Greetings,
We just release the second alpha of the 0.4.9.x series.
https://forum.torproject.org/t/alpha-release-0-4-9-2-alpha/18206
Here it the rather large ChangeLog.
Cheers!
David
Changes in version 0.4.9.2-alpha - 2025-04-02
This is the second alpha of the 0.4.9.x series. We have several new minor
features and a big one, the happy families that was long awaited by relay
operators. This release also fixes a number of bugs including major ones.
o Major feature (happy families):
- Clients and relays now support "happy families", a system to
simplify relay family operation and improve directory performance.
With "happy families", relays in a family shares a secret "family
key", which they use to prove their membership in the family.
Implements proposal 321; closes ticket 41009. Note that until
enough clients are upgraded, relay operators will still need to
configure MyFamily lists. But once clients no longer depend on
those lists, we will be able to remove them entirely, thereby
simplifying family operation, and making microdescriptor downloads
approximately 80% smaller. For more information, see
https://community.torproject.org/relay/setup/post-install/family-ids/
o Major features (client):
- Clients now respect "happy families" per proposal 321. This
feature will eventually allow a much more compact representation
for relay families, for a significant savings in directory
download size.
o Minor feature (onion service, control port):
- Add 3 more keywords to the ADD_ONION control command:
PoWDefensesEnabled, PoWQueueRate and PoWQueueBurst which correspond
to HiddenServicePoWDefensesEnabled, HiddenServicePoWQueueRate and
HiddenServicePoWQueueBurst from torrc.
o Minor feature (testing, CI):
- Use a fixed version of chutney (be881a1e) instead of its current
HEAD. This version should also be preferred when testing locally.
o Minor features (compilation):
- Fix a warning when compiling with GCC 14.2. Closes 41032.
o Minor features (continuous integration):
- Upgrade CI runners to use Debian Bookworm instead of Bullseye.
Closes ticket 41029.
o Minor features (fallbackdir):
- Regenerate fallback directories generated on February 05, 2025.
- Regenerate fallback directories generated on March 20, 2025.
o Minor features (geoip data):
- Update the geoip files to match the IPFire Location Database, as
retrieved on 2025/02/05.
- Update the geoip files to match the IPFire Location Database, as
retrieved on 2025/03/20.
- Update the geoip files to match the IPFire Location Database, as
retrieved on 2025/03/24.
o Minor features (recommended protocols):
- Directory authorities now vote to recommend that clients support
certain protocols beyond those that are required. These include
improved support for connecting to relays on IPv6, NtorV3, and
congestion control. Part of ticket 40836.
o Minor features (required protocols):
- Directory authorities now vote to require clients to support the
authenticated SENDME feature, which was introduced in
0.4.1.1-alpha. Part of ticket 40836.
- Directory authorities now vote to require relays to support
certain protocols, all of which have been implemented since
0.4.7.4-alpha or earlier. These include improved support for
connecting to relays on IPv6, NtorV3, running as a rate-limited
introduction point, authenticated SENDMEs, and congestion control.
Part of ticket 40836.
o Major bugfix (control-events, bw-cache):
- Fixes spikes occurring in bandwidth cache on control connection.
Fixes bug 31524; bugfix on 0.4.8.12-dev.
o Major bugfixes (conflux):
- Ensure conflux guards obey family and subnet restrictions. Fixes
bug 40976; bugfix on 0.4.8.13.
o Major bugfixes (onion service directory cache):
- When the OOM killer kicks in, cleanup the descriptor cache of an
HSDir by looking at the lowest downloaded count instead of time in
cache. Fixes bug 40996; bugfix on 0.3.5.1-alpha.
o Minor bugfix (client DNS):
- Handle empty DNS reply without sending back an error and instead
send back NOERROR (RFC1035 error code 0x0). Fixes bug 40248;
o Minor bugfix (conflux):
- Avoid a non fatal assert when describing a conflux circuit on the
control port after being prepped to be freed. Fixes bug 41037;
bugfix on 0.4.8.15.
o Minor bugfix (dirauth):
- Fix typo in flag assignment approved-routers file. Fixes bug
41035; bugfix on 0.4.8.15
o Minor bugfixes (control port):
- Correctly report conflux pair information to controller fields
Fixes bug 40872; bugfix on 0.4.8.1-alpha
o Minor bugfixes (directory authorities):
- After we added layer-two vanguards, directory authorities wouldn't
think any of their vanguards were suitable for circuits, leading
to a "Failed to find node for hop #2 of our path. Discarding this
circuit." log message once per second from startup until they made
a fresh consensus. Now they look to their existing consensus on
startup, letting them build circuits properly from the beginning.
Fixes bug 40802; bugfix on 0.4.7.1-alpha.
o Minor bugfixes (relay flag usage):
- Fix client usage of the MiddleOnly flag so that MiddleOnly relays
are not used as HS IP or RP by clients or services. Additionally,
give dirauths the ability to remove specific flags, as an
alternative to MiddleOnly. Fixes bug 41023; bugfix on 0.4.7.2-alpha
o Minor bugfixes (sandbox, bwauth):
- Fix sandbox to work for bandwidth authority. Fixes bug 40933;
bugfix on 0.2.2.1-alpha
o Minor bugfixes (tests):
- Fix a test failure with OpenSSL builds running at security level 1
or greater, which does not permit SHA-1 certificates. (Fixes bug
41021; bugfix on 0.2.8.1-alpha.)
o Minor bugfixes (threads, memory):
- Improvements in cleanup of resources used by threads. Fixes bug
40991; bugfix on 0.4.8.13-dev.
- Rework start and exit of worker threads.
o Removed features:
- Relays no longer support the obsolete "RSA-SHA256-TLSSecret"
authentication method, which used a dangerously short RSA key, and
which required access TLS session internals. The current method
("Ed25519-SHA256-RFC5705") has been supported since 0.3.0.1-alpha.
Closes ticket 41020.
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