[tor-bugs] #9022 [Pluggable transport]: Create an XMPP pluggable transport

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Fri Jun 7 16:38:12 UTC 2013


#9022: Create an XMPP pluggable transport
---------------------------------+------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  asn                  |          Owner:  asn
     Type:  task                 |         Status:  new
 Priority:  normal               |      Milestone:     
Component:  Pluggable transport  |        Version:     
 Keywords:                       |         Parent:     
   Points:                       |   Actualpoints:     
---------------------------------+------------------------------------------

Comment(by asn):

 `feynman` posted his updated code to github:
 https://github.com/aeftimia/hexchat

 It seems that the topology of an XMPP transport would be:
 {{{

                         teh censor
      +-------------+       \\\       +-------------+         +----------+
      |  hexchat    |       \\\       |             |         | hexchat  |
      |  client     |<------\\\------>| XMPP server |<------->| XMPP bot |
      |(XMPP client)|       \\\       |             |         |          |
      +-------------+       \\\       +-------------+         +----------+
            ^               \\\                                    ^
            |               \\\                                    |
            |               \\\                                    |
            |               \\\                                    |
            v               \\\                                    v
      +------------+        \\\                             +------------+
      |            |        \\\                             |            |
      | Tor client |        \\\                             | Tor bridge |
      |            |        \\\                             |            |
      +------------+        \\\                             +------------+
                            \\\
 }}}

 Also, the simplest and easiest deployment of `hexchat` would probably
 resemble the current deployment of flashproxy. That is, the client-side
 would expose a SOCKS-server but in reality it would ignore the SOCKS
 handshake. It would connect to an XMPP server, and speak with a specific
 XMPP bot (that would run the server-side of `hexchat`). The XMPP bot would
 extract the Tor data out of the XMPP traffic, and pass them to a specific-
 hardcoded bridge.

 The above system is easier to deploy on the client-side, since the client
 doesn't need to specify an XMPP server, the XMPP bot username, or the
 bridge address. This is similar to how flashproxy works currently. In the
 future, we can think of how the client can specify specific parameters for
 his `hexchat` session (like a specific XMPP bot username, or a specific
 bridge).

 Also, it's worth noting that in the `hexchat` system, the IP of the client
 is exposed to the XMPP server. The server-side hexchat XMPP bot should not
 be able to get the IP of the client, since it's always speaking to the
 client through the server.

 (BTW, obviously the name `hexchat` might change if `feynman` wants to
 change it.)

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/9022#comment:3>
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