Firefox 2.0.0.2/1.5.0.10 updates released

After several delays, an important set of updates to Firefox’s currently supported branches have been released. Firefox 1.5.0.10 and 2.0.0.2 bring both security, stability fixes and Windows Vista compatibility enhancements.

There is a total of 7 security fixes in both releases, 1 labeled as critical in Firefox 2.0.0.2 and 2 in Firefox 1.5.0.10, since one of the bugs is related to SSLv2 which is disabled by default in Firefox 2.x. A vulnerability reported last week that could allow a malicious web site to set a cookie on behalf of another web site is also fixed in this release, which exemplifies fast patching, a Mozilla strength in the security front.

Regarding Windows Vista, while several integration problems have been addressed, you must take in account that some known issues remain.

Once again, users that remain in the 1.5.x branch are encouraged to move to the 2.0 branch as soon as possible as support will be dropped on April 24th following Mozilla’s support policy. Firefox 1.5.x have plenty of themes, extensions and tweaks to make Firefox 2 match Firefox 1.5.x behavior while getting the new features and full support.

To get the update, in the Help menu, select Check for Updates… and accept the prompt. Remember to restart Firefox for the update to be applied and that you may need to authorize the updated executable to access the web in your firewall, antivirus or spyware application.