AdBlock+ browser extension does not work correctly with IE11 EPM.

[ThatPCTech]

Environment

operating system:
Windows 8.1 Enterprise, Pentium D 3.00 GHz, 2.00 GB RAM, 64-bit Operating System, x64 based processor, no pen or touch input.

exact browser version:
Internet Explorere 11, Version 11.0.9600.17107, Update Versions 11.0.8 (KB2953522).

Adblock Plus version:
Name: Adblock Plus for IE Browser Helper Object
Publisher: Eyeo GmbH
Type: Browser Helper Object
Architecture: 32-bit and 64-bit
Version: 1.0.0.0
File date: ‎Tuesday, ‎August ‎13, ‎2013, ‏‎4:57 PM
Date last accessed: ‎Today, ‎May ‎24, ‎2014, ‏‎12:11 AM
Class ID: {FFCB3198-32F3-4E8B-9539-4324694ED664}
Use count: 839
Block count: 29
File: AdblockPlus64.dll
Folder: C:\Program Files\Adblock Plus for IE

enabled Filter lists:
Name EasyList
Status Enabled
Address ​http://easylist-msie.adblockplus.org/easylist.tpl

Name EasyPrivacy
Status Enabled
Address ​http://easylist-msie.adblockplus.org/easyprivacy.tpl

Name PrivacyChoice
Status Enabled
Address ​http://www.privacychoice.org/trackerblock/all_companies_tpl

Name Stop Google Tracking
Status Enabled
Address ​http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Browser/p3p/google.txt

Name TRUSTe
Status Enabled
Address ​http://easy-tracking-protection.truste.com/easy.tpl

How to reproduce

1. Enable Enhanced Protected Mode in Internet Explorer 11 (Tools>Internet Options>Advanced>Enable Enhanced Protected Mode*)
2. Click OK.
3. Restart Browser

Observed behaviour

After Microsoft announced a security flaw in Internet Explorer, I followed the recommendation and enabled Enhanced Protected Mode, and restarted my computer. After doing so, IE11 (desktop) would freeze on startup and never reach a startup page. I found that by right-clicking the IE icon and selecting Start InPrivate Browsing, I could go back to the settings page and change it back. This resolved the problem with IE11 desktop freezing, but I still do not have enhanced protected mode which was suggested as needed to protect against the announced security flaw. Enabling and disabling 64-bit processes for Enhanced Protected Mode had no apparent effect.

I posted the problem with Microsoft Connect, ​http://connect.microsoft.com/IE/feedback/details/867776/enabling-enhanced-protected-mode-in-ie11-causes-it-to-hang.

According to one of the posts in response:

“this suggests that you have a buggy browser plugin installed that claims EPM Compatibility but it isn't actually compatible. By starting InPrivate, you run without browser extensions and avoid the problem. Click Tools > Manage Add-ons and disable unneeded add-ons or check their provider's web page for an updated version which may be EPM compatible.”

I followed the suggestion and narrowed it down to the AdBlockPlus plugin.

The other response was from the Microsoft Connect Team itself:

“Actually if you have installed the update KB2964358, then your IE is no longer vulnerable to that bug. So you don't have to enable Enhanced Protected Mode (EPM) if you just intend to workaround that vulnerability. I actually also turned on EPM before the update was released, and I experienced no issue.”

This response was not helpful however so please do not rely on the above statement when reviewing the issue except that after the aforementioned update, I noted the following changes:

1. my main homepage (​http://www.bing.com/) would load immediately.
2. my second homepage and all other pages to which I tried to navigate would appear to hang, but would actually finish loading in two to five minutes.

Examples:
​https://www.google.com/
​http://www.bing.com/search?q=wikipedia&qs=n&form=QBLH&pq=wikipedia&sc=8-9&sp=-1&sk=&ghc=1&cvid=69250f2c18634d189e574e4997091522
​http://www.wikipedia.org/

I am still unable to use Enhanced Protected Mode (EPM) with your product enabled. Please fix it, I really do like AdBlock+ and I would like to use EPM as well for added security.

Thank you,

Tim Leon
www.thatpctech.com

Expected behaviour

I should be able to enable EPM and AdBlock Plus without suffering a huge performance hit in IE11.

[philll]

@Ollie: I cannot reproduce this with my IE11 instance and the ABP stable built. Can you?

[oleksandr]

@phill Yes. It was a known issue and it's fixed in the current devbuild. It is reproducible on Windows 8+, since the issue is that EPM is running in AppContainer and our engine needs to communicate with it. There are no AppContainers on older versions of Windows.
Some of the codereviews where this was fixed are:

​http://codereview.adblockplus.org/5792731695677440/
​http://codereview.adblockplus.org/6308231068516352/