[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
Wed Sep 12 23:08:10 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:
                                                 |  needs_information
 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 cypherpunks3):

 Replying to [comment:46 fufufu]:
 > Replying to [comment:45 cypherpunks3]:
 > > I believe the reason was to preserve the look and feel of the
 operating system. I think there are also technical issues that make it
 hard to ship the same fonts, including size constraints (correct me if I'm
 wrong). It's not too big of a deal though, since the font set is not
 recorded by the average access log, whereas the user agent is.
 >
 > But according to some possible font detection is the reason that we're
 supposed to consider our OSes compromised anyway. This whole issue is
 starting to seem a lot like an invented problem.

 The thing is that it requires active detection (whether CSS or JS) to
 identify the platform, whereas user agent is always sent and is passively
 recorded by every site out there.

 > Also it seems obvious to me that fingerprinting defenses should take
 precedence over aesthetics in any case.

 I agree, but I think size constraints are also a bigger problem. I am not
 sure, though.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/26146#comment:48>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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