[tor-bugs] #32624 [Applications/Tor Browser]: localStorage is not shared between tabs

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Wed Nov 27 01:06:47 UTC 2019


#32624: localStorage is not shared between tabs
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 Reporter:  nDe15o                    |          Owner:  tbb-team
     Type:  defect                    |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Very High                 |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |        Version:
 Severity:  Critical                  |     Resolution:
 Keywords:                            |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                            |         Points:
 Reviewer:                            |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by Thorin):

 This is not a TB only issue

 Test page: use
 https://ghacksuserjs.github.io/TorZillaPrint/sanitizing.html

 **STR**
 - `test 1`: new identity, open in two different tabs
 - `test 2`: new identity, open in one tab and hit F5 (refresh) .. and
 after that result hit F5 again ... etc
 - `test 3`: new identity, open in one tab and hit Ctrl-F5 (hard refresh)
 .. keep testing it
 - `test 4`: new identity, open in one tab and hit re-run, or hit F5
 (refresh)

 ** RESULTS**
 - `test 1`: 2 tabs: localStorage key and value is not found
 - `test 2`: 1 tab + F5: intermittent results
 - `test 3`: 1 tab + ctrl-F5: intermittent results
 - `test 4`: 1 tab + re-rerun button: localStorage key and value is found

 I had this issue with sanitizing (in Firefox, portable) that started in
 FF62 (from memory, but I never picked up on it until FF68) and tested FF62
 thru to current, literally a thousand plus tests over time especially in
 FF68+ (and I still test every day when I flick open various FF versions
 for other tests), and had quite a bit of an email thread with Johann
 Hofmann about it.

 long story short: localStorage is a bit wonky, and the fix that solved it
 all was to move to LSNG (dom.storage.next_gen)

 ---

 aaaaaand... just to confirm it... doing test 1 (2 tabs)

 Firefox (nightly)
 - LSNG = false, new pb window, LS **does not** persist across tabs
 - LSNG = true (default), new pb window, LS **does** persist across tabs


 TB
 - LSNG = false (default), new id, LS **does not** persist across tabs
 - LSNG = true, new id, LS **does** persist across tabs
 - **don't forget to change LSNG back to default**

 The thing is next_gen was not flipped on until FF70, and then they flipped
 it back in 70.0.1 due to issues that AFAIK shouldn't affect TB since it
 doesn't have persistent data.

 I don't think LSNG = true would necessarily be ready for ESR68, but might
 be perfectly fine given TB's setup (PB mode etc). I'll ping Johann

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/32624#comment:4>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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