Mozilla released Firefox 131 yesterday for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, addressing over 13 security vulnerabilities, with seven marked as “high risk.” While these vulnerabilities haven’t been exploited in the wild, the update aims to strengthen browser security. Users who haven’t yet received the update can manually initiate it via the “Help > About Firefox” menu in the browser.
Among the new features introduced in Firefox 131 is the improved “Tab Preview” feature. Previously promised for a prior version, this feature now displays not only a simple tooltip but also the title, URL, and thumbnail when hovering over background tabs. This mirrors the functionality seen in browsers like Chrome and makes tab navigation more intuitive.
Firefox 131 also brings changes to how location permissions are handled. Now, when a website requests location access, Firefox temporarily remembers the user’s decision for up to an hour or until the tab is closed.
Firefox 131 Addresses Security Vulnerabilities and Introduces Enhanced Tab Previews
This adds a layer of convenience, as users don’t need to repeatedly grant permission during short browsing sessions. Additionally, Firefox now supports URL fragment text directives, which link directly to specific sections of a webpage, making it easier to highlight and navigate to particular content.
However, Firefox still lacks the ability to create these text fragment links natively. Users who want to generate such links can rely on the “Link to Text Fragment” extension. This functionality is already available in Chrome without needing an add-on, so Firefox users have to turn to third-party solutions for now.
In addition to the standard Firefox release, Mozilla updated its Extended Support Release (ESR) versions. Firefox ESR 115.16.0 addresses compatibility issues with Windows 7 and includes fixes for four security vulnerabilities.
This version will continue to support older systems until March 2025. Meanwhile, Firefox ESR 128.3.0 fixes 11 security flaws and introduces several enhancements. Tor Browser, which is built on Firefox ESR 115.16, also received updates with some of Firefox 131’s security improvements. Mozilla plans to release Firefox 132 and further ESR updates later this month.
