[tbb-bugs] #21034 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Per site security settings?

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Thu Mar 2 14:08:43 UTC 2017


#21034: Per site security settings?
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 Reporter:  arthuredelstein           |          Owner:  tbb-team
     Type:  defect                    |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                    |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                    |     Resolution:
 Keywords:                            |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:  #20843                    |         Points:
 Reviewer:                            |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by jonathanfemideer):

 **There should be a way for the user to keep the security level at High
 for all sites except for a few specific sites, and to set the latter to
 Medium.**

 In Tor Browser 6.5, this does not seem to be possible. In particular,
 there does not seem to be a way to choose per-site security settings.

 In a ideal world, users would be able to use the "High" setting, and this
 would *just work* on all sites. (Onion > Security Settings > High.)

 However, some websites (e.g. some bug trackers and some webmail clients)
 are built in a way that requires the user to execute some JavaScript. For
 such websites and webmail clients, the only two options seem to be:

 1.    Change the browser security settings (Onion > Security Settings >
 Medium).

 2.    Click NoScript icon > "Temporarily allow all this page".

 These both have disadvantages. Respectively:

 1.    If the user subsequently opens a new tab to visit a different
 website, this will now only be at the Medium security setting instead of
 the High setting, even if this latter website would work fine with the
 High setting. So the user's security gets reduced on the new site,
 unnecessarily. Alternatively, if the user is keeping one or more tabs open
 for the first site, while using other tabs to browse other sites that are
 less trusted or don't require the Medium setting, then the user has to
 keep adjusting the browser security level each time they want to interact
 with the first site in one of those tabs. ''TL;DR: switching tabs
 shouldn't require changing security settings to make the contents of those
 tabs function.''

 2.    "Temporarily allow all this page" seems to be less secure than the
 Medium security setting. A user might trust a website (or need to use it)
 just enough to be willing to reduce the security level to Medium in order
 to make it function, but no lower than that. "Temporarily allow all this
 page" seems to be more like reducing the security level for that site to
 Low.

 So, to reiterate, there should be a way for the user to set the default
 security level to High, and then to make exceptions on a per-site basis.

 N.B. I have not yet encountered any websites that require the security
 level to be set to Low, but perhaps such websites do exist. If so, then
 please consider my question to extend to allowing a per-site setting of
 Low for those websites.

 (Original discussion: ​https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-
 talk/2017-March/042982.html )

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/21034#comment:5>
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