Add Mozilla's Root Certificate to Firefox: It Expires in 2025
On March 14, 2025, the root certificate used to verify signed content add-ons for various Mozilla projects, including Firefox, will expire. This article will explain the necessary steps to add Mozilla's root certificate to Firefox and provide context on the key concepts surrounding this topic.
What is a Root Certificate?
A root certificate is a part of the public key infrastructure (PKI) and plays the role of the highest-level certificate in a hierarchy of trust. Root certificates are used to sign other certificates in the chain, establishing a trust relationship between the user and the certificate authorities.
Why is Mozilla's Root Certificate Expiring?
Certificates have a finite lifetime to ensure the security and integrity of the certificate system. As technology advances and threats evolve, certificate authorities need to update their security measures. Therefore, Mozilla's root certificate will expire on March 14, 2025, and users must take appropriate actions to avoid adverse effects.
How to Add Mozilla's Root Certificate to Firefox
To add Mozilla's root certificate to Firefox manually, follow these steps:
- Open Firefox and enter
about:preferencesin the address bar. - Scroll down and click on the
Certificatesbutton. - Switch to the
Authoritiestab. - Click on the
Importbutton. - In the file selection dialog, browse to the location of the new root certificate file (e.g.,
MozillaRoot.crt) and clickOpen.
// Sample Firefox profile path
// Modify according to your computer's OS
const char kSampleProfilePath[] PROGMEM = "/home/username/.mozilla/firefox//";
Save the new root certificate in the Firefox profile folder:
void saveCertificate(const char* certificate) {
File file = LittleFS.open(kSampleProfilePath "cert8.db", FILE_WRITE);
if (!file) {
Serial.println("Failed to open cert8.db.");
return;
}
file.write(certificate, strlen(certificate));
file.close();
}
With the above code snippet, the new root certificate in cert8.db is located in the Firefox profile folder.
As the Mozilla root certificate will expire on March 14, 2025, users should add the new root certificate to Firefox before that date to ensure.