November 2024 - tor-project - lists.torproject.org

ebanam's monthly status and user support report for October 2024
by ebanam 04 Nov '24

04 Nov '24

Hello everyone, This is a summary of the work I did in the month of October followed by a more detailed report of the work done by our user support team. With a number of Tor Browser releases including the last major stable release of the year - Tor Browser 14 - much of my work included alpha testing, updating the Tor Browser user manual[0] before the release. And reviewing and updating the documentation[1] on Support Portal and the various user support channels and keeping track of user feedback after the release. I worked on a number of Tor Browser related user support tickets - from general questions about installing, updating and troubleshooting to bug reports. With the onset of the year-end campaign[2], I also worked on related support tickets, answering questions about Tor Browser. Topics include downloading, installing, using the browser it's various privacy enhancing features and questions about the Tor network in general. Finally a huge part of my work was dedicated to help users in regions where Tor is censored which includes but is not limited to helping users with instructions to download Tor Browser binaries from GetTor and/or official mirrors, verifying Tor Browser's GPG signature, help with using censorship circumvention methods that works best for them and overall troubleshooting. Here's a more detailed breakdown of the tickets our user support team worked on last month: # Frontdesk (email user support channel) * 668(↑) RT tickets created * 683(↓) RT tickets resolved Tickets by topics and numbers: 1. 267(↓) RT tickets: private bridge requests from Chinese speaking users. 2. 207(↑) RT tickets: circumventing censorship in Russian speaking countries. 3. 12 RT tickets: help with Troubleshooting Tor Browser desktop on Windows, macOS and Linux. 4. 6 RT tickets: help with updating Tor Browser and questions about Tor Browser dropping support for legacy operating systems.[3] 5. 5 RT tickets: Tor Browser 14 crashing on macOS when visiting some onionsites.[4] 6. 5 RT tickets: Questions about the various Security Levels[5] in Tor Browser and issues with disabling JavaScript on higher security levels. 7. 5 RT tickets: configuring Orbot to use bridges. 8. 3(↑) RT tickets: circumventing censorship with Tor in Farsi. 9. 3 RT tickets: Letterboxing is visible even if disabled when using Tor Browser on Tiled window managers.[6] 10. 3 RT tickets: Instructions to download Tor Browser 13.5 legacy for legacy operating systems.[7] 11. 2 RT tickets: questions about how Tor works - is my IP visible when using Tor? what application level protections I get when using Tor Browser? etc. 12. Help with verifying Tor Browser signature with GPG. 13. One report of Tor Browser 14 getting flagged by anti-virus software on Windows. 14. One report of a fake app on iOS masquerading as official Tor Browser. 15. Question about using Tor bridges with Tails. 16. Instructions to use GetTor to fetch Tor Browser binaries. 17. One report of a website blocking Tor traffic. 18. Question about the various keys used by Tor[8]. 19. Tor Browser fails to work on Linux is dbus-glib is not installed[9]. This issue should be fixed with Tor Browser 14. # Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal Support channel * 1023(↑) tickets resolved Breakdown: * 1003(↑) tickets on Telegram * 20(↓) tickets on WhatsApp * 0(-) ticket on Signal Tickets by topics and numbers: 1. 667(↑) tickets: circumventing censorship in Russian speaking countries. 2. 32(↑) tickets: private bridge requests from Chinese speaking users. 3. 24(↓) tickets: circumventing censorship with Tor in Farsi. 4. 23 tickets: helping users on iOS, using Onion Browser or Orbot, to use censorship circumvention methods. 5. 16 tickets: help with troubleshooting Tor Browser Desktop on Windows, macOS and Linux. 6. 8 tickets: help with installing Tor Browser on linux. 7. 8 tickets: help with troubleshooting Tor Browser on Android. 8. 7 tickets: help with instructions to use bridges with Tails. 9. 7 tickets: questions about various features in Tor Browser (Letterboxing, Security Levels, New Circuit, New Identity, etc.) 10. 6 tickets: instructions on how to get Tor Browser binaries from GetTor. 11. 5 tickets: Tor Browser 14 crashing on macOS when visiting some onionsites.[4] 12. 5 tickets: Users seeing a "proxy refused" error when visiting websites on Tor Browser for Android using Samsung devices.[10] 13. 4 tickets: help with using bridges with Orbot. 14. 4 tickets: questions about accessing or setting up onion services. 15. 3 tickets: help with setting up Snowflake proxy. 16. 2 tickets: help with using bridges and snowflake with little-t-tor. 17. 1 ticket: Tor Browser 14 displaying a security notification on latest versions of Ubuntu.[11] 18. 1 ticket: User seeing a "proxy refused" error when visiting websites on Tor Browser for Android using a Xiaomi device.[12] 19. 1 ticket: Instructions to download Tor Browser 13.5 legacy for legacy operating systems. # Highlights from the Tor Forum 1. Configuring little-t-tor to use pluggable transports (obfs4, WebTunnel, etc.). [13] 2. Security warning on Tor Browser 14+ on latest versions of Ubuntu.[14] 3. Running Tor Browser with Wayland windowing system on Linux.[15] 4. Download Tor Browser 13.5 legacy on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 and macOS 10.12, 10.13 and 10.14 [7] 5. Unable to render images when uploading/downloading them via Tor Browser.[16] 6. Installing Tor Browser on (Kali) Linux - troubleshooting issue with permissions.[17] Note: (↑), (↓) and (-) are indicating if the number of tickets we received for these topics have been increasing, decreasing or have been the same from the previous month respectively. Thanks everyone! e. [0]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/manual/-/issues/174 [1]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/community/support/-/issues/40160 [2]: https://blog.torproject.org/2024-fundraiser-donations-matched/ [3]: https://support.torproject.org/tbb/tor-browser-and-legacy-os/ [4]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43245 [5]: https://tb-manual.torproject.org/security-settings/ [6]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42670 [7]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/download-tor-browser-13-5-legacy-on-windows-… [8]: https://support.torproject.org/about/key-management/ [9]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/41914 [10]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42714 [11]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43101 [12]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/41289 [13]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/error-with-the-tor-cli-client/15502 [14]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/after-updating-to-tor-browser-14-0-tor-brows… [15]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/linux-is-it-alright-to-run-the-tor-browser-o… [16]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/problem-in-the-images-that-i-download-or-try… [17]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/i-cant-open-tor-browser-on-kali-linux/15082

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Rhatto's Monthly Status Report, October 2024
by rhatto 04 Nov '24

04 Nov '24

Hi all :) This is my monthly status report for October 2024 with the main relevant activities I have done, was involved or are related to my work during the period. # Onionprobe Ansible Role A considerable time was spent finding ways to structure and test Ansible roles, collections and playbooks through GitLab CI. Goal is to provide easier-to use procedures to manage Onion Services infrastructure. As a direct result of this research, it was possible to finally refactor and release an Ansible role to manage Onionprobe, a monitoring tool for onionsites: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/onion-services/ansible/onionprobe-role It was interesting to research how to do basic Ansible tests using GitLab CI, and a special thanks goes to TPA for providing the base Podman image which allows running Podman in a GitLab CI job: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/tpa/base-images # Onionprobe Onionprobe itself got some improvements, including support for running the standalone monitor node with Podman: https://onionservices.torproject.org/apps/web/onionprobe/standalone/ # OnionSec The OnionSec library and command line for testing onionsites got some enhancements as well: https://github.com/TheEnbyperor/onion-sec/pull/1 # Libraries The Onion Services Ecosystem got a Libraries page: https://onionservices.torproject.org/dev/libraries/ It still needs some improvements, and also some input from the upstream devs to check accuracy: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/onion-services/ecosystem/-/issues/21 # Support Finally, also did the usual and ongoing sponsored work with deployment, maintenance and monitoring of Onion Services. -- Silvio Rhatto pronouns he/him

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intrigeri's report, September 2024
by intrigeri 04 Nov '24

04 Nov '24

Hi, In case you missed it, Tails is now part of Tor: https://blog.torproject.org/tor-tails-join-forces/ Time-off ======== This was as short work months: I took 2 weeks off for personal reasons. I'm back. User-visible ============ - I reviewed the doc sajolida wrote to mitigate SBAT-related boot failures https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tails/-/issues/20471 - I gathered stats from bug reports to verify that our new idea (credits: sajolida) makes sense wrt. reporting errors about the partition table, partition header, and resizing. We plan to start designing and implementing in October. https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tails/-/issues/20505 https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tails/-/issues/20531 - Always notify users of N.x that they should upgrade to (N+1).y https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tails/-/issues/20542 - Fixed recent(ish) regressions - Spurious error message on Tails sticks installed a long time ago https://gitlab.tails.boum.org/tails/tails/-/issues/20519 Project and outreach ==================== - I attended the Global Gathering, together with a lovely crew of Tor people. - I helped a tiny bit with the messaging of the Tails/Tor merge announcement. Team lead ========= Most of my time left was used to set up new processes, integrating with the other Tor teams. Cheers, -- intrigeri

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Nina’s Monthly Status Report, October, 2024
by Nina 01 Nov '24

01 Nov '24

Hi! Below is my October’24 report! In October, I resolved1104(↑110) tickets: * On Telegram (@TorProjectSupportBot) - 855 (↑127); * On RT (frontdesk@tpo) - 248 (↑59); * On WhatsApp (+447421000612) - 1(↓26); * and on Signal (+17787431312) - 0 (0). My main focus - as usual - was to help Russian-speaking users bypass censorship and connect to Tor, which often includes troubleshooting. I also collected users’ feedback to monitor the censor's activity and to help find working anti-censorship solutions. Apart from user support I also took part in Tor Forum moderation, worked with app store reviews, and joined the Tor relay operators meetup. Most of the tickets were from users in Russia requesting bridges, as the ones they received from rdsys distributors weren't working for them. I also collected user feedback on other plugglable transports (WebTunnel, obfs4, and Snowflake) and added it to the main ticket about censorship in Russia[1]. *## New Tor Browser release* Tor Browser 14 was released in October [2], with the LegacyOS users-Windows 7-8 and macOS 10.12-10.14-staying with 13.5.9. So, I took part in preparing the instructions for the Legacy OS users to help them understand the transition period and make sure that censored users can also get access to the Tor Browser version that would work for them [3]. In collaboration with @ebanam, I reported a bug affecting macOS users who are trying to open certain .onion websites [4]. I continued taking part in the investigation of the Samsung "proxy server refused connection" bug [5]. *## **Google Play Reviews for Tor Browser**(TBA)**and Tor Browser Alpha**for Android* Tor Browser App had a Google Play rating of 4.394-4.396 (↑) stars in October 2024, which is higher than in September. Tor Browser app(TBA)got 691 (↑23)reviews out of 58,498for the lifetime. Most commonissuesonthe reviews: * Samsung users point out the error "Proxy server refused connection"on their devices; [4] * Tor Browser doesn't work: mostly from Russian users, who are struggling to find a non-blockedbridge; * Tor speed is too slow. Tor Browser Alpha (TBA) app had a rating of 4.254 (↓) which is lower that in September. In October, Tor Browserfor Android (TBA)Alpha got 40 (↑5)reviews out of 8359for the lifetime. [1] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/censorship-analysis/-/iss… [2] https://blog.torproject.org/new-release-tor-browser-140/ [3] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/community/support/-/issues/40163 [4] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43245 [5] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42714

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PieroV's Monthly Status Report, October 2024
by Pier Angelo Vendrame 01 Nov '24

01 Nov '24

Hi everyone! Here is my status report for October 2024. Ten days ago, we finally released Tor Browser 14.0 after several months of work on it 🎉 [0]. Therefore, in the first weeks of October, I mostly fixed minor bugs/details and tried to help my colleagues resolve other problems for the big release. I also spent a considerable amount of time doing QA. While doing it, I created new resources to make the QA process faster. I added all of them to the tests for self-signed HTTPS Onion Sites I created a while ago [1]. I also restarted my upstream effort. I think the upstreaming of Bug 1556002 [2] and Bug 1923264 [3] were the fastest I have ever had 😄. I also tried to start a conversation about ignoring `content-disposition: attachment` in some cases [4], but that will need more work downstream first. After the release, I returned to working on issues we didn't want to rush for the stable, such as moving FontConfig's fonts.conf [5]. While doing so, I also found a compatibility problem between the modern Python version we self-compile to be able to build Firefox and the legacy OpenSSL version we still have in our old build environment [6]. I fixed it by downgrading Python to 3.9.20, which is still officially supported by the PSF and the various build systems we use. That was the less-impacting solution, but not the only possible one. Also, we really needed to fix it quickly, as it would have prevented us from building 14.0.1. Currently, I am working on fixing the "Proxy server refuses connection" problem that some Android devices (mostly Samsung phones) show [7]. I think a workaround would be to return to TCP sockets for the SOCKS connections. I prefer Unix domain sockets, as they can be used only by the browser with our configuration, whereas TCP sockets will be available to other apps as well, which is a linkability concern. If you have an Android device with this behavior and think you can help debug it, please consider commenting on that GitLab issue [7]. With this effort, we will also get closer to solving an 11-year-old issue, a new record for me 😄 [8]. Finally, I did the usual maintenance work. I rebased our browsers (the 128-based stable and the 115-based legacy channel) and started the new branches for the 14.5 series. I also prepared the 14.0.1 Tor Browser stable release and built it. Best, Pier [0] https://blog.torproject.org/new-release-tor-browser-140/ [1] https://onion-tests.pierov.org/ [2] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1556002 [3] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1923264 [4] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1923368 [5] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/43140 [6] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser-build/-/issues/4… [7] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42714 [8] https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-launcher/-/issues/10439

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