[Whonix-devel] [tor-talk] Transparent proxy and Torbrowser

Mon Feb 6 17:10:00 CET 2017

Slashdotdash:
> Hi folks, I'm working on a transparent proxy app for Gnome and I'm
> trying to get a Torbrowser instance running that launches without
> Vidalia. It's currently using the TOR_SKIP_LAUNCH=1 and
> TOR_TRANSPROXY=1 flags, which works except that it then modifies some
> key settings in prefs.js which then don't get switched back
> afterwards, which means Torbrowser is broken used without the
> transparent proxy.
> 
> It's related to this ticket:
> https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/17615
> 
> I'm currently using a really hacky solution which is to backup the
> prefs.js file before loading the transparent-proxy-mode Torbrowser
> instance, then restore prefs.js when it exits. Does anyone have any
> better suggestions? I thought about making a separate profile, but
> not sure how to do it programatically.
> 
> It's here if anyone wants to have a look:
> https://github.com/dot-slash/torproxy
> 
> And if anyone wants to collaborate, that would be cool :)
> 
> -Slash
> 

Transparent torification for Tor Browser is discouraged. It breaks Tor
Browser's per-tab stream isolation, since there is no Tor SocksPort
adhering socks user name.

There is no more Vidalia. It's been deprecated for a while now. What you
are referring to is probably tor-launcher, a Tor Browser add-on, the Tor
connection wizard. Not to be confused with torbrowser-launcher.

Long term, TCP is going to be removed from Tor Browser. This is for leak
protection purposes. By then Tor Browser will only use Tor SocksSocket
(unix domain socket). To make it future proof, you are better off using
SocksSocket - unless you then want to compile Tor Browser yourself with
TCP support.

We at Whonix use something remotely similar to what you are attempting.
The https://github.com/Whonix/anon-ws-disable-stacked-tor gives you an
idea how you can use the Tor Browser Bundle to use system Tor with an
already existing SocksSocket file. All using environment variables
without any TBB file level modifications required.

It's Tor, not TOR.

Cheers,
Patrick