Brave shields always down by default on sites, but enabled in global settings

[FearNaBoinne]

Description

Despite being enabled in global settings, any new site loads with shields down, and I have to manually enable them!

Steps to Reproduce

1. Enable shields in global settings
2. Load new site
3. See that the icon is grey and shields are down

Actual result:

Shields down

Expected result:

Shields up

Reproduces how often:

100%

Brave version (info found on brave://version)

Brave | 1.42.86 Chromium: 104.0.5112.81 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision | 5b7b76419d50f583022568b6764b630f6ddc9208-refs/branch-heads/5112@{#1309}
OS | Windows 10 Version 21H2 (Build 19044.1826)
JavaScript | V8 10.4.132.20
User Agent | Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/104.0.5112.81 Safari/537.36

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release?
  I am on current
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel?
  I haven't tried, but it's been several versions now
• Can you reproduce this issue with the dev channel?
  I haven't tried, but it's been several versions now
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel?
  I haven't tried, but it's been several versions now

[FearNaBoinne]

[WalletUpLLC]

Experiencing the same exact issues for several weeks now.
Version 1.42.86 Chromium: 104.0.5112.81 (Official Build) (x86_64 on Macbook Pro 11.6.8 (20G730)

[rebron]

@FearNaBoinne and @WalletUpLLC Can you post a screenshot of the settings you have in brave://settings/cookies? Don't need to include the customize behaviors section.

[boocmp]

@FearNaBoinne and @WalletUpLLC do you use Sync?

[WalletUpLLC]

@FearNaBoinne and @WalletUpLLC Can you post a screenshot of the settings you have in brave://settings/cookies? Don't need to include the customize behaviors section.

Please find in attached. It has been working for several months , till the several past weeks ago. Did not make report because assumed it was a glitch that would be resolved till now.

[WalletUpLLC]

@FearNaBoinne and @WalletUpLLC do you use Sync?

it happens with or without

[FearNaBoinne]

@FearNaBoinne and @WalletUpLLC Can you post a screenshot of the settings you have in brave://settings/cookies? Don't need to include the customize behaviors section.

Please find in attached. It has been working for several months , till the several past weeks ago. Did not make report because assumed it was a glitch that would be resolved till now.

Mine are identical to @WalletUpLLC

@FearNaBoinne and @WalletUpLLC do you use Sync?

it happens with or without

Same as well, but right now sync is enabled...

[boocmp]

@FearNaBoinne Could you please open brave://sync-internals, go to the "Sync Node Browser" tab, expand Preferences and find encrypted node with name:"profile.content_settings.exceptions.braveShields". Does it contain a rule with the key "*,*"?

[FearNaBoinne]

@FearNaBoinne Could you please open brave://sync-internals, go to the "Sync Node Browser" tab, expand Preferences and find encrypted node with name:"profile.content_settings.exceptions.braveShields". Does it contain a rule with the key "*,*"?

There is NO encrypted node with that name, only a normal named node!
(I only have 4 encrypted nodes, "extensions.pinned_extensions", "profile.content_settings.exceptions.popups", "extensions.commands" and "profile.content_settings.exceptions.font_access")

The normal named node DOES have a "*,*":

[boocmp]

Thanks a lot! I guess we have found the cause of the problem

[FearNaBoinne]

Thanks a lot! I guess we have found the cause of the problem

And how do we fix it? :P

[boocmp]

Uhhh, I guess disabling synchronization and restarting the browser should fix this. But I'm afraid there is no workaround if you want to use synchronization. I believe we will release a fix in near future.

[FearNaBoinne]

Then I will wait for that fix to come around! Thx!

[WalletUpLLC]

Uhhh, I guess disabling synchronization and restarting the browser should fix this. But I'm afraid there is no workaround if you want to use synchronization. I believe we will release a fix in near future.

same in here, but got 38 encrypted, and {"," found in an unencrypted profile.content_settings.exceptions.braveShields

However there is a partial workaround.
Since the issue is narrowed down to the "settings preferences", and assuming that the settings were already sync across the synced devices, you can safely go to brave://settings/braveSync/setup and select the "customize sync" target and disable "settings". Restart brave and you should be good to go. You want to apply same process on the profiles where you want it to load global shield settings

@FearNaBoinne try and see how it works for you

[kjozwiak]

@brave/qa-team added some more detailed/easier to follow STR/Cases via brave/brave-core#14592 (comment) based on the information from @boocmp via brave/brave-core#14592 (comment).

[kjozwiak]

The above will require 1.43.80 or higher for 1.43.x verification 👍

[stephendonner]

Verification PASSED using

Brave	1.43.80 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102 (Official Build) dev (x86_64)
Revision	8e5396254975ef939f2ef7d0bd334e48a052b536-refs/branch-heads/5112@{#1478}
OS	macOS Version 11.6.8 (Build 20G730)

Reproduced the issue on macOS x64 using the following STR/Cases and build(s):

• downloaded & installed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
  • build without Do not allow wildcard content settings entries for "shields enabled" brave-core#14031
• launched & closed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• opened the preferences file via /Users/stephendonner/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser-Beta
• edited the profile.content_settings.exceptions.braveShields key as per the following:

{"*,*":{"expiration":"0","last_modified":"13304670271801570","model":0,"setting":2}}

• launched 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114 and ensured that shields were disabled on all websites visited
• enabled sync chain via brave://settings/braveSync and enabled Sync everything (waited ~2-3mins)
• closed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• installed 1.43.80 Chromium: 104.0.5112.81 and joined the sync chain that was created with 1.40.113 (using the daily code)
• enabled Sync everything (waited ~2-3mins)

Once the above was done, any website visited within 1.40.113 also had shields disabled. Examples below re: issue occurring:

Issue occurring via 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114

Example	Example	Example

Verification PASSED on macOS-x64 using the following build(s):

Brave | 1.43.80 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102 (Official Build) dev (x86_64)
-- | --
Revision | 8e5396254975ef939f2ef7d0bd334e48a052b536-refs/branch-heads/5112@{#1478}
OS | macOS Version 11.6.8 (Build 20G730)

Using the STR/Cases mentioned above, went through the same process but using 1.43.80 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102 and ensured that shields were working as expected, per the following:

Issue occurring via 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114

Example	Example	Example

Shields working as expected via 1.43.80 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102

Example	Example	Example

Once both versions synced, ensured that shields were also working via 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114.

[MadhaviSeelam]

Verification PASSED using

Brave | 1.43.81 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102 (Official Build) (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 8e5396254975ef939f2ef7d0bd334e48a052b536-refs/branch-heads/5112@{#1478}
OS | Windows 11 Version 21H2 (Build 22000.856)

Reproduced the issue using the following STR/Cases and build(s):

• Installed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• launched Brave
• visited https://cnn.com and disable Shields
• closed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• opened the preferences file via \AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
• edited the profile.content_settings.exceptions.braveShields key as per the following:

{"*,*": {"expiration":"0","last_modified":"13305939022714591","model":0,"setting":2})

• launched 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114 and ensured that shields were disabled on all websites visited
• enabled sync chain via brave://settings/braveSync and enabled Sync everything (waited ~2-3mins)
• closed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• installed 1.43.81 Chromium: 104.0.5112.81 and joined the sync chain that was created with 1.40.113 (using the daily code)
• enabled Sync everything (waited ~2-3mins)

Once the above was done, any website visited within 1.40.113 also had shields disabled. Examples below re: issue occurring:

Issue occurring via 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114

Ex1	Ex2	Ex3	Ex4

Verification on a new profile 1.43.81 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102

• Installed 1.43.81
• launch Brave
• visited https:// cnn.com and disabled shields
• enabled sync chain via brave://settings/braveSync and enabled Sync everything (waited ~2-3mins)
• close the browser
• opened the preferences file via \AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
• edited the profile.content_settings.exceptions.braveShields key as per the following:

  {"*,*": {"expiration":"0","last_modified":"13305939745950080","model":0,"setting":2})
  

• relaunch Brave
• confirmed Shields is enabled and working as expected.
• visited other sites and confirmed Shields are enabled and working as expected (nytimes.com) and (bbc.com)

Ex1	Ex2	Ex3	Ex4

---

Verification passed on

Brave	1.43.81 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	8e5396254975ef939f2ef7d0bd334e48a052b536-refs/branch-heads/5112@{#1478}
OS	Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Reproduced the issue using the following STR/Cases and build(s):

• Installed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• launched Brave
• visited https://cnn.com and disable Shields
• closed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• opened the preferences file
• edited the profile.content_settings.exceptions.braveShields key as per the following:

{"*,*": {"expiration":"0","last_modified":"13305939022714591","model":0,"setting":2})

• launched 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114 and ensured that shields were disabled on all websites visited
• enabled sync chain via brave://settings/braveSync and enabled Sync everything (waited ~2-3mins)
• closed 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114
• installed 1.43.81 Chromium: 104.0.5112.81 and joined the sync chain that was created with 1.40.113 (using the daily code)
• enabled Sync everything (waited ~2-3mins)

Once the above was done, any website visited within 1.40.113 also had shields disabled. Examples below re: issue occurring:

Issue occurring via 1.40.113 Chromium: 103.0.5060.114

Verification on a new profile 1.43.81 Chromium: 104.0.5112.102

Verified the above test plan but with 1.43.81