Regular requests to *.services.mozilla.com - can't disable

[kmike]

Hello
I turned on DNS query logging on my Linux machine. With nothing except Seamonkey running, I noticed a lot of queries to .services.mozilla.com hosts, specifically: location.services.mozilla.com and shavar.services.mozilla.com. I learned that "shavar" is related to the "Safe browsing" feature, and location.services.mozilla.com is self-describing - location aware browsing. I have them both as disabled in the preferences, but Seamonkey still queries DNS for "location.services.mozilla.com" every few minutes:

Code: Select all

[2019-05-21 16:08:50]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:10:23]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:10:23]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:13:20]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:13:20]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:13:43]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:13:43]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:13:55]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:13:55]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:14:13]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:14:13]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:15:28]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:15:28]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:18:11]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:18:11]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:18:35]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:18:35]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:18:48]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:18:48]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS
[2019-05-21 16:19:04]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   AAAA    PASS
[2019-05-21 16:19:04]   127.0.0.1       location.services.mozilla.com   A       PASS

and for "shavar.services.mozilla.com" exactly every hour.

I then looked up for new network connections created by Seamonkey. It looks like it doesn't request anything from "location.services.mozilla.com", at least via TCP. But it does requests something from "shavar.services.mozilla.com":

Code: Select all

[pid  1148] recvfrom(189, ">%\201\200\0\1\0\1\0\1\0\1\6shavar\10services\7moz"..., 2048, 0, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(53), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, [28->16]) = 219
[pid  1148] <... recvfrom resumed>"7\25\201\200\0\1\0\7\0\0\0\1\6shavar\10services\7moz"..., 65536, 0, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(53), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, [28->16]) = 347
[pid  1148] connect(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(0), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.24.56.107")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1148] connect(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(0), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.25.98.1")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1148] connect(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(0), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.36.109.121")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1148] connect(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(0), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.42.122.34")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1148] connect(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(0), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.40.28.81")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1148] connect(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(0), sin_addr=inet_addr("34.223.207.155")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1059] connect(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.24.56.107")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
[pid  1059] <... getpeername resumed>{sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.24.56.107")}, [112->16]) = 0
[pid  1059] getpeername(189, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("52.24.56.107")}, [112->16]) = 0

It connects to every IP returned from the DNS query:

Code: Select all

host shavar.services.mozilla.com
shavar.services.mozilla.com is an alias for shavar.prod.mozaws.net.
shavar.prod.mozaws.net has address 52.24.56.107
shavar.prod.mozaws.net has address 52.25.98.1
shavar.prod.mozaws.net has address 52.36.109.121
shavar.prod.mozaws.net has address 52.42.122.34
shavar.prod.mozaws.net has address 52.40.28.81
shavar.prod.mozaws.net has address 34.223.207.155

So why does disabling Safe browsing and Location services in preferences not working as intended? Is it Bugzilla time?

[Frank Lion]

Is it Bugzilla time?

Nope, unless you fancy waiting 10+ years for a fix.

Meantime, about:config > search for entries using location.services.mozilla.com and shavar.services.mozilla.com 3 entries in total) > right click entry and select Modify > change url to some random one > you're done.

[kmike]

Thanks, that seems to have worked.

[Frank Lion]

Thanks, that seems to have worked.

Yep, just check it after version updates, but I doubt it'll get overridden. Seems to be more of an oversight thing, rather than malicious intent.