[fixed] Can't access bugzilla.mozilla.org

[REDACTED]

I cannot get to https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1337246 as long as I have Avast up and running (Chrome just shows "loading" icon; Firefox eventually says "The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading."), but I can get to that page instantly when I disable all shields.

I do not see any messages or pop-ups from Avast.

Avast Internet Security
Program version 17.3.2291 (BUILD 17.3.3443.0)
Virus definition version: 170401-0

File Shield: On
Behavior shield: On
Mail Shield: On
Web Shield: On
Real Site: On
Anti-spam: not installed
Firewall: On
Security Browser Extension: not installed
SafePrice Browser Extension: not installed

Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (all maintenance current as of midnight, April 1-2, 2017)

Google Chrome Version 57.0.2987.133 (64-bit)

Mozilla Firefox 52.0.2 (64-bit)

I can get to other websites without issue.

It's only when I try to get to https://bugzilla.mozilla.org or to the specific bug at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1337246 that it seems the site is blocked.

Surprisingly, https://www.mozilla.org works and immediately redirects to https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/

Other than Firefox displaying its generic "The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading" message (and Chrome displaying nothing but the twirling icon shows it is still trying to load the page), there is no error message.

I repeat: I am not seeing any message from Avast.

The problem seems to have appeared when Avast upgraded to 17.3.2290 and is still here for 17.3.2291.

I have uninstalled Avast, ran the CleanUninstall utility with Windows in Safe mode, and rebooted to normal mode and ran the stand-alone installer.

I have gone into Settings -> Troubleshooting -> Restore Factory Defaults.

I have gone into Settings -> General -> Exclusions and added:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/*

I have gone into Settings -> General -> Exclusions and added:
https://*.mozilla.org/*

The problem persists.

So far the only way I have managed to get the page to load is to go into shield controls, shut down shields, then attempt to load the page. (Then I immediately turn the shields back on.)

Right now I don't know how to tell what is blocking the page from loading because I am not seeing any messages from Avast Internet Security when I attempt to access the page.

I'm open to reasonable suggestions on what to do next. (I really don't want to "drop shields" just to view the latest status of a Firefox bug report.)

[Asyn]

Just tested it, no problems here to reach Bugzilla with all shields on.

[REDACTED]

Unfortunately, the problem persists for me, and also discovered it persists for the local community college site's portal once past the logon screen: I have to shut the shields down to for those sites to be operational.

[Eddy]

What exact shield is causing the problem ?

[mchain]

Same result as Asyn, suggest a workaround by going to a public wi-fi or someone else's dsl portal and try to connect with all shields up as normal.  If works then issue likely with your school's web  portal and not avast.

Look for issues similar to below attachment in avast firewall below:  If you're seeing that then issue with your site?

[REDACTED]

The firewall log shows:

   04-Apr-2017 4:35:33 PM   63.245.215.80   443   10.0.0.2   49297   TCP   Out   System   No rule found

Translation:
Date/time: 04-Apr-2017 4:35:33 PM
Remote Adr: 63.245.215.80 (This is bugzilla.mozilla.org)
Remote port: 443
Local Adr: 10.0.0.2 (This is my PC, connected via Ethernet to the cable modem/router)
Local Port: 49297
Protocol: TCP
Direction: Out
Application: System
Rule: No rule found

I would have expected the application to be Firefox (this specific log record) or Chrome (my primary browser), not System (which I see with either browser).

[REDACTED]

Look for issues similar to below attachment in avast firewall below:  If you're seeing that then issue with your site?

No, there is no mention of port scanning in the firewall logs for this address.

(I do see other IP addresses where the "Rule" says "IP Blocked", and if I change the Firewall Logs display to show Rules, I see where those IPs were blocked for port scanning and I really don't care about those IP addresses; but I don't see any rules set up there against 63.245.215.80, the bugzilla.mozilla.org site I am having difficulties with.)

Same result as Asyn, suggest a workaround by going to a public wi-fi or someone else's dsl portal and try to connect with all shields up as normal.  If works then issue likely with your school's web  portal and not avast.

This is at home, going through an Arris TG862G (a combined cable modem / router leased from Comcast). Normally I have the computer connected to it via an Ethernet cable. I did try wireless and the only difference in the firewall logs is the change in the local IP address (10.0.0.2 being the local Ethernet port on the computer; 10.0.0.5 being the address assigned to the local WiFi port).

The log shows that the packet is being blocked going out, and that it is going out from "System", not "Chrome" (my primary browser), not "Firefox" (my former primary browser but still installed and still kept up to date).

For whatever it's worth, Ping works and gets replies and resolves bugzilla.mozilla.org to the same IPv4 address that the firewall is blocking for an outgoing https request.

If you really think I need to try another location, I think I can do it, but this desktop isn't exactly light. I can switch antivirus software faster than I can transport the computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse to another location.

[REDACTED]

Whack it enough times and either you break it or you fix it!

After doing more refresh settings reinstalls (last one being the online installer ran as administrator), I finally checked the firewall settings on the gateway (the modem/router from Comcast) and changed the gateway's IPv4 Firewall setting from "Custom" to "Typical Security (Medium)", and that fixed the issue I was having with bugzilla.mozilla.org. (The IPv6 firewall setting on the Gateway was already "Typical Security (Medium)".)

I also had a problem with the portal at my.chemeketa.edu, but I am not sure if the fix was adding portal.chemeketa.edu to the exception URL, or if it was by cutting back the Avast Firewall port scanning by one digit (was 1800000 milliseconds, now 180000 milliseconds, which in human terms would be changing from 30 minutes to 3 minutes), and now my.chemeketa.edu is working fine after logging in. (Edited to scratch out the exception; with port scanning cut back to 3 minutes the Chemeketa portal is working without needing an exception.)

So, for the time, I am satisfied that this problem is solved.

I still don't know why the Firewall logs showed "System" instead of the browser (Chrome or Firefox).

[REDACTED]

It's amazing what a night's sleep can do! Unfortunately, this morning the problem is back: I had to shut down the shields to get to Bugzilla.

An example from the Firewall Logs from this morning shows:

 06-Apr-2017 7:28:55 AM   63.245.215.80   443   10.0.0.2   56335   TCP   Out   System   No rule found
 06-Apr-2017 7:28:55 AM   63.245.215.80   443   10.0.0.2   56336   TCP   Out   System   No rule found
 06-Apr-2017 7:28:55 AM   63.245.215.80   443   10.0.0.2   56334   TCP   Out   System   No rule found

Again, 10.0.0.2 is my PC, 63.245.215.80 is for https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1066789 and the application is showing up as "System" instead of "Chrome".

[REDACTED]

Yesterday I did a lot of testing after installing the beta (17.4.2293 build 17.4.3470.0) and discovered that if I disable both Web Shield and Real Site, (leaving File Shield, Behavior, Mail Shield, and Firewall active), I can access hxxps://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1337246. But if I have either Web Shield or Real Site on, the Firewall reports blocked packets to/from System (instead of to/from Chrome or Firefox) and the site doesn't come up.

And, yes, I had already tested turning off the Firewall with all the other shields up (including Web Shield and Real Site) and I can't get to that site, so I suspect that under some cases Web Shield or Real Site is not working correctly with my system to keep track of the packets and the Firewall is just reporting the packets after they had already ran into issues.

By the way, it isn't just Mozilla's Bugzilla server that has issues, but that is the one that produces the most dramatic results. With this version Avast I have seen issues with dabplayer sometimes not loading the entire audio file for the day, Chrome not always reporting to its home that it had shut down successfully, and various packets of tracking sites being blocked by the Firewall by claiming they are to or from System (when they were actually to/from Chrome). But it's easier for me to test where I get a solid, 99% reproducible result.

I have no issues when I do a clean uninstall of Avast Internet Security and install the antivirus/firewall software provided by my ISP, not with Bugzilla nor with the other secondary issues I had observed with Avast. But if this problem can be fixed I would much rather use Avast Internet Security.

(No need to notify the Avast staff; I have ticket open with them on this issue and I have been keeping them updated on my findings.)

[Eddy]

Latest avast (2292) on Win10 (creators update), all protection enabled and no problem at all opening that site with Opera.

[Alex Farlie]

"Works for me"  (2291 on XP SP3). Mozilla people are also typically fairly responsive when I've queried them on IRC (moznet).

Alex Farlie.

[REDACTED]

It appears that AMDquickstream was conflicting with Avast Internet Security.

I have uninstalled AMDquickstream, and now the beta Avast Internet Security has no apparent issues when browsing various websites.

The rest is this post is just more details, just in case you are interested.

AMDquickstream is installed on some laptop and desktop machines that have AMD hardware. The software is a end-to-end Internet traffic shaper, giving priority to packets of high-priority tasks. It is suppose to help when there is congestion. As far as I can tell, for those of us with decent Internet connections (my.xfinity.com "services" page says my plan is 105Mbps down, 10Mbps up, but actual measurements are 240-250Mbps down, 12Mbps up when using speedtest.xfinity.com and www.speedtest.net) don't need AMDquickstream. Besides, I don't play Internet-intensive interactive games; the most intensive Internet use (besides Speedtest) is playing a YouTube video or playing a Netflix stream.

I don't know if AMDquickstream was initially installed by the computer manufacturer or if it got dragged in with another package I downloaded from AMD.

I discovered AMDquickstream by looking at the processes in the Windows Task Manager and Googling those I didn't recognize, and AMDquickstream was near the top, and the description of it dealing with packet prioritization sounded like a good candidate for causing Avast to lose what application a packet was for/from. It was probably just a few packets until Avast 17.3.2290 came along and then the two bumping heads caused a lot of packets to be blocked.

In any case, I used Control Panel -> Programs / Remove program to remove AMDquickstream, rebooted, uninstalled the ISP's antivirus package, installed the beta Avast Internet Security package (beta was what tech support had suggested), turned on firewall logging of blocked packets, another reboot, and started testing.

So far, after Avast has finished starting up, I haven't seen any blocked packets, not even to hxxps://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1337246 and my system seems to be behaving like it should: the sites I expect to come up come up fine, no video streaming issues, and after a few more tests that in the past had anomalies (such as dabplayer audio streams not always loading), I'll update the ticket I had opened with Avast Technical Support and let them know the resolution. Update: after some more testing, I have updated my support ticket and expect Tech Support to close the ticket tonight (my time) / tomorrow (their time).

[Asyn]

Thanks for the feedback.