I configured the Bitwarden extension for Firefox so that it auto-locks the vault after 1 min timeout. Usually this works fine. However, the following steps show a way where the extension does not respect this setting:
- Unlock the vault in the Bitwarden extension for Firefox
- In the upper right corner click “Pop out to a new window”
I can now access the vault in two ways: in the popped out window, and, by clicking on the Bitwarden extension icon in the Firefox tab bar. As long as the popped out window is not closed, the vault does not lock, neither in the popped out window, nor in the Firefox tab bar. When I do close the popped out window, the Bitwarden vault accessible in the Firefox tab bar locks soon thereafter.
This seems a security risk. In my case, the Bitwarden popped out window got burried under other windows, and only after a long time I discovered that my vault had been unlocked all that time.
System specs:
- Mac OS 14.6.1
- Firefox 144.0.2 (aarch64)
- Bitwarden extension for Firefox: 2025.10.0