I got some random selection of Bookmarks suddenly lost from Firefox Bookmark Folders, some Folders entirely cleared… I’m I the only one?!

  • mlemiputty@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    3 months ago

    I tried searching for anyone else with this issue a month and a half ago, because this happened to me. The bookmarks I lost were not all nested, and I’ve notice this happen in windows 11 (all exploit protection disabled), and debian 12(both OS different browser profile) I wondered if maybe using the ‘Exit’ in menu instead of X/middle click tab to close might be related, but I don’t know any code evidence in recent releases to corroborate this. This issue was first recognized for me about 2-3 firefox versions ago. 32gb ram i9 9th gen, I use privacy badger, privacy possum, adguard with most filters enabled, decentraleyes, and user agent switcher. I always run in private browsing. I don’t think this is related to a malicious website.

    I do not have any sync agents like firefox sync enabled. One instance has about 50~ bookmarks with 3 folders no subfolders, one instance has about 500 with many subfolders.

    I assume only recently added bookmarks have disappeared, but I have no way to verify and my memory wasn’t perfect.

    • 乇ㄥ乇¢ㄒ尺ㄖ@infosec.pubOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      This issue was first recognized for me about 2-3 firefox versions ago

      It’s weird, first time something like this happened to me, I’m on Fedora ( FF v124.0.1 ) and I don’t think it has anything to do with how you close windows, I was organizing my bookmarks I checked Lemmy for a second, went back at it again, to see that my work gone… I didn’t touch anything…

      The only thing that I think caused it is FF Sync, because it keeps running in the background… But you don’t use it, which is why I said it’s weird…

      One instance has about 50~ bookmarks with 3 folders no subfolders, one instance has about 500 with many subfolders… I assume only recently added bookmarks have disappeared, but I have no way to verify and my memory wasn’t perfect

      My bookmarks were there for more than a year, they didn’t vanish until I started moving them around, so I guess there’s a bug that affects large folders

      Tab Stash Bookmarks aren’t affected…

      I use privacy badger, privacy possum, adguard with most filters enabled, decentraleyes, and user agent switcher.

      Unrelated but why all these ? you can reap better results ( reduced attack surface, better fingerprinting protection ) with different extensions,

      Ublock and enable : Adguard URL tracking protection

      Firefox Containers : Isolates websites/activies from each other

      Cookies ( Privacy Badger ) : FF has Total Cookie Protection since v86, you just need to set the protection level to Strict mode

      Fingerprinting ( Privacy Possum, UAS ), redundant with RF ( resist fingerprinting ) feature, go to about config, and search for privacy.resist fingerprinting > enable it

      decentraleyes : redundant with Total Cookie Protection

      The only two you need really, is Unlock and Canvas Blocker ( if you’re not going to use Arkenfox ), FF containers

      Edit : sorry, three…lol

    • 乇ㄥ乇¢ㄒ尺ㄖ@infosec.pubOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      Both, Sync is enabled… So if you lose something on either end you lose it on the other end…

      I was organizing my bookmarks, I spend the entire day in front of my PC, then at 1am I scrolled on my phone for a second, I started working again only to realize that the folder I’m working on has entries missing ( subfolders missing too ), started checking other folders, same… some Folders are still intact though… But for anyone ( not just me ) this is a disaster… Losing research and stuff… Luckily I enabled offline backups so I’m golden…

      Also, something that troubles me, is the fact I lost most of my bookmarks from folders that contain sensitive topics, Politics, religion, activism…etc

      I try not to think about it, but it spooks me

      • sgibson5150@slrpnk.net
        0·
        3 months ago

        Oh dear.

        Edit: Just checked and my work bookmarks appear to be all there. I did a fresh backup through the Library tool just in case. Hope you get your issue sorted.

        • 乇ㄥ乇¢ㄒ尺ㄖ@infosec.pubOP
          0·
          3 months ago

          Hope you get your issue sorted.

          This seems to be a bug, affecting big sized folders ( Folders with subfolders and lots of Bookmarks ), these are the folders that got Bookmarks removed from them ( in my case they were political which spooked me a bit )…

          I should join Mozilla’s forums and talk about this, it’ll be noticed there by the Devs, but… yeah… Sync is not enough to save your Bookmarks, and you should always keep a local copy… Luckily I did … 😮‍💨

          • Dymonika@beehaw.org
            0·
            3 months ago

            Intriguing. How many bookmarks are we talking about, if you can estimate? Did the list extend off the monitor?

            • 乇ㄥ乇¢ㄒ尺ㄖ@infosec.pubOP
              0·
              3 months ago

              How many bookmarks are we talking about, if you can estimate?

              I’m guessing 100 bookmakrs lost

              Did the list extend off the monitor?

              What does this mean ? I have other Bookmarks stored in Tab Stash extension, they weren’t affected

              • Dymonika@beehaw.org
                0·
                3 months ago

                Wow, that is a lot of lost bookmarks. That sucks!

                What does this mean ?

                I meant if they were mostly in one folder, if the list is so long that when you open the folder, the bookmarks continue past the bottom of the screen so you’d have to scroll to reach the bottom. One of my folders is like that 😅👀

  • Dymonika@beehaw.org
    0·
    3 months ago

    Waterfox user here with no problems: All I can think of is that someone with access to your account (like maybe a family member while you were logged in) accidentally or purposely deleted them.

    Sorry that happened to you. Change your password and make a backup next time!

    • 乇ㄥ乇¢ㄒ尺ㄖ@infosec.pubOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      Thanks for the reply…

      I follow all the best Security practices on my accounts, there’s only one account that I logged in from a remote location, and I also can see who goes near that place because I have a surveillance camera directly facing the door… And from my Mozilla account I can see the last time someone used that account…

      I did enable Offline Backups, they suck… But hey… They saved me…

      Read my other comments to see what’s really troubles me… It’s weird to lose Bookmarks in such a mysterious way…

  • Floufym@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    I got something similar after a Firefox update. You can get them back by re-selecting the correct profile. I don’t remember exactly how but Internet should be able to help you there

    • 乇ㄥ乇¢ㄒ尺ㄖ@infosec.pubOP
      0·
      3 months ago

      Luckily for me, I enabled offline Backups, and exported a copy ( HTML copy ), unfortunately FF doesn’t append nonexistence Bookmarks to existing ones, it’s just imports on top of everything…

      Still, randomly losing Bookmarks is very problematic, if it were 50 entries, fine no big deal, but you can’t keep track of say 10k entries, when they’re quietly stolen from you

      Tap for spoiler

      Note : ( It’s hard for me to even say randomly, most Bookmarks were deleted from sensitive topics such as Politics and religion…but I’m not accusing Mozilla… It’s just worth noting )

  • AToM.exe@lemmy.worldދިވެހި
    0·
    3 months ago

    Now you’re making me worried.

    I have a lot of important stuff bookmarked…

    Can anyone recommend a good bookmark manager?