macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

Re:macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been... by yjftsjthsd-h on Wednesday October 05, 2022 @04:31PM (#33100922)

The retraction is that it's not the operating system doing it. But honestly, Firefox doing the same thing isn't great either. Am I alone in finding it surprising that the recent list actively polls the things on it?

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Re:macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been... by woojoo666 on Thursday October 06, 2022 @03:58AM (#33105681)

Yeah and if you use a VPN and occasionally rotate IPs, this Firefox "recents" feature can leak your new IP to websites that you previously visited

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Re:macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been... by ale42 on Wednesday October 05, 2022 @04:33PM (#33100942)

As far as I understand it, Firefox is not reading QR codes out of images and automatically opening links, but rather reloading already opened URLs that were coming from QR codes. Maybe not ideal, but far better than having the OS scan for QR codes in background and loading them without warning.

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Re:macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been... by Tomuus on Thursday October 06, 2022 @04:19AM (#33105841)

I don't think Firefox was reading any QR codes, but instead was recrawling the link in the "Recents" list on a new tab or bookmarks screen.

This is in no way a problem. There is precedent for browsers eagerly loading links, it happens all the time in regular webpages. This is most of the reason why anchors should be safe/side-effect free.

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