Users are reporting that Firefox on Mac and Windows is now crashing indefinitely when trying to access any website. Fortunately, there is a solution.
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The issue initially appeared to be caused by an overnight update to Firefox version 96. However, some users of older versions subsequently reported the same serious problem.
It appears to be related to a data analytics server owned by Firefox, rather than the browser itself. The server is said to have recently been updated to HTTP3, and Firefox is failing to connect to it. According to the company's Bugzilla page, this creates a loop bug.
The company has yet to fix the issue, but many users have found a workaround that seems to temporarily resolve the issue. It involves disabling Firefox's HTTP3 implementation until a proper fix is released.
How to make Firefox reload webpages
- Launch Firefox and a new, blank window
- In the address bar, type about:config and press Return
- In the configuration screen that appears, search for network.http.http3.enabled
- Change the setting to false
- Close and restart Firefox
However, a simpler solution is to switch to Safari, Chrome, or Microsoft Edge.
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We were unable to reproduce the error, so it does not affect all Firefox users. This may be due to international differences as the browser attempts to connect to different Firefox data analytics servers.
Information source: appleinsider.com
