extensions/plugins, but the majority are from Mozilla/Firefox, so what what is each of them ''for'', specifically? aus5.mozilla.org ciscobinary.openh264.org content-signature-2.cdn.mozilla.net example.org firefox.settings.services.mozilla.com ipv4only.arpa publicsuffix.org push.services.mozilla.com raw.githubusercontent.com redirector.gvt1.com services.addons.mozilla.org versioncheck.addons.mozilla.org versioncheck-bg.addons.mozilla.org Thanks.

All Replies (1)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

You probably need them all although I'm not sure about example.org. Most of the domains you posted are about checking for updates like 'aus5.mozilla.org' for Firefox updates and for GMP plugins 'redirector.gvt1.com' for the Widevine plugin (DRM) and 'ciscobinary.openh264.org' for the openH264 plugin (WebRTC).

  • fallback files: chrome://global/content/gmp-sources/

The add-ons check is not only for checking for updates, but also to ensure that extensions aren't blocked and to verify the signing. You can search the about:config page for those domains. See also: