ubufox breaks backup of client certificates in Firefox

[sandoz]

Binary package hint: ubufox

Ubuntu 9.10
ubufox 0.8-0ubuntu1

When the Firefox AddOn "Ubuntu Firefox Modifications" is enabled, I cannot backup my CaCert PKCS#12 client certificate.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Import a client certificate. (I guess it affects not only backups of certificates from CaCert.org)
2. Install AddOn "Ubuntu Firefox Modifications", that gets shipped with the package 'ubufox'
3. Open 'Certificate Manager': Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Encryption > View Certificates
4. Select client certificate to backup
5. Click on 'Backup...'
6. Save it somewhere.

You will get the message: "Failed to create the PKCS #12 backup file for unknown reasons."

When you disable the Addon "ubuntu Firefox Modifications" you can backup it. A password dialog will appear and your certificate will be saved.

Exporting imported or build-in SSL server certificates is *not* affected.

sandoz

[Micah Gersten (micahg)]

Thank you for reporting this to Ubuntu. Are there any errors on the Error Console when you attempt this with Ubufox installed?

[sandoz (sandoz)]

Yes there is the following message in the error console:

Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80570002 (NS_ERROR_XPC_NEED_OUT_OBJECT) [nsIX509CertDB.exportPKCS12File]" nsresult: "0x80570002 (NS_ERROR_XPC_NEED_OUT_OBJECT)" location: "JS frame :: chrome://pippki/content/certManager.js :: backupCerts :: line 375" data: no]

[Fa11en_Angel (konstantin-filtschew)]

For me the problem was "Torbutton". It effects Firefox 3.6.3 in Ubuntu 10.04 and 9.10.

[Simos Xenitellis  (simosx)]

The chrome://pippki/content/certManager.js :: backupCerts() function performs a full backup of the certificates.
It's very strange that it would fail if an addon such as Ubuntu Firefox Modifications is installed.

What I believe is the case is that backupCerts() invokes getSelectedCerts() which is a function that performs a 'Select All' in the certificate list window. So, if Ubuntu Firefox Modifications changes the UI in subtle ways, then getSelectedCerts() fails and the 'out' parameter in the [nsIX509CertDB.exportPKCS12File] API function fails and you get the error.

It appears to me that the way that Firefox performs the 'getSelectedCerts()' is quite fragile considering that extensions can change the UI description.

I did not investigate what part of ubufox causes the problem. If someone wants to check it out, find the files at
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7988950&postcount=22

I did not investigate what problem could TorButton have.