Javascript problem on amazon website under El Capitan

A

You installed several ad-injection trojans. Some of them are active, and some were removed automatically by OS X. One of the infections took place when you downloaded "MPlayerX" from the rogue "Sourceforge" website. That site is not to be trusted.

Please back up all data.

Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return. A folder should open. If it does, move the following items inside it to the Trash:

InstallMac.download.plist

InstallMac.ltvbit.plist

InstallMac.update.plist

UpdateDownloader

From the Applications folder, move these items to the Trash:

MPlayerX

vindinstaller

Log out or restart the computer and empty the Trash.

B

The test results show other issues, probably not related to the original question.

Some of your user files (not system files) have incorrect permissions or are locked. This procedure will unlock those files and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.

Please back up all data before proceeding.

Step 1

If you have more than one user, and the one in question is not an administrator, then go to Step 2.

Enter the following command in the Terminal window in the same way as before (triple-click, copy, and paste):

sudo find ~ $TMPDIR.. -exec chflags -h nosappnd,noschg,nosunlnk,nouappnd,nouchg {} + -exec chown -h $UID {} + -exec chmod +rw {} + -exec chmod -h -N {} + -type d -exec chmod -h +x {} + 2>&-

You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

The command may take several minutes to run, depending on how many files you have. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.

Step 2 (optional)

Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.

Start up in Recovery mode. You may be prompted to select a language, then the OS X Utilities screen will appear.

If you use FileVault 2, select Disk Utility, then select the icon of the FileVault startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another drive icon. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar and enter your login password when prompted. Then quit Disk Utility to be returned to the main screen.

Select

Utilities ▹ Terminal

from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:

resetp

Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

resetpassword

Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.

Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

Select

 ▹ Restart

from the menu bar.

C

Please back up all data before proceeding.

Launch the Font Book application and validate all fonts. You must select the fonts in order to validate them. See the built-in help and this support article for instructions. If Font Book finds any issues, resolve them.

Start up in safe mode to rebuild the font caches. Restart as usual and test.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t start in safe mode. In that case, ask for instructions.

If you still have problems, then from the Font Book menu bar, select

File ▹ Restore Standard Fonts...

You'll be prompted to confirm, and then to enter your administrator login password.

Also note that if you deactivate or remove any built-in fonts, for instance by using a third-party font manager, the system may become unstable.

omg with capital letters . . . "I Wanna Be Like You"

If I take all of these steps, will you look at my results? Please? I have the same problem with the Amazon site. Half the page pulls up, then everything on that page freezes. I'm unable to select actionable items, read reviews, etc. My solution: I disable Javascript & then click 'reload current page'. The twirly-bird timer (or whatever you call that thing) requires me to force-load the page. Everything works fine until I go to a different site, then I have duplicate the whole process of enabling Java, reloading, etc.

Amazon first suggested I use a browser other than Safari. I said I want to use Safari. The next rep suggested I close my Amazon account and open a new one (what?). I told her I would have to think about that one . . . I've been hoping the problem would magically disappear ~ but as you can see, I'm still searching for a fix.

To get things started, you state more than once to back up all data before doing anything. I don't have Time Machine or iCloud or an external hard drive to do a backup. How about a flash drive? Sorry if I sound ignorant. I'm a tad behind the times and overwhelm easily. I just want a knowledgeable person to tell me, "This is what you need . . . " and then I'd get it! I don't think I have anything "odd" loaded on my computer. I haven't added 3rd person fonts or applications or games, etc.

Anyway, thank you for sharing your knowledge and, more importantly, your valuable time with others.

Jan

https://youtu.be/EKnQoWWySm8

Anton et al,

This malfunctioning of Safari is affecting Macs in a widespread manner and has been discussed in several different topics in these Apple forums, perhaps the most lengthy one being "What could be causing the whirling ball or page feezing in Safari (most often in Amazon)?" which was started about two weeks ago. As you've found, the Amazon webpage 'crashes', usually with the classic spinning beachball then appearing. Sometimes this happens almost immediately, at other times it takes several minutes of browsing and clicking to show up.

I myself am affected by this issue. This has nothing to do with any trojans or adware you might have downloaded, because I and many others will assure you we've never gone anywhere remotely near any dodgy sites or downloaded any unknown apps. It appears to be due to an 'exploit' of JavaScript that was undertaken in January. If you google for something like "Apple fix Safari crash bug", you'll get several pages of results about a so-called Apple fix for this conducted around 27th January. Apparently, countless numbers of iOS mobile devices were affected as well. The problem is that the technical press then thought Apple had fixed it for Safari, but in fact the 'fix" was only a suggested workaround (like deleting all history or disabling Javascript). So, the truth is that Apple have not fixed it yet, and who knows when?

The problem is affecting Macs running different OSXs but generally with Safari 9.0.3 (the latest). With other browsers, the opinions vary - some users say that Firefox doesn't have the problem but others contest this. There's a general concensus that Chrome is immune, though I've not tested that for myself. Interestingly, I couldn't reproduce the problem on a brand new iMac in my local Apple Store a few days ago, so it might be influenced by whether or not the installed OSX is brand new or is instead an upgrade (or has merely had OSX updates added). And quite why the Amazon site is virtually unique in triggering the crashing is a bit of a mystery at present, though Amazon themselves have been keeping quiet about it. I've found that the crashing and consequential 'beachballing' doesn't happen with other websites that I commonly use, but nonetheless has occurred once or twice when going into the GUI of my router. So, it's definitely down to Safari.

As you've found, it's easy to think you've found the magic bullet to rid you of it but, as often as not, it takes a bit of time to realise that the problem's still there - which it is.

This is not something inadvisable or naughty that you've done, because, believe me, I'm VERY cautious when it comes to browsing security. It's not just affecting a handful of people either, albeit that most people would only notice it if they happened to be browsing through Amazon. When I e-mailed some Mac-user friends of mine elsewhere in the country and got them to try the Amazon site a 100% failure of the site was returned, with them all getting the beachball. This return isn't just by chance, it's clearly consistent.

Informed opinion seems to be that this was an 'exploit' waiting to happen, as Mac users have been complaining to Apple about the vulnerability for several years.

I think all we can do is individually report it to Apple. There's a particular Safari category for this sort of thing at www.apple.com/feedback. Alternatively, you can go to Apple's homepage, click on Support at the top of screen, then choose below the one-to-one service that they offer; in that, you're given the opportunity to outline the problem, then you're given a case no. for it and an Apple Support phone number to ring; I think it's free. The point is the more we report this problem, the more priority it'll be given by Apple for a fix. As matters stand at present I don't know how Mozilla (Firefox) are handling it. Some say that Microsoft Edge and Windows 7, 8, 10 PCs are affected too, though I personally can't confirm that.