[tor-bugs] #20761 [Applications/Tor Launcher]: Tor Browser 6.5a4 is ignoring additional SocksPorts

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#20761: Tor Browser 6.5a4 is ignoring additional SocksPorts
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 Reporter:  gk                         |          Owner:  mcs
     Type:  defect                     |         Status:  needs_information
 Priority:  Medium                     |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Launcher  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                     |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  TorBrowserTeam201612R      |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                             |         Points:
 Reviewer:                             |        Sponsor:
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Changes (by mcs):

 * status:  needs_review => needs_information


Comment:

 Replying to [comment:17 gk]:
 > Looks good to me. Just one nit: `if any,` -> `if any.`.

 Thanks for catching that typo.

 > > Switching back to TCP listeners after running with use_ipc = true may
 still require some manual cleanup by the user (e.g., if the unix: paths
 were written to their torrc), but I don't think we can avoid that until we
 fix #20906.
 >
 > Hm. I hit that one as well when testing in the hardened build I am
 currently using. IIRC this is only an issue if one has clicked on "OK" on
 the network settings dialog once, right?

 Actually, Tor Launcher also does a SAVECONF when transitioning from
 DisableNetwork=1 to DisableNetwork=0, which happens after the last step in
 the setup wizard and each time during startup if a default bridge is being
 used. The bottom line is that most alpha users will have ControlPort and
 SocksPort lines in their torrc, which means if we land these patches then
 things will break after the 6.5a6 update is applied.

 I am sorry that we overlooked this; Kathy and I consider it to be a fatal
 flaw with Proposal 2. This transition problem is bad enough that Kathy
 feels strongly that we should just switch to Proposal 1 and retrain our
 users to use the "extra" prefs if they need additional listeners. We could
 even do something a little more interesting such as ship with use_ipc =
 true but add an extra pref that provides an additional SOCKS listener on
 TCP port 9150 (the decision to do that needs a separate discussion
 though).

 I would like to stick with Proposal 2 but all of the ideas I have come up
 with handling a transition from use_ipc = true to use_ipc = false are too
 fragile (e.g., try to detect the situation and clean up the user's torrc
 using file I/O). Therefore, I have to side with Kathy and argue that we
 should implement Proposal 1.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/20761#comment:18>
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