Is Your Mozilla Firefox Browser Crashing? Avast Antivirus Could be the Reason

Mozilla Firefox has been reportedly crashing for several users lately. Now, Mozilla is investigating the issue to keep such incidents at bay. The non-profit organization maintaining the popular web browser, claims certain versions of the Avast Antivirus software could be causing the browser to crash repeatedly.

Multiple Firefox users complained on social media platforms, claiming they had trouble using the browser. Nearly all the user comments indicated that Firefox was crashing randomly on Windows PCs. Mozilla claims that Avast software was the most likely culprit.

Avast Software Causing Firefox Browser To Crash Randomly Claims Mozilla

Avast is a maker of security products, which are a popular choice among Windows PC users who rely on third-party antivirus protection. During Mozilla investigations, it became clear that the Firefox browser was crashing on all versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

The majority of the affected computers had certain versions of the Avast Antivirus software running in the background. Precisely speaking, Avast versions 18.0.1473.0 and older seem to be crashing the Firefox web browser.

To curb the sudden crashes, Mozilla has decided to block Avast's DLL files using Firefox's DLL blocklist file. The company released a small, incremental update that includes the new entry to the blocklist. Firefox 105.0.3 update is available on the "Firefox Stable" channel, and it promises to address just this one issue.

Antivirus Software To Be Held Responsible For Crashing Browsers?

Antivirus applications often interfere with legitimate applications installed through trusted channels on Windows PCs. However, antivirus makers often release minor updates which address such issues. Hence, users must keep their antivirus, web browsers, and Windows OS, updated.

Avast acquired AVG way back in 2016. The company has been gradually consolidating its offerings and has brought its bouquet of antivirus products closer together.

We're seeing a huge crash spike in #Firefox caused by a bug in Avast anti-virus software. If you're using it and your browser is crashing consider uninstalling it.

— Gabriele Svelto (@gabrielesvelto) October 7, 2022

Firefox has been losing subscribers and market share, but still, Mozilla responded quite quickly and even offered a resolution within 24 hours. One of the company's employees, Gabriele Svelto, suggested Windows PC users would benefit from uninstalling Avast or AVG products. Although this might be a drastic step, Microsoft's free antivirus and anti-malware security suite for Windows OS has repeatedly proven to be capable.