Mozilla has officially released Firefox 131, now accessible on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, marking a significant update that not only resolves multiple security vulnerabilities but also introduces some exciting new features. Along with the main browser update, security updates have also been made available for both the ESR versions and the Tor Browser, highlighting Mozilla’s dedication to maintaining security across all user platforms.
The security report for Firefox 131 identifies more than 13 vulnerabilities that have been addressed, with at least seven categorized as “high risk.” Fortunately, there have been no reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild. If you haven’t updated your browser yet, simply navigate to the Help > About Firefox menu to manually check for and download the latest version.
One of the standout features in Firefox 131 is the introduction of the Tab Preview function, which was promised in the previous version. Users can now hover over a background tab to see not only a simple tooltip but also the title, URL, and a thumbnail of the page. This enhanced preview feature will be familiar to users who have experience with other browsers, such as Chrome. Moreover, Firefox has improved its handling of location permissions. Now, when a site requests your location, Firefox can temporarily remember your response for up to one hour, or until the tab is closed, after which it will forget the permission.
Additionally, Firefox 131 supports URL fragment text directives, allowing users to create links to specific text passages on a webpage, even if the website itself does not provide them. By clicking on such links, Firefox will automatically scroll to and highlight the relevant text, making it stand out. However, users currently cannot create these links directly in Firefox. There is an add-on called Link to Text Fragment that enables this functionality, although it is worth noting that Chrome already offers this feature without needing an extension.
On the ESR and Tor Browser front, Mozilla continues to support older operating systems with Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release). The latest update, Firefox ESR 115.16.0, addresses a compatibility issue with Windows 7 related to the latest Widevine library, as well as fixing four security vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, Firefox ESR 128.3.0 resolves at least 11 security vulnerabilities and includes several quality-of-life enhancements, with the security fixes primarily mirroring those found in Firefox 131. As for the Tor Browser, the recent update, Tor Browser 13.5.6, is based on Firefox ESR 115.16 and integrates several security improvements from Firefox 131. Mozilla has plans to release Firefox 132, along with Firefox ESR 128.4 and 115.17, on October 29.