Firefox browser extension biometrics integration stuck on "Awaiting confirmation from desktop"

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21

Thank you, I’ve just reached out to BW support, I’ll update this thread if I get a working solution. :crossed_fingers:

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22

@nikoul Hey, are you using an ESR version of Firefox? :thinking:

23

Hey, no I’m using the regular version (for Apple silicon)

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24

On Windows and chrome, I find I need to disable and reenable the extension to get past this. Perhaps that may help in your scenario.

25

@nikoul and other MacOS Firefox users:

There is a new comment to a corresponding GitHub issue that suggests this worked for them:

Create a file ~/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/NativeMessagingHosts/com.8bit.bitwarden.json with the following content:

{
  "name": "com.8bit.bitwarden",
  "description": "Bitwarden desktop <-> browser bridge",
  "path": "/Applications/Bitwarden.app/Contents/MacOS/desktop_proxy",
  "type": "stdio",
  "allowed_extensions": [
    "{446900e4-71c2-419f-a6a7-df9c091e268b}"
  ]
}

PS: I don’t know MacOS well enough to know if e.g. the exact path in that file can vary or not.

Bug report - biometrics don't work on browser extension
26

Hey,
The fix was a bit strange on my end, but maybe worth sharing.

I made it work by disabling biometrics on the Firefox extension on my old Mac.
After that, enabling it on my new Mac worked.

So I suspect there are some shared extension dependencies that broke between those 2.
I was using Firefox sync for extensions, I now disabled it to avoid “interferences”.

Thanks,

28

Same issues, plain Firefox on macOS.

I finally got it working after trying a thousand combinations:

  1. In the Desktop app, in Settings, turn on ‘Allow browser integration’.
  2. Quit the Desktop app.
  3. In Firefox, disable the extension (right click the icon, Manage Extension, toggle it off)
  4. Quit Firefox.
  5. Open the Desktop app and log in.
  6. Open Firefox.
  7. Re-enable the extension.
  8. Open the extension, log in, and ‘pop out’ the extension into its own window.
  9. Settings, Account Security, Unlock with Biometrics. It should now ask for your fingerprint!
  10. DO NOT enable ‘Ask for biometrics on launch’. If you enable this, it looks like it worked but it breaks it (in my experience).

Doing this automatically created the ‘com.8bit.bitwarden.json’ file mentioned earlier in this thread.

IMPORTANT NOTE Biometrics ONLY works if the Desktop app is also running. If you quit the Desktop app, you’ll have to enter your password manually in Firefox.

Hopefully this works for others.

Bug report - biometrics don't work on browser extension
29

@taras Welcome to the forum!

I really do hope that is an exaggeration.

Your list looks like a good summary. I would add the following:

  • you must be able to unlock the desktop app with biometrics first, before you can set it up for the browser extension (and therefore: on MacOS you have to use the App Store version of the desktop app – but on Windows you have to use the standalone desktop app – the respective other versions don’t support biometrics)

  • the desktop app must always also be started before even the browser is started, otherwise it won’t work

  • and then, it helps to enable those first five settings in the desktop app also (e.g. to make sure, that the desktop app gets started with starting the system):

    2026-02-25--14-54-09-Szph2ATFIk
    2026-02-25--14-54-09-Szph2ATFIk499×347 23.8 KB

Hm, I didn’t see this on Windows so far… Especially if that would be producible, it would make sense to report this as a possible bug (“New issue”) on GitHub, eventually…

PS:

Again, it worked also for Firefox on Windows without popping out the extension window – but interesting variant, and might worth a try, if it doesn’t work otherwise. Thanks!

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30

There was a Linux issue related to this (I believe it may have recently been fixed):

Since macOS is Unix-based, it’s possible that the same bug is affecting macOS users.

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