Author: mikeperry Date: 2011-10-07 23:44:03 +0000 (Fri, 07 Oct 2011) New Revision: 25157
Modified: website/trunk/projects/torbrowser/design/index.html.en Log: Additional comments from Georg Koppen.
Modified: website/trunk/projects/torbrowser/design/index.html.en =================================================================== --- website/trunk/projects/torbrowser/design/index.html.en 2011-10-07 02:52:40 UTC (rev 25156) +++ website/trunk/projects/torbrowser/design/index.html.en 2011-10-07 23:44:03 UTC (rev 25157) @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>The Design and Implementation of the Tor Browser [DRAFT]</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.75.2" /></head><body><div class="article" title="The Design and Implementation of the Tor Browser [DRAFT]"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="design"></a>The Design and Implementation of the Tor Browser [DRAFT]</h2></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Mike</span> <span class="surname">Perry</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><div class="address"><p><code class="email"><<a class="email" href="mailto:mikeperry#torproject org">mikeperry#torproject org</a>></code></p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Erinn</span> <span class="surname">Clark</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><div class="address"><p><code class= "email"><<a class="email" href="mailto:erinn#torproject org">erinn#torproject org</a>></code></p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Steven</span> <span class="surname">Murdoch</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><div class="address"><p><code class="email"><<a class="email" href="mailto:sjmurdoch#torproject org">sjmurdoch#torproject org</a>></code></p></div></div></div></div><div><p class="pubdate">Oct 6 2011</p></div></div><hr /></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2650133">1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#adversary">1.1. Adversary Model</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#DesignRequirements">2. Design Requirements and Philosophy</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#security">2.1. Security Requirements</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#privacy">2.2. Pri vacy Requirements</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#philosophy">2.3. Philosophy</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#Implementation">3. Implementation</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#proxy-obedience">3.1. Proxy Obedience</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#state-separation">3.2. State Separation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#disk-avoidance">3.3. Disk Avoidance</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#app-data-isolation">3.4. Application Data Isolation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#identifier-linkability">3.5. Cross-Origin Identifier Unlinkability</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fingerprinting-linkability">3.6. Cross-Origin Fingerprinting Unlinkability</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#new-identity">3.7. Long-Term Unlinkability via "New Identity" button</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#click-to-play">3.8. Clic k-to-play for plugins and invasive content</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#firefox-patches">3.9. Description of Firefox Patches</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#Packaging">4. Packaging</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#build-security">4.1. Build Process Security</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#addons">4.2. External Addons</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#prefs">4.3. Pref Changes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#update-mechanism">4.4. Update Security</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#Testing">5. Testing</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#SingleStateTesting">5.1. Single state testing</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="sect1" title="1. Introduction"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="id2650133"></a>1. Introduction</h2></div></div></div><p> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>The Design and Implementation of the Tor Browser [DRAFT]</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.75.2" /></head><body><div class="article" title="The Design and Implementation of the Tor Browser [DRAFT]"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="design"></a>The Design and Implementation of the Tor Browser [DRAFT]</h2></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Mike</span> <span class="surname">Perry</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><div class="address"><p><code class="email"><<a class="email" href="mailto:mikeperry#torproject org">mikeperry#torproject org</a>></code></p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Erinn</span> <span class="surname">Clark</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><div class="address"><p><code class= "email"><<a class="email" href="mailto:erinn#torproject org">erinn#torproject org</a>></code></p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Steven</span> <span class="surname">Murdoch</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><div class="address"><p><code class="email"><<a class="email" href="mailto:sjmurdoch#torproject org">sjmurdoch#torproject org</a>></code></p></div></div></div></div><div><p class="pubdate">Oct 7 2011</p></div></div><hr /></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2898146">1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#adversary">1.1. Adversary Model</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#DesignRequirements">2. Design Requirements and Philosophy</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#security">2.1. Security Requirements</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#privacy">2.2. Pri vacy Requirements</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#philosophy">2.3. Philosophy</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#Implementation">3. Implementation</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#proxy-obedience">3.1. Proxy Obedience</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#state-separation">3.2. State Separation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#disk-avoidance">3.3. Disk Avoidance</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#app-data-isolation">3.4. Application Data Isolation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#identifier-linkability">3.5. Cross-Origin Identifier Unlinkability</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fingerprinting-linkability">3.6. Cross-Origin Fingerprinting Unlinkability</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#new-identity">3.7. Long-Term Unlinkability via "New Identity" button</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#click-to-play">3.8. Clic k-to-play for plugins and invasive content</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#firefox-patches">3.9. Description of Firefox Patches</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#Packaging">4. Packaging</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#build-security">4.1. Build Process Security</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#addons">4.2. External Addons</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#prefs">4.3. Pref Changes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#update-mechanism">4.4. Update Security</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#Testing">5. Testing</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#SingleStateTesting">5.1. Single state testing</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="sect1" title="1. Introduction"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="id2898146"></a>1. Introduction</h2></div></div></div><p>
This document describes the <a class="link" href="#adversary" title="1.1. Adversary Model">adversary model</a>, <a class="link" href="#DesignRequirements" title="2. Design Requirements and Philosophy">design requirements</a>, @@ -237,14 +237,14 @@
</p></li><li class="listitem"><span class="command"><strong>Application Data Isolation</strong></span><p>
-The components involved in providing private browsing MUST BE self-contained, +The components involved in providing private browsing MUST be self-contained, or MUST provide a mechanism for rapid, complete removal of all evidence of the use of the mode. In other words, the browser MUST NOT write or cause the operating system to write <span class="emphasis"><em>any information</em></span> about the use of private browsing to disk outside of the application's control. The user must be able to ensure that secure removal of the software is sufficient to remove evidence of the use of the software. All exceptions and shortcomings -due to operating system behavior MUST BE wiped by an uninstaller. However, due +due to operating system behavior MUST be wiped by an uninstaller. However, due to permissions issues with access to swap, implementations MAY choose to leave it out of scope, and/or leave it to the user to implement encrypted swap.
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ section</a>, a <span class="command"><strong>url bar origin</strong></span> means at least the second-level DNS name. For example, for mail.google.com, the origin would be google.com. Implementations MAY, at their option, restrict the url bar origin -to be the entire fully qualified domain name +to be the entire fully qualified domain name.
</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><span class="command"><strong>Cross-Origin Identifier Unlinkability</strong></span><p>
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@
</p></li><li class="listitem"><span class="command"><strong>Long-Term Unlinkability</strong></span><p>
-The browser SHOULD provide an obvious, easy way to remove all of their +The browser SHOULD provide an obvious, easy way to remove all of its authentication tokens and browser state and obtain a fresh identity. Additionally, the browser SHOULD clear linkable state by default automatically upon browser restart, except at user option. @@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ be restricted from running automatically on every page (via click-to-play placeholders), and/or be sandboxed to restrict the types of system calls they can execute. If the user decides to craft an exemption to allow a plugin to be -used, it MUST ONLY apply to the top level url bar domain, and not to all sites, +used, it MUST only apply to the top level url bar domain, and not to all sites, to reduce linkability.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><span class="command"><strong>Minimize Global Privacy Options</strong></span><p> @@ -428,13 +428,13 @@ Tor Browser State is separated from existing browser state through use of a custom Firefox profile. Furthermore, plugins are disabled, which prevents Flash cookies from leaking from a pre-existing Flash directory. - </p></div><div class="sect2" title="3.3. Disk Avoidance"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="disk-avoidance"></a>3.3. Disk Avoidance</h3></div></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Design Goal:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2666962"></a>Design Goal:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"> + </p></div><div class="sect2" title="3.3. Disk Avoidance"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="disk-avoidance"></a>3.3. Disk Avoidance</h3></div></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Design Goal:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2914975"></a>Design Goal:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"> Tor Browser MUST (at user option) prevent all disk records of browser activity. The user should be able to optionally enable URL history and other history features if they so desire. Once we <a class="ulink" href="https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/3100" target="_top">simplify the preferences interface</a>, we will likely just enable Private Browsing mode by default to handle this goal. - </blockquote></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Implementation Status:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2666425"></a>Implementation Status:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"> + </blockquote></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Implementation Status:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2914438"></a>Implementation Status:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"> For now, Tor Browser blocks write access to the disk through Torbutton using several Firefox preferences.
@@ -499,7 +499,7 @@ context-menu option to drill down into specific types of state or permissions. An example of this simplification can be seen in Figure 1.
- </p><div class="figure"><a id="id2663383"></a><p class="title"><b>Figure 1. Improving the Privacy UI</b></p><div class="figure-contents"><div class="mediaobject" align="center"><img src="CookieManagers.png" align="middle" alt="Improving the Privacy UI" /></div><div class="caption"><p></p> + </p><div class="figure"><a id="id2911396"></a><p class="title"><b>Figure 1. Improving the Privacy UI</b></p><div class="figure-contents"><div class="mediaobject" align="center"><img src="CookieManagers.png" align="middle" alt="Improving the Privacy UI" /></div><div class="caption"><p></p>
On the left is the standard Firefox cookie manager. On the right is a mock-up of how isolating identifiers to the URL bar origin might simplify the privacy @@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ </p></li><li class="listitem">DOM Storage <p><span class="command"><strong>Design Goal:</strong></span>
-DOM storage for third party domains MUST BE isolated to the url bar origin, +DOM storage for third party domains MUST be isolated to the url bar origin, to prevent linkability between sites.
</p><p><span class="command"><strong>Implementation Status:</strong></span> @@ -619,13 +619,14 @@
To prevent attacks aimed at subverting the Cross-Origin Identifier Unlinkability <a class="link" href="#privacy" title="2.2. Privacy Requirements">privacy requirement</a>, the browser -MUST prompt users before following redirects that would cause the user to -automatically navigate between two different url bar origins. +MUST prompt the user before following redirects that would cause the user to +automatically navigate between two different url bar origins. The prompt +SHOULD inform the user about the ability to use <a class="link" href="#new-identity" title="3.7. Long-Term Unlinkability via "New Identity" button">New Identity</a> to clear the linked identifiers +created by the redirect.
</p><p>
-However, to -reduce the occurrence of warning fatigue, these warning messages MAY be limited +To reduce the occurrence of warning fatigue, these warning messages MAY be limited to automated redirect cycles only. For example, the automated redirect sequence <span class="command"><strong>User Click -> t.co -> bit.ly -> cnn.com</strong></span> can be assumed to be benign, but the redirect sequence <span class="command"><strong>User Click -> t.co -> @@ -678,17 +679,19 @@
</p></li><li class="listitem">HSTS supercookies <p> -An extreme (but not impossible) attack to mount is the creation of <a class="ulink" href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/HTTP_Strict_Transport_Security" target="_top">HSTS</a> -supercookies. Since HSTS effectively stores one bit of information per domain + +An extreme (but not impossible) attack to mount is the creation of <a class="ulink" href="http://www.leviathansecurity.com/blog/archives/12-The-Double-Edged-Sword-of-HSTS-Persistence-and-Privacy.html" target="_top">HSTS +supercookies</a>. Since HSTS effectively stores one bit of information per domain name, an adversary in possession of numerous domains can use them to construct cookies based on stored HSTS state.
</p><p><span class="command"><strong>Design Goal:</strong></span>
There appears to be three options for us: 1. Disable HSTS entirely, and rely -instead on HTTPS-Everywhere. 2. Restrict the number of HSTS-enabled third -parties allowed per url bar origin. 3. Prevent third parties from storing HSTS -rules. We have not yet decided upon the best approach. +instead on HTTPS-Everywhere to crawl and ship rules for HSTS sites. 2. +Restrict the number of HSTS-enabled third parties allowed per url bar origin. +3. Prevent third parties from storing HSTS rules. We have not yet decided upon +the best approach.
</p><p><span class="command"><strong>Implementation Status:</strong></span> Currently, HSTS state is cleared by <a class="link" href="#new-identity" title="3.7. Long-Term Unlinkability via "New Identity" button">New Identity</a>, but we don't @@ -918,11 +921,11 @@ </p></li></ol></div></div><div class="sect2" title="3.7. Long-Term Unlinkability via "New Identity" button"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="new-identity"></a>3.7. Long-Term Unlinkability via "New Identity" button</h3></div></div></div><p> In order to avoid long-term linkability, we provide a "New Identity" context menu option in Torbutton. - </p><div class="sect3" title="Design Goal:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2662516"></a>Design Goal:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"> + </p><div class="sect3" title="Design Goal:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2910661"></a>Design Goal:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote">
All linkable identifiers and browser state MUST be cleared by this feature.
- </blockquote></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Implementation Status:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2678689"></a>Implementation Status:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"> + </blockquote></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Implementation Status:"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2888916"></a>Implementation Status:</h4></div></div></div><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote">
First, Torbutton disables all open tabs and windows via nsIContentPolicy blocking, and then closes each tab and window. The extra step for blocking @@ -1021,7 +1024,7 @@ This patch prevents random URLs from being inserted into content-prefs.sqllite in the profile directory as content prefs change (includes site-zoom and perhaps other site prefs?). - </p></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="sect1" title="4. Packaging"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="Packaging"></a>4. Packaging</h2></div></div></div><p> </p><div class="sect2" title="4.1. Build Process Security"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="build-security"></a>4.1. Build Process Security</h3></div></div></div><p> </p></div><div class="sect2" title="4.2. External Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="addons"></a>4.2. External Addons</h3></div></div></div><p> </p><div class="sect3" title="Included Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2671107"></a>Included Addons</h4></div></div></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Excluded Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2671454"></a>Excluded Addons</h4></div></div></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Dangerous Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 cla ss="title"><a id="id2674390"></a>Dangerous Addons</h4></div></div></div></div></div><div class="sect2" title="4.3. Pref Changes"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="prefs"></a>4.3. Pref Changes</h3></div></div></div><p> </p></div><div class="sect2" title="4.4. Update Security"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="update-mechanism"></a>4.4. Update Security</h3></div></div></div><p> </p></div></div><div class="sect1" title="5. Testing"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="Testing"></a>5. Testing</h2></div></div></div><p> + </p></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="sect1" title="4. Packaging"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="Packaging"></a>4. Packaging</h2></div></div></div><p> </p><div class="sect2" title="4.1. Build Process Security"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="build-security"></a>4.1. Build Process Security</h3></div></div></div><p> </p></div><div class="sect2" title="4.2. External Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="addons"></a>4.2. External Addons</h3></div></div></div><p> </p><div class="sect3" title="Included Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2924325"></a>Included Addons</h4></div></div></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Excluded Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="id2896172"></a>Excluded Addons</h4></div></div></div></div><div class="sect3" title="Dangerous Addons"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 cla ss="title"><a id="id2917044"></a>Dangerous Addons</h4></div></div></div></div></div><div class="sect2" title="4.3. Pref Changes"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="prefs"></a>4.3. Pref Changes</h3></div></div></div><p> </p></div><div class="sect2" title="4.4. Update Security"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="update-mechanism"></a>4.4. Update Security</h3></div></div></div><p> </p></div></div><div class="sect1" title="5. Testing"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="Testing"></a>5. Testing</h2></div></div></div><p>
The purpose of this section is to cover all the known ways that Tor browser security can be subverted from a penetration testing perspective. The hope