Firefox - Download scanner

[DaveLembke]

Ok, here is a strange one. I installed Firefox to my systems at home around version 25 and have been updating them ever since. It was my understanding that Firefox added a feature that scans all downloads for malware etc.

Installed Firefox clean to a clean build today and when downloading files like dopdf7 to add to this clean build for pdf creation etc, I noticed that Firefox was not scanning the downloads.

I never installed any special addon for this download scanner ( browser antivirus feature ) on home systems. So did Firefox once make this a default feature around version 25 and then removed it from being a default feature with latest Firefox version.

All info on google doesnt clear this question up, although I do see that there are addons that can be added to add an antivirus to the browser.

When i get home from work I am going to check out my home systems to try to figure out what feature is turned on or addon added that I never added on my own to see if I can add that feature enabled to this clean build I worked on today. 

I like how my home systems scan all downloads with firefox before being able to launch executables etc.

[BC_Programmer]

Firefox has never had a built-in scanner.

On Windows it will use any installed and properly registered AV software to perform the scan. If no AV is installed then it will not scan.


Mozilla KB article.


Essentially Firefox uses an interface to call the AV program to perform the scan.

[DaveLembke]

Thanks for clarifying that BC 

I looked at home computer and didn't see any special addons and so what you shared makes sense as to why i cant find it. I suppose thats also why a google search was coming up empty for this since Firefox doesn't have a built in scanner, although there are some addons. Most info can be found on google, and I guess my search terminology was off for what I was trying to find. Thanks for the KB link on this.