[Bug 2136591] [NEW] Pipewire cameras inaccessible due to Snap packaging
John Pye
2136591 at bugs.launchpad.net
Wed Dec 17 02:18:09 UTC 2025
Public bug reported:
I have found that Firefox (Snap) on Ubuntu 24.04 is unable to access
cameras when PipeWire is enabled, due to policy rules that PipeWire
enforces. It seems that Snap packaging would have to change in order for
Firefox's Pipewire support to be utilised effectively. It looks like an
issue between Firefox Snap confinement, Wayland focus tracking and xdg-
desktop-portal policy enforcement. If we want to be able to move beyond
v4l2, this issue will need to be resolved somehow... not sure how
though!
john at ovo:~$ which firefox
/usr/bin/firefox
john at ovo:~$ snap list | grep -i firefox || true
firefox 146.0-2 7477 latest/stable mozilla** -
john at ovo:~$ apt-cache policy firefox | sed -n '1,20p'
firefox:
Installed: 1:1snap1-0ubuntu5
Candidate: 1:1snap1-0ubuntu5
Version table:
*** 1:1snap1-0ubuntu5 500
500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
john at ovo:~$
In Firefox:
<!doctype html>
<html>
<body>
<button onclick="go()">List cameras</button>
<script>
async function go() {
await navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({ video: true });
const devices = await navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices();
console.table(devices.filter(d => d.kind === "videoinput"));
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
This page raises an error:
Uncaught (in promise) DOMException: The request is not allowed by the user agent or the platform in the current context. 127.0.0.1:8000:7:32
go http://127.0.0.1:8000/:7
AsyncFunctionThrow self-hosted:804
(Async: async)
onclick http://127.0.0.1:8000/:1
And this is what xdg-desktop-portal is reporting:
john at ovo:~$ journalctl --user -f -u xdg-desktop-portal
[...]
Dec 17 12:35:31 ovo xdg-desktop-por[735598]: A backend call failed: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied: Only the focused app is allowed to show a system access dialog
[...]
Meanwhile, to confirm that the camera exists in PipeWire:
john at ovo:~$ pw-cli list-objects Node | grep -A4 -i camera
node.description = "Integrated Camera (V4L2)"
node.name = "v4l2_input.pci-0000_00_14.0-usb-0_8_1.0"
node.nick = "Integrated Camera"
media.class = "Video/Source"
media.role = "Camera"
id 66, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
object.serial = "66"
object.path = "v4l2:/dev/video2"
factory.id = "10"
--
node.description = "Integrated Camera (V4L2)"
node.name = "v4l2_input.pci-0000_00_14.0-usb-0_8_1.2"
node.nick = "Integrated Camera"
media.class = "Video/Source"
media.role = "Camera"
id 72, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
object.serial = "72"
object.path = "alsa:pcm:0:hw:sofhdadsp,5:playback"
factory.id = "18"
john at ovo:~$
And also
john at ovo:~$ pw-cli list-objects Node | grep -E 'node.name|media.class'
node.name = "Dummy-Driver"
node.name = "Freewheel-Driver"
node.name = "Midi-Bridge"
media.class = "Midi/Bridge"
node.name = "v4l2_input.pci-0000_00_14.0-usb-0_8_1.0"
media.class = "Video/Source"
node.name = "v4l2_input.pci-0000_00_14.0-usb-0_8_1.2"
media.class = "Video/Source"
node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp_5__sink"
media.class = "Audio/Sink"
node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp_4__sink"
media.class = "Audio/Sink"
node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp_3__sink"
media.class = "Audio/Sink"
node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp__sink"
media.class = "Audio/Sink"
node.name = "alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp__source"
media.class = "Audio/Source"
node.name = "alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp_6__source"
media.class = "Audio/Source"
node.name = "Thunderbird"
media.class = "Stream/Input/Audio"
john at ovo:~$
I can also confirm via 'pw-top' that the camera is connecting via PipeWire when I use the 'snapshot' program on Ubuntu 24.04:
S ID QUANT RATE WAIT BUSY W/Q B/Q ERR FORMAT NAME
S 29 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 Dummy-Driver
S 30 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 Freewheel-Driver
S 55 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 Midi-Bridge
R 64 1 30 54.6us 4.0us 0.00 0.00 0 MJPG 1280x720 v4l2_input.pci-0000_00_14.0-usb-0_8_1.0
R 103 0 0 41.3us 5.6us 0.00 0.00 0 MJPG 1280x720 + org.gnome.Snapshot
S 66 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 v4l2_input.pci-0000_00_14.0-usb-0_8_1.2
S 72 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp
S 73 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp
S 74 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp
S 75 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp
S 76 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp
S 77 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp
S 98 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0 Thunderbird
** Affects: firefox (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2136591
Title:
Pipewire cameras inaccessible due to Snap packaging
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