[tor-bugs] #12442 [Tor]: Bridges should put their "transport" lines in their main descriptor, not extra-info desc

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Fri Jun 20 22:51:25 UTC 2014


#12442: Bridges should put their "transport" lines in their main descriptor, not
extra-info desc
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 Reporter:  arma                        |          Owner:
     Type:  enhancement                 |         Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                      |      Milestone:  Tor:
Component:  Tor                         |  0.2.6.x-final
 Keywords:  tor-bridge, maybe-proposal  |        Version:
Parent ID:                              |  Actual Points:
                                        |         Points:
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 Bridgedb finds it a real hassle to paw through all the extrainfo descs,
 and match them up and check signatures and so on, just to know what ports
 and capabilities a given bridge is advertising.

 Here's an example transport line from an extra-info desc:
 transport obfs3 24.38.24.35:10872

 Since the transport is a capability, rather than a statistic, I think it
 should go in the main descriptor, like where our or-address line goes.

 Another benefit here is that clients will be able to learn what other
 transports their bridge supports, since they fetch and have its descriptor
 anyway.

 The only drawback I see is that it's a bit less secret what your
 transports are. But I think the extrainfo descriptor is served to anybody
 who asks for it, so it's not a secret now anyway from people who can fetch
 your main descriptor.

 Another option is to start putting the transport line in *both* places for
 a while, so people who parse these things (e.g. Karsten) have more time to
 transition. Seems better just to identify all the people who parse these
 things, get them to prepare for it, and then just move the transport
 lines.

 Then in the distant future, places like bridgedb can stop needing the
 extrainfo descriptors too.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/12442>
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