[tor-bugs] #17688 [Tor]: Our default Guard value is still 3 if no latest consensus or no params

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Wed Nov 25 16:48:25 UTC 2015


#17688: Our default Guard value is still 3 if no latest consensus or no params
-------------------------+--------------------------------
     Reporter:  dgoulet  |      Owner:
         Type:  defect   |     Status:  new
     Priority:  High     |  Milestone:  Tor: 0.2.8.x-final
    Component:  Tor      |    Version:
     Severity:  Major    |   Keywords:  guard
Actual Points:           |  Parent ID:
       Points:           |    Sponsor:
-------------------------+--------------------------------
 `NumEntryGuards` is a consensus params currently set to `1` which means
 that we rely on the consensus for the number of entry guards we want.
 However if tor can't get the "latest consensus" or if that params is not
 found, the default value is currently `3` (in `decide_num_guards()`):

 {{{
   return networkstatus_get_param(NULL, "NumEntryGuards", 3, 1, 10);
 }}}

 I wonder why we keep `3` if we decided that `1` was actually more secure?

 Important things here I would like to note. We should _NOT_ hardcode
 default values like this directly in a function call (especially important
 ones), they should be global defines with a _clear-non-misleading_ name.
 All of those, the default value, minimum value and maximum value should
 all be defined in one single location else this is way too error prone in
 the long run.

 If it's indeed a mistake, we should backport this up to 026 I think that
 is when we set it to one guard.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/17688>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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