[tor-bugs] #13287 [Tor]: Investigate mysterious 24-hour lump in hsdir desc fetches

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Mon Sep 29 05:16:53 UTC 2014


#13287: Investigate mysterious 24-hour lump in hsdir desc fetches
--------------------+------------------------------
 Reporter:  arma    |          Owner:
     Type:  task    |         Status:  new
 Priority:  normal  |      Milestone:  Tor: 0.2.???
Component:  Tor     |        Version:
 Keywords:          |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:          |         Points:
--------------------+------------------------------
 Here are the every-thirty-minutes stats for hidden service descriptor
 stores and fetches on moria1, using the #13195 patch:

 {{{
 Sep 27 14:00:00.638 [notice] Heartbeat: 16 descs (10/12 stored, 1/910
 fetched).
 Sep 27 14:30:00.866 [notice] Heartbeat: 30 descs (19/19 stored, 0/895
 fetched).
 Sep 27 15:00:00.938 [notice] Heartbeat: 43 descs (24/24 stored, 3/934
 fetched).
 Sep 27 15:30:00.432 [notice] Heartbeat: 49 descs (23/23 stored, 4/915
 fetched).
 Sep 27 16:00:00.101 [notice] Heartbeat: 52 descs (36/37 stored, 6/1010
 fetched).
 Sep 27 16:30:00.100 [notice] Heartbeat: 54 descs (18/18 stored, 4/1014
 fetched).
 Sep 27 17:00:00.872 [notice] Heartbeat: 57 descs (25/25 stored, 3/881
 fetched).
 Sep 27 17:30:00.917 [notice] Heartbeat: 61 descs (29/30 stored, 15/817
 fetched).
 Sep 27 18:00:00.486 [notice] Heartbeat: 64 descs (26/26 stored, 6/777
 fetched).
 Sep 27 18:30:00.779 [notice] Heartbeat: 65 descs (27/27 stored, 7/894
 fetched).
 Sep 27 19:00:00.848 [notice] Heartbeat: 69 descs (26/27 stored, 7/907
 fetched).
 Sep 27 19:30:00.843 [notice] Heartbeat: 70 descs (22/23 stored, 6/955
 fetched).
 Sep 27 20:00:00.441 [notice] Heartbeat: 71 descs (24/24 stored, 89/1135
 fetched).
 Sep 27 20:30:00.661 [notice] Heartbeat: 75 descs (25/26 stored, 99/1357
 fetched).
 Sep 27 21:00:00.920 [notice] Heartbeat: 75 descs (23/23 stored, 107/9063
 fetched).
 Sep 27 21:30:00.323 [notice] Heartbeat: 76 descs (17/19 stored, 95/14189
 fetched).
 Sep 27 22:00:00.227 [notice] Heartbeat: 76 descs (27/27 stored, 84/14208
 fetched).
 Sep 27 22:30:00.166 [notice] Heartbeat: 76 descs (16/17 stored, 104/14389
 fetched).
 Sep 27 23:00:00.886 [notice] Heartbeat: 77 descs (26/27 stored, 120/14871
 fetched).
 Sep 27 23:30:00.027 [notice] Heartbeat: 78 descs (16/17 stored, 107/15177
 fetched).
 Sep 28 00:00:00.835 [notice] Heartbeat: 80 descs (22/22 stored, 100/13811
 fetched).
 Sep 28 00:30:00.923 [notice] Heartbeat: 81 descs (21/23 stored, 111/14907
 fetched).
 Sep 28 01:00:00.546 [notice] Heartbeat: 82 descs (21/21 stored, 92/15235
 fetched).
 Sep 28 01:30:00.438 [notice] Heartbeat: 83 descs (19/20 stored, 107/16675
 fetched).
 Sep 28 02:00:00.873 [notice] Heartbeat: 84 descs (33/33 stored, 101/17955
 fetched).
 Sep 28 02:30:00.341 [notice] Heartbeat: 85 descs (38/39 stored, 106/18851
 fetched).
 Sep 28 03:00:00.229 [notice] Heartbeat: 86 descs (20/20 stored, 103/17418
 fetched).
 Sep 28 03:30:00.700 [notice] Heartbeat: 87 descs (20/21 stored, 99/17837
 fetched).
 Sep 28 04:00:00.653 [notice] Heartbeat: 88 descs (22/22 stored, 83/18491
 fetched).
 Sep 28 04:30:00.942 [notice] Heartbeat: 90 descs (18/19 stored, 102/17695
 fetched).
 Sep 28 05:00:00.150 [notice] Heartbeat: 92 descs (20/20 stored, 105/17357
 fetched).
 Sep 28 05:30:00.188 [notice] Heartbeat: 93 descs (29/30 stored, 116/18145
 fetched).
 Sep 28 06:00:00.963 [notice] Heartbeat: 94 descs (34/34 stored, 122/21495
 fetched).
 Sep 28 06:30:00.193 [notice] Heartbeat: 96 descs (41/41 stored, 100/21956
 fetched).
 Sep 28 07:00:00.697 [notice] Heartbeat: 98 descs (37/37 stored, 5/22160
 fetched).
 Sep 28 07:30:00.819 [notice] Heartbeat: 100 descs (42/42 stored, 3/23505
 fetched).
 Sep 28 08:00:00.385 [notice] Heartbeat: 102 descs (39/39 stored, 7/26988
 fetched).
 Sep 28 08:30:00.476 [notice] Heartbeat: 104 descs (36/38 stored, 7/23314
 fetched).
 Sep 28 09:00:00.200 [notice] Heartbeat: 105 descs (32/33 stored, 5/19225
 fetched).
 Sep 28 09:30:00.343 [notice] Heartbeat: 106 descs (38/39 stored, 5/19588
 fetched).
 Sep 28 10:00:00.149 [notice] Heartbeat: 113 descs (43/43 stored, 6/19089
 fetched).
 Sep 28 10:30:00.270 [notice] Heartbeat: 118 descs (40/40 stored, 1/21909
 fetched).
 Sep 28 11:00:00.842 [notice] Heartbeat: 123 descs (51/53 stored, 8/23061
 fetched).
 Sep 28 11:30:00.150 [notice] Heartbeat: 127 descs (50/51 stored, 4/20228
 fetched).
 Sep 28 12:00:00.107 [notice] Heartbeat: 127 descs (50/50 stored, 1/21318
 fetched).
 Sep 28 12:30:00.157 [notice] Heartbeat: 129 descs (40/41 stored, 4/22286
 fetched).
 Sep 28 13:00:00.793 [notice] Heartbeat: 130 descs (44/47 stored, 1/19157
 fetched).
 Sep 28 13:30:00.972 [notice] Heartbeat: 134 descs (60/60 stored, 5/18381
 fetched).
 Sep 28 14:00:00.714 [notice] Heartbeat: 137 descs (37/37 stored, 1/18463
 fetched).
 Sep 28 14:30:00.847 [notice] Heartbeat: 143 descs (34/34 stored, 3/19324
 fetched).
 Sep 28 15:00:00.692 [notice] Heartbeat: 147 descs (35/36 stored, 7/18050
 fetched).
 Sep 28 15:30:00.779 [notice] Heartbeat: 148 descs (35/35 stored, 3/17446
 fetched).
 Sep 28 16:00:00.427 [notice] Heartbeat: 150 descs (35/35 stored, 3/18933
 fetched).
 Sep 28 16:30:00.474 [notice] Heartbeat: 151 descs (36/36 stored, 13/19914
 fetched).
 Sep 28 17:00:00.355 [notice] Heartbeat: 154 descs (34/35 stored, 4/18437
 fetched).
 Sep 28 17:30:00.413 [notice] Heartbeat: 156 descs (35/35 stored, 2/18242
 fetched).
 Sep 28 18:00:00.066 [notice] Heartbeat: 162 descs (34/36 stored, 4/18058
 fetched).
 Sep 28 18:30:00.081 [notice] Heartbeat: 168 descs (41/41 stored, 4/16913
 fetched).
 Sep 28 19:00:00.796 [notice] Heartbeat: 171 descs (32/34 stored, 4/16914
 fetched).
 Sep 28 19:30:00.951 [notice] Heartbeat: 174 descs (42/43 stored, 3/17718
 fetched).
 Sep 28 20:00:00.864 [notice] Heartbeat: 174 descs (37/39 stored, 0/17791
 fetched).
 Sep 28 20:30:00.204 [notice] Heartbeat: 176 descs (37/38 stored, 3/18305
 fetched).
 Sep 28 21:00:00.132 [notice] Heartbeat: 177 descs (29/30 stored, 2/6373
 fetched).
 Sep 28 21:30:00.500 [notice] Heartbeat: 180 descs (37/37 stored, 1/323
 fetched).
 Sep 28 22:00:00.225 [notice] Heartbeat: 181 descs (26/26 stored, 1/174
 fetched).
 Sep 28 22:30:00.303 [notice] Heartbeat: 184 descs (40/41 stored, 1/109
 fetched).
 Sep 28 23:00:00.020 [notice] Heartbeat: 184 descs (22/23 stored, 4/133
 fetched).
 Sep 28 23:30:00.281 [notice] Heartbeat: 185 descs (33/33 stored, 0/124
 fetched).
 Sep 29 00:00:00.107 [notice] Heartbeat: 187 descs (30/30 stored, 3/141
 fetched).
 Sep 29 00:30:00.559 [notice] Heartbeat: 188 descs (31/31 stored, 1/138
 fetched).
 Sep 29 01:00:00.309 [notice] Heartbeat: 189 descs (22/23 stored, 1/175
 fetched).
 }}}

 That's quite the mysterious 24-hour lump in the middle, isn't it. I feel
 like the sailor who comes back from the voyage with the tale of the sea
 monster he saw -- some enormous hidden service picked me for one of its
 hsdirs for this 24 hour period, and at the end it went back into the ocean
 deep. And I got a snapshot of it on my little black-and-white camera.

 Of course, this measurement coincidences with a growth in crawling and
 other hs measurements, so maybe it is nothing. But the fact that it lasted
 about 24 hours (21:00 to 21:00) makes me think it is something. In
 particular, my first thought is that it's a bunch of bot clients trying to
 reach their C&C. And as a bonus, I basically couldn't answer any of the
 fetch requests, which is a good sign.

 special asked me about TAP vs NTor handshakes in that period. I have them
 only in six hour chunks, but here they are:
 {{{
 Sep 27 17:15:38.409 [notice] Circuit handshake stats since last time:
 8147/8147 TAP, 1679/1679 NTor.
 Sep 27 23:15:38.468 [notice] Circuit handshake stats since last time:
 83002/83004 TAP, 3420/3420 NTor.
 Sep 28 05:15:38.710 [notice] Circuit handshake stats since last time:
 208974/208980 TAP, 3859/3859 NTor.
 Sep 28 11:15:38.662 [notice] Circuit handshake stats since last time:
 273477/273487 TAP, 2835/2835 NTor.
 Sep 28 17:15:38.897 [notice] Circuit handshake stats since last time:
 241216/241222 TAP, 2817/2817 NTor.
 Sep 28 23:15:38.673 [notice] Circuit handshake stats since last time:
 126686/126717 TAP, 2637/2637 NTor.
 }}}

 If my next entry is indeed much lower on TAP, that would argue that these
 hsdesc fetches were made by TAP-using clients, which is another vote for
 the botnet C&C theory.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/13287>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online


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