Mozilla re-issues Firefox 2 update, includes missing patch

Mozilla issued a final update to Firefox 2.0 Friday, making good on a promise earlier this week when it forgot to include a patch in the Windows version of the browser.

Firefox 2.0.0.20 added the patch Mozilla said had been omitted from Firefox 2.0.0.19 due to a "clerical error." The patch, which Mike Beltzner , the director of Firefox, had said was among the less severe of the 10 described Tuesday, plugged a hole that could have been used by attackers to steal personal information from users.

Although only the Windows version of Firefox 2.0.0.19 lacked the patch, the Mac OS X and Linux versions were also re-issued as 2.0.0.20 to keep all platforms in sync.

Mozilla took the opportunity to urge users one more time to upgrade to the newer Firefox 3.0, as it has now officially retired the older browser, and will not issue any additional security fixes.

Since it rolled out Firefox 3.0 last June it has twice extended upgrade offers to Firefox 2.0 users, most recently just two weeks ago. It plans to make one final offer early next month.

Users can download Firefox 2.0.0.20 from Mozilla's Web site, retrieve it via Firefox's built-in update tool, or simply wait for the automatic update notification to appear.

Firefox 2.0, which was released in October 2006, accounted for just 4.8% of browser market share last month, according to data from Web metrics company Net Applications Inc. In May, the last full month before the release of Firefox 3.0, the older version's share was 17.2%.

» posted by ITworld staff

Computerworld

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