Included in the last round of Windows Updated patches released by Microsoft was, for some reason, a Firefox extension called “Search Helper Extension”.

As part of its regular Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released an update for its various toolbars, and this update came with more than just documented fixes. The update also installs an add-on for Internet Explorer and an extension for Mozilla Firefox, both without the user’s permission. As you can see in the Windows Update screenshot above, Microsoft does not indicate that the update will install anything for either browser. It’s also not really clear what the installed extension actually does.

This update was not installed on my machine (Windows 7 Pro 64-bit), so I cannot see if the extension was added to my Firefox add-ons but it might be something you want to look into on your machine.

Regarding any security or privacy implications, Mozilla is not aware of any:

Mozilla responded to our inquiries regarding possible security concerns. “We’re in contact with Microsoft, and are looking into it,” a Mozilla spokesperson told Ars. “As far as we know at this time, there are no security implications to this add-on’s background installation.”

Just something you might want to be aware of.

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