Ask HN: Why does HN ask my browser for the PW even if I don't click on “Login”?

5 points·eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7··9 comments

Or is this browser compromised?

If you were not trying to upvote anything, then go into the web developer tools and select the console. Repeat the process that triggered a prompt. You should see what URL is triggering an authentication request. If that does not make it obvious, close the browser and start it in safe mode. Each browser [1][2] has it's own method of starting in safe mode to avoid loading any addons or custom code.

[1] - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-is... [Firefox]

[2] - https://superuser.com/questions/254579/how-to-open-google-ch... [Chrome]

Thanks!

I wasn't upvoting anything, it happened on visiting the frontpage without clicking anything there IIRC.

I'm unable to reproduce it currently, but using the console is a good idea! :)

Did you click something else that requires being logged in, like "reply" or the upvote arrow (among other things)?

99% that. Tried to interact (up/downvote, reply, etc.)

Or an extension (or even the browser itself) tried to follow the URL for a vote link, e.g. in a "prefetch".

I use uBlock Origin and HTTPS Everywhere.

In uBlock Origin, I had already enabled "Disable pre-fetching (to prevent any connection for blocked network requests)".

I wasn't upvoting anything, it happened on visiting the frontpage without clicking anything there IIRC.

Notably, I was not redirected to the login page - which does happen if I click the upvote arrow.

Any questionable extensions?

Just uBlock Origin and HTTPS Everywhere.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com