Bonum Certa Men Certa

Firefox ESR 91 Creating Massive Headache for Debian 11 (GNU/Linux)

Guest post by Ryan, reprinted with permission from the original

D

ebian and Mozilla go way back, with endless troubles created by an incompetent upstream for Firefox, which is getting worse by the hour.



Debian tries to produce a stable OS that doesn’t change very much (although you can use backports and Flatpaks to strategically update packages), and this is very important for people who are happy with the way their computer works and don’t want to be on a bug treadmill, like Fedora.



However, you may have noticed that Firefox 78 ESR hasn’t been supported upstream now for over a week and has missed the latest round of security updates from Mozilla, and that Firefox 91.3 ESR is still stuck in the pipes, being packaged only in Experimental and Debian Unstable.



When I went to look at the reasons why, it appears that there are new problems related to Rust, build failures on various supported CPU architectures, and it also demands a newer version of Mesa3d than Debian 11 has, even though the entire OS is barely over a month old (and will be supported for five years).



Mozilla decided to migrate away from GLX and make EGL mandatory, _and_ blacklist the version of Mesa (20.3.5) which ships with Debian 11, demanding at least Mesa 21.



Mesa 21 would otherwise be fine as a Backport package, but now Debian has to choose between backporting a critical component of the OS directly into “Stable” updates (the OpenGL/Vulkan stack and Direct Rendering Interface drivers and libdrm), as well as newer Nvidia proprietary drivers in non-Free for the people who haven’t disembarked that clown car yet in favor of Intel and AMD cards that are truly supported on GNU/Linux, or forcing Firefox ESR 91 to use GLX again by overriding a default preference, which kicks the can down the road 1 year and creates the same problem again later, at which time Mozilla may have removed the GLX code anyway.



And reverting to GLX makes it impossible for users to enable Wayland and WebRender Compositing without knowing that they also need to set Firefox back to EGL and bring in a Backported Mesa package when one arrives.



In the mean time, there are 6 CVEs that are unpatched in Firefox 78.15, and one of those CVE numbers contains bugs (the details of which are still hidden by Mozilla) corresponding to four memory safety issues (which are often crash with potential arbitrary code execution). So really, at least 10 unpatched security issues, and maybe more (because not all patched issues get a CVE even though they may have security implications).



However Debian solves this problem will set more bad precedents and probably the least incorrect way to solve for it, assuming it’s even worth anything to keep Mozilla’s lawyers happy and use the official “branding”, which Mozilla is pissing down the drain these days anyway, is to bring in newer Mesa builds, which undermines the “feature freeze” that keeps Debian Stable running so well.



It’s definitely well past time to “IceWeasel” Firefox again and do whatever they need to do to keep it running securely without compromising the rest of the operating system.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Problems in Europe Even Before the Cheeto Tariffs
The case of Romania, Europe's notorious Microsoft fan
Oman in 2025: GNU/Linux Growing to 5%
what can Microsoft do about it except sabotage the PCs?
Microsoft Shares Collapse Again (Down $101), Fifth Round of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in Less Than 100 Days in 2025
disaster
Windows Has Fallen to All-Time Lows in Switzerland Since GNU Celebrated 40th Anniversary (GNU’s 40th Birthday in Biel, Switzerland)
GNU/Linux has been doing well in Switzerland
 
Gemini Links 07/04/2025: Stock Market, Galène, and DMT Entities
Links for the day
During the Weekend We Said Fedora DEI Requires Proprietary Software, Now the Chat About It Is No Longer Accessible Over the Open Web
is this just a coincidence and an habitual change in Element?
Links 07/04/2025: US Measles Fatalities and China Launches HDMI and DisplayPort Alternative
Links for the day
Links 07/04/2025: More Cuts to Science Funding, Snail-speed Internet in Germany
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/04/2025: Leasehold and Safe Gifts
Links for the day
In Some Countries, Laptops and Desktops Become a Dying Breed (Even Before Tariffs), Windows Has Nowhere to Go
expect more GNU/Linux on new and existing laptops
When the Credibility or 'Quality' of Clients Ceases to Matter, It's About Helping Rich Companies Like Microsoft Censor Critics (No Matter the Risks)
Bad ideas typically result in undesirable outcomes
UAE: GNU/Linux and Android at Record Levels, Windows at New Lows and Falling Below Apple
Even iOS is measured as bigger than Windows this month
Links 07/04/2025: Reddit Occupied (Social Control Media Controlled by Oligarchy), Demise of Globalisation Ongoing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 06, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 06, 2025
Links 07/04/2025: Leaving Gemini/smolweb and Mastodon Migrations
Links for the day
In Iraq, Windows 3.1 (Percent)
There's also zero
One Person's Take on Jef Spaleta, the New Fedora Project Leader
"With a little searching, I wonder what else may be found regarding Microsoft."
Links 06/04/2025: Flood, Cool Gemini Capsule, and Long Form
Links for the day
Links 06/04/2025: Science, Politics, and Pricier Goods
Links for the day
LLM Slop Has Virtually Killed unixmen.com and Many Other Sites
There's no longer any incentive to write real articles in there
Sharp Declines for Microsoft Windows in Bangladesh (Pop. ~175,000,000), Big Gains for GNU/Linux
Microsoft Windows has been having a really hard time in poor countries
Links 06/04/2025: Fake Reviews, Privatisation Heists, and "AI" as Smokescreen for Impoverishing Humans
Links for the day
Taking a Moral Stand Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the Worst Offenders/Facilitators
Any other stance would sidle with moral depravity or moral hazard
Links 06/04/2025: Many New Acts of Repression and Elements of Financial Depression
Links for the day
In Qatar GNU/Linux Rose From Under 1% to Over 4% in Two Years (or Over 5% If Counting ChromeOS)
It's a big improvement compared to what we saw last year
LLM Scrapers Are a Nuisance, But They're Also a Reminder It's Time to Make Your Site Static
Perhaps the best protection is the ability to endure surges
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 05, 2025
Links 06/04/2025: Attacks on Education, Fake Patents, and Fake (Illegal) Patent Courts
Links for the day
France: Apple and Microsoft Down, GNU/Linux Up to New Record Levels
How will tariffs against France impact things in the coming months?
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: What Was Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
We hope to finish this whole lot within a week, then move on to election, lobbying etc.
Links 05/04/2025: Tariffs Backfiring, YouTuber Arrested, X/Twitter Set to be Fined
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Offline is For Everyone, Copyright Colonialism, and More
Links for the day
Links 05/04/2025: TikTok Unsold (Still), Royal Society is Dead
Links for the day
Techrights Will Spend the Next Few Years Writing a Lot About Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
It's a growing problem
The State of EPO Staff's Health in Rijswijk or The Hague
We're going to cover the EPO some more later in the month
NVIDIA Corp Lost 36% of Its "Value" Since Cheeto Inauguration, But "Gen Hey Hi" (GenAI) is Totally Not a Bubble
Selling loads of unneeded hardware based on hysterical hype; like selling shovels during a Gold Rush
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia, Windows by Default No More?
GNU/Linux is now on the shelf
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux 'Articles' From Linux-Hostile LLMs
It is almost always negative things and nobody can be held responsible for it except the charlatans prompting the LLMs
Links 05/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) "Sale Looks Highly Imminent" (US), Stock Market Drowning in Panic
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Moving Plants, No to Smartwatches, RAID Hygiene
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 04, 2025