metamask-extension fix: Ensure that Settings are available if there is a pending approval

Description

This issue shouldn't happen anymore since the STX status page is not displayed anymore, but just in case it would be displayed again I've added this fix.

Changelog

CHANGELOG entry: Ensure that Settings are available if there is a pending approval

Related issues

Fixes: https://github.com/MetaMask/metamask-extension/issues/38477

Manual testing steps

Follow steps here: https://github.com/MetaMask/metamask-extension/issues/38477
Settings should be available now

Screenshots/Recordings

Before

After

Pre-merge author checklist

[ ] I've followed MetaMask Contributor Docs and MetaMask Extension Coding Standards.
[ ] I've completed the PR template to the best of my ability
[ ] I’ve included tests if applicable
[ ] I’ve documented my code using JSDoc format if applicable
[ ] I’ve applied the right labels on the PR (see labeling guidelines). Not required for external contributors.

Pre-merge reviewer checklist

[ ] I've manually tested the PR (e.g. pull and build branch, run the app, test code being changed).
[ ] I confirm that this PR addresses all acceptance criteria described in the ticket it closes and includes the necessary testing evidence such as recordings and or screenshots.

[!NOTE] Exempts SETTINGS_ROUTE from confirmation redirects so Settings remains accessible even with pending approvals.

Routing/Confirmation Handler (ui/pages/routes/confirmation-handler.tsx):

Import and add SETTINGS_ROUTE to EXEMPTED_ROUTES to prevent auto-redirects, ensuring Settings stays accessible when approvals are pending.

^{Written by Cursor Bugbot for commit edc89ab08d32f98477667eef055187d728fa2a9f. This will update automatically on new commits. Configure here.}

Dec 10 '25 14:12 dan437

CLA Signature Action: All authors have signed the CLA. You may need to manually re-run the blocking PR check if it doesn't pass in a few minutes.

Dec 10 '25 14:12 github-actions[bot]

Builds ready [edc89ab]

builds: chrome, firefox
builds (beta): chrome, firefox
builds (flask): chrome, firefox
builds (test): chrome, firefox
builds (test-flask): chrome, firefox
bundle size: Bundle Size Stats
user-actions-benchmark: User Actions Stats
storybook: Storybook
typescript migration: Dashboard
all artifacts
bundle viz:
- background: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
- common: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
- ui: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
- content-script: 0
- offscreen: 0

UI Startup Metrics (1260 ± 101 ms)

Platform	BuildType	Page	Metric	Mean (ms)	Min (ms)	Max (ms)	Std Dev (ms)	P 75 (ms)	P 95 (ms)
Chrome	Browserify	Standard Home	uiStartup	1260	1031	1477	101	1331	1418
			load	1031	862	1251	86	1080	1194
			domContentLoaded	1024	858	1244	85	1070	1181
			domInteractive	25	16	127	20	21	83
			firstPaint	510	95	1257	390	1022	1123
			backgroundConnect	215	195	261	13	222	244
			firstReactRender	44	31	145	15	47	71
			getState	38	17	132	22	41	80
			initialActions	1	0	10	1	1	2
			loadScripts	816	657	1015	82	855	980
			setupStore	11	6	28	4	12	19
			numNetworkReqs	13	6	80	18	6	67
	Browserify	Power User Home	uiStartup	1916	1584	2505	159	1990	2216
			load	1087	879	1604	122	1156	1273
			domContentLoaded	1077	870	1597	122	1149	1259
			domInteractive	32	18	244	29	28	94
			firstPaint	529	114	1275	396	1001	1227
			backgroundConnect	241	201	643	80	236	533
			firstReactRender	47	38	62	5	49	58
			getState	215	143	745	111	218	305
			initialActions	1	0	3	1	1	2
			loadScripts	865	673	1352	119	934	1044
			setupStore	16	11	42	8	15	37
			numNetworkReqs	71	58	206	23	67	136
	Webpack	Standard Home	uiStartup	810	676	1217	86	853	966
			load	656	566	857	74	707	808
			domContentLoaded	650	562	843	74	702	801
			domInteractive	26	15	114	20	22	86
			firstPaint	242	87	817	178	220	704
			backgroundConnect	12	5	53	8	14	29
			firstReactRender	50	32	137	26	50	125
			getState	28	14	63	11	36	47
			initialActions	1	0	3	1	1	2
			loadScripts	647	560	837	73	700	795
			setupStore	11	5	29	4	12	20
			numNetworkReqs	13	6	80	19	6	74
	Webpack	Power User Home	uiStartup	1407	1080	2025	194	1585	1724
			load	739	598	1130	109	833	931
			domContentLoaded	732	591	1121	108	822	924
			domInteractive	32	17	142	28	27	115
			firstPaint	316	97	986	228	385	760
			backgroundConnect	85	8	604	151	82	554
			firstReactRender	49	40	69	5	51	58
			getState	192	145	798	87	189	262
			initialActions	1	0	2	1	1	2
			loadScripts	728	588	1112	107	820	916
			setupStore	17	7	52	9	15	37
			numNetworkReqs	70	58	156	21	66	133
Firefox	Browserify	Standard Home	uiStartup	1372	1109	2410	218	1445	1742
			load	1097	910	1477	99	1149	1284
			domContentLoaded	1097	909	1472	99	1143	1284
			domInteractive	69	31	160	36	86	138
			firstPaint	-	-	-	-	-	-
			backgroundConnect	76	22	1043	134	73	213
			firstReactRender	38	30	73	7	39	51
			getState	15	7	222	26	10	30
			initialActions	1	0	2	1	2	2
			loadScripts	1067	893	1416	92	1111	1235
			setupStore	13	6	88	13	11	42
			numNetworkReqs	15	6	79	21	7	75
	Browserify	Power User Home	uiStartup	2604	1595	3740	537	3008	3364
			load	1614	989	2548	475	2051	2324
			domContentLoaded	1614	989	2542	475	2051	2324
			domInteractive	187	30	1027	291	149	966
			firstPaint	-	-	-	-	-	-
			backgroundConnect	218	25	1158	290	199	1073
			firstReactRender	56	34	108	14	58	92
			getState	130	70	325	47	160	225
			initialActions	2	0	37	4	2	3
			loadScripts	1495	974	2305	434	1949	2247
			setupStore	57	5	1000	123	48	265
			numNetworkReqs	74	47	135	21	81	119
	Webpack	Standard Home	uiStartup	1644	1275	3216	311	1737	2213
			load	1350	1105	2842	247	1385	1607
			domContentLoaded	1349	1105	2841	247	1385	1607
			domInteractive	74	28	213	41	99	142
			firstPaint	-	-	-	-	-	-
			backgroundConnect	65	18	231	47	91	173
			firstReactRender	42	33	84	7	43	54
			getState	20	7	162	29	15	111
			initialActions	1	0	7	1	1	2
			loadScripts	1316	1089	2739	235	1352	1563
			setupStore	21	5	205	32	15	95
			numNetworkReqs	15	6	84	21	8	78
	Webpack	Power User Home	uiStartup	2730	1728	4228	561	3089	3597
			load	1925	1117	2877	504	2355	2574
			domContentLoaded	1925	1117	2877	504	2354	2573
			domInteractive	263	29	1100	366	241	987
			firstPaint	-	-	-	-	-	-
			backgroundConnect	123	26	403	79	180	262
			firstReactRender	55	37	122	14	59	87
			getState	144	71	1060	107	172	236
			initialActions	2	0	38	5	2	6
			loadScripts	1862	1099	2855	480	2263	2531
			setupStore	41	4	433	75	36	223
			numNetworkReqs	70	47	127	21	69	121

📊 Page Load Benchmark Results

Current Commit: edc89ab | Date: 12/10/2025

📄 Localhost MetaMask Test Dapp

Samples: 100

Summary

pageLoadTime-> current mean value: 981ms (±40ms) 🟢 | historical mean value: 1.04s ⬇️ (historical data)
domContentLoaded-> current mean value: 679ms (±37ms) 🟢 | historical mean value: 724ms ⬇️ (historical data)
firstContentfulPaint-> current mean value: 75ms (±12ms) 🟢 | historical mean value: 78ms ⬇️ (historical data)

📈 Detailed Results

Metric	Mean	Std Dev	Min	Max	P95	P99
pageLoadTime	981ms	40ms	954ms	1.27s	1.03s	1.27s
domContentLoaded	679ms	37ms	661ms	949ms	720ms	949ms
firstPaint	75ms	12ms	60ms	180ms	84ms	180ms
firstContentfulPaint	75ms	12ms	60ms	180ms	84ms	180ms
largestContentfulPaint	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms

Bundle size diffs [🚨 Warning! Bundle size has increased!]

background: 58 Bytes (0%)
ui: 17 Bytes (0%)
common: 20 Bytes (0%)

Dec 10 '25 15:12 metamaskbot

For some reason Settings are disabled when there is at least one unapproved transaction: https://github.com/MetaMask/metamask-extension/blob/main/ui/components/multichain/global-menu/global-menu.tsx#L535

It was added in this PR: https://github.com/MetaMask/metamask-extension/pull/19522/files#diff-2d29e8cea9f9d45ebb08ac4907e62eaf8b5212123d41473872b5759be8d68626R206

Dec 12 '25 12:12 dan437

A fix should be implemented by the team that owns the menu. Designers should decide if we should either highlight a currently disabled Settings menu item and explain why it's disabled (unapproved transactions) or just enable it.

Dec 12 '25 12:12 dan437