[tbb-bugs] #26146 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Setting `general.useragent.override` does not spoof the platform part anymore in ESR 60 which is confusing

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Tue Sep 11 16:14:31 UTC 2018


#26146: Setting `general.useragent.override` does not spoof the platform part
anymore in ESR 60 which is confusing
-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------
 Reporter:  gk                                   |          Owner:  tbb-
                                                 |  team
     Type:  defect                               |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                               |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser             |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                               |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  ff60-esr, tbb-fingerprinting-os,     |  Actual Points:
  tbb-8.0-issues                                 |
Parent ID:                                       |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                       |        Sponsor:
-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------

Comment (by mcs):

 Replying to [comment:34 cypherpunks3]:
 > What was the consensus on the situation for Linux users, or was that not
 discussed?

 I think the idea is to make all desktop browsers use the same HTTP `User-
 Agent` header. The biggest potential breakage is on macOS due to the
 command key vs. control key difference. Kathy and I just completed some
 tests and the news is mixed. In a new minutes, I will attach the patch we
 applied but the summary is that we changed the `User-Agent` header and
 `navigator.userAgent` in JavaScript to `Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1;
 rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/60.0`

 GitHub: In the source code editor, Cmd+F works as expected. However, in
 the comment editor Cmd+B does not work to format text as bold (Ctrl+B
 does).

 Google Docs: Command keys do not work; control is recognized as the
 modifier key for making text bold, italic, etc.

 Our conclusion is that if we want to maintain compatibility with these
 kinds of sites, Tor Browser needs to make the platform available. At this
 point we do not know if GitHub and Google Docs are looking at the `User-
 Agent` header or if they are using JavaScript to test against
 `navigator.userAgent`.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/26146#comment:35>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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