Latest update broke log in on Pale Moon web browser

[potassiumchloride]

Versions

• Pi-hole: v6.4.1
• Web: v6.5
• FTL: v6.6

Platform

• OS and version: Debian trixie 13.4

• Platform: Raspberry Pi

Expected behavior

Log in on web interface to enter the dashboard should be possible in Pale Moon web browser.

Actual behavior / bug

After entering the Pi-hole password at <https://<IP_ADDPRESS_OF_PI_HOLE>/admin/> and hitting ENTER or pushing the "Log in" button nothing happens. Before the recent update (Core v6.4.1, web v6.5, FTL v6.6) from a few days ago, logging in to the dashboard worked on Pale Moon.

Steps to reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Use latest (v34.1.0) Pale Moon, either a fresh profile or your regular user profile.
2. Enter your login credentials at <https://<IP_ADDPRESS_OF_PI_HOLE>/admin/>.
3. Press ENTER or hit the "Log in" button.
4. Nothing happens.

[darkexplosiveqwx]

Does it work using other devices and/or browsers?

[potassiumchloride]

Yes, no problems at all with latest Firefox, LibreWolf, or Ungoogled Chromium. Just logging in on Pale Moon is broken now.

[yubiuser]

When it's working with 3 browsers, it's certainly not an issue with Pi-hole. Try clearing Pale Moon's browser cache, try private browsing/incognito mode, see what their developer console shows as errors.

[potassiumchloride]

@yubiuser, I appreciate your attempt to help, but what about trying my STR (steps to reproduce)? I clearly wrote in the STR that it happens on a fresh profile in Pale Moon, thus it's no issue from Pale Moon's browser cache. Easily tested on Pale Moon portable ... I use Pi-hole's web interface since ages in Firefox, LibreWolf and Pale Moon. Like I said, with its latest update from 2 days ago, it's broken on Pale Moon only, other browser work well. However, your hint into looking at the developer console was a good idea - in Pale Moon I see:

SyntaxError: invalid regular expression flag v utils.js:31:48
SyntaxError: invalid regular expression flag v footer.js:547:41
ReferenceError: utils is not defined[Learn More] login.js:90:3

Does this help to give any further idea? Although my main browser is Firefox, I use Pale Moon regularly, thus I'm interested in helping to fix the issue.

[rdwebdesign]

Does this help to give any further idea?

It means your browser doesn't recognize the v Regex flag (introduced in ES2024).
Apparently Pale Moon uses a different (and maybe an outdated) javascript engine. Other browsers recognize it correctly.

EDIT:

I just searched for regex flag "v" not recognized Pale Moon and this was answered:

The regex flag v (unicodeSets) is a modern JavaScript feature (ES2024) and is not recognized by Pale Moon. Pale Moon uses the Goanna engine, which focuses on older standards and does not support this new flag. You must remove the v flag and use u or restructure your regex.

• Why it fails: Pale Moon’s JavaScript engine adheres to older ECMAScript standards (mostly ES6/ES2015 based).
• Solution: Replace /regex/v with /regex/u (Unicode flag) if possible, or avoid using advanced unicode sets features like string properties in character classes.
• Alternatives: If you need modern regex functionality (like v or lookbehinds), you will need to test your application in a modern browser engine like Chromium or Firefox.

[potassiumchloride]

Just to confirm: And this was changed/introduced in Pi-hole's latest update from 2 days ago? (I always read change logs before updating, but didn't notice anything related to this issue.)

I know that unfortunately Pale Moon is always behind modern web development stuff, but if it's indeed a Pale Moon problem (that just became apparent due to recent Pi-hole changes) and not a new Pi-hole issue itself, then I'll open an account at the Pale Moon forum and report the recent breakage there.

[rdwebdesign]

Yes. This changes were introduced a few weeks ago and released with Pi-hole Web v6.5.

[yubiuser]

The change was introduced in #3743

[potassiumchloride]

Thanks for the confirmation, @rdwebdesign and @yubiuser.