[tor-bugs] #26080 [Applications/Tor Browser]: torbrowser 7.5.4 update seems to generate file with unique uuid in it

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Tue Jul 9 16:15:01 UTC 2019


#26080: torbrowser 7.5.4 update seems to generate file with unique uuid in it
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 Reporter:  cypherpunks               |          Owner:  tbb-team
     Type:  defect                    |         Status:  needs_information
 Priority:  Medium                    |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                    |     Resolution:
 Keywords:                            |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                            |         Points:
 Reviewer:                            |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by Ephraim):

 This seems to be related to fontconfig, so this problem might not exist on
 Windows but Linux and MacOS only? And it might also depend on the versions
 of the libraries used.

 We've found .uuid files in other directories in linux font directories. No
 idea why that is, but having a .uuid file in a torbrowser-container
 doesn't feel like a good idea.

 The file is created on first start of torbrowser as ./Browser/fonts/.uuid
 and once it's created it doesn't change anymore so its mtime shows when
 this installation has been started the first time and the .uuid contains
 an actual unique uuid. Feels much like a tag.

 I've tested creating a symlink in that place pointing to /dev/null and my
 torbrowser still works fine without any sideeffects seen.

 So my suggestion is to address this issue by creating a symlink

 ln -s /dev/null ./Browser/fonts/.uuid

 Currently using torbrowser 8.5.3 on debian sid (fontconfig 2.13.1-2)
 I'm not using KDE, so it's not related.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/26080#comment:7>
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