[BUG] Memory usage jumps to multiple GB since latest update

[DT209]

Describe the bug
When using Port Authority with almost any site that has LexusNexus blocked, the memory usage jumps to multiple GB of RAM for WebExtensions in Firefox 136.0.1 (64-bit) on Ubuntu 24.04. Disabling Port Authority fixes the issue

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Open a system monitor or top or something similar, start watching the processes named "WebExtensions" (I have two processes named "WebExtensions")
2. Go to 'http://royalbank.ca/'
3. Click on 'Sign In'
4. Wait for the animation to finish
5. Watch the the system monitor, one of the processes will jump in RAM usage and will degrade performance (give it a bit of time)Expected behavior
   Resaonable RAM usage and resonable performance

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04
• Browser Firefox
• Version 136.0.1 (64-bit)

[amsam0]

+1. Experiencing this with Figma. Disabling Port Authority fixed the issue.

[ACK-J]

Thanks for the bug report! A different memory management system is implemented in the main branch but hasn't been pushed to the Mozilla store yet. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to reproduce the memory leak. Would you follow the steps below to try out the new version and see if that solves your issues?

1. Deleted port authority from firefox
2. Download the master branch of Port Authority from Github (git clone https://github.com/ACK-J/Port_Authority.git)
3. Open a new firefox tab and type about:debugging and hit enter
4. Click on This Firefox
5. Click on load temporary addon
6. Find where you downloaded port authority and click on the file manifest.json
7. Please report any issues you find!

[DT209]

Followed the steps above, same issue persists. Went to

1. Went to 'http://royalbank.ca/'
2. Click on 'Sign In'
3. Wait for the animation to finish
4. Watched WebExtensions memory usage baloon to 2Gig

[ACK-J]

@jjk1492 @mwsundberg can you replicate this bug? Its not happening on my machine for some reason.

[DT209]

Yes I was able to replicate the issue. Is there some file or log that you need for me to upload?

[DT209]

Strange, I re-installed Port Authority just now, after removing the debug version, and I can no longer replicate the issue. Will try Figma like @amsam0 ... @amsam0 what are the steps in figma?

[DT209]

I just tried loading a pretty big project in Figma with no issues. So the solution to this is to re-install the plugin from scratch it looks like.

Recommend closing this bug until there is more evidence that this does not solve it.

[ACK-J]

Maybe the Mozilla automatic update introduced a memory leak. Very strange. I'll leave it open for the time being.

[mwsundberg]

I haven't been able to replicate on AMO install, the v2.0.0 tag, main HEAD, or any of my dev branches, but I'm also on Windows so I don't know if that's part of it. The only explanation I can think of is an old storage value from a previous release was corrupted somehow (like #27?) and isn't being handled properly, which might explain why a fresh install fixes things.

If you can still reproduce it through any method @DT209, I'd be curious to see what's in the extension storage:

1. Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox and find the extension instance/version which exhibits the issue
2. "Inspect" the extension and go to the "Storage" tab
3. The extension *currently* doesn't use any storage locations other than "Extension Storage", but we used to use "Local Storage", so check there too
4. If you could copy out all storage values (anonymizing as needed, there's browsing history data in some values). What I do is click each one, select the value under Data in the right sidebar (not Parsed Data, that just gives [Object object] type junk), then Ctrl+C or right-click copy. (If anyone knows a faster way to copy *all* storage values please share, it's rather tedious to do individually).

Personally I'm comfortable closing the issue since it seems to be not occurring on the latest version, but I am curious to see what might have been the root cause.

Also @ACK-J, do you think it would be worth it to clear out the storage whenever the extension gets updated, selectively migrating settings and all-time stats? I don't want to over-engineer anything since it's harder to maintain the more complex it gets (KISS & all), yet versioning and migrating the storage schema could prevent some weird bugs and storage leaks, especially since we're no longer clearing storage on each startup since settings started being persisted. A related issue: #47, plus a storage key rename that should have been migrated (sorry!).

[ACK-J]

I've had similar issues in the past (#19 (comment)) after updates. I've never been able to track down the root cause. Clearing all local and extension storage after an update sounds like the most likely fix, so let's try that. I'm going to leave this open for the time being as it will be easier for others to find if they run into the same issue (which could help us debug further)

[DT209]

if it happens again I will certainly post here.