| On this subject.
I assume that all _javascript_ requests actually use your browsers HTTP/socket engines - therefore although _javascript_ is able to send network requests, they'll still be going through Tor.
This means that you could be identified by timing attacks, a particular sequence of _javascript_ XHR requests could uniquely identify Tor users because basically Tor doesn't do all that much normalisation (batching, delaying etc) of requests.
Perhaps it would be possible for Tor to do some limited batching for XHR requests? I understand Tor is capable of some limited application scrubbing - couldn't it see the HTTP headers that indicate a XHR request and treat them differently?
Since XHR requests are typically quite interactive, delaying them might make Ajax _javascript_ heavy websites sluggish or unusable, but it's just an idea I'm throwing out. Websites are definitely moving towards more _javascript_ usage and it would be good to reduce this weakness.
On 13/07/2010, at 6:47 AM, Matthew wrote:
Hello,
I have been reading the Torbutton documentation (thanks, guys) and
have a question about the adversary capabilities.
The first adversary capability is "inserting _javascript_". The
document says that "If not properly disabled, _javascript_ event
handlers and timers can cause the browser to perform network
activity after Tor has been disabled, thus allowing the adversary
to correlate Tor and Non-Tor activity and reveal a user's non-Tor
IP address."
The third adversary capability is "inserting CSS". The document
says that "CSS can also be used to correlate Tor and Non-Tor
activity and reveal a user's Non-Tor IP address, via the usage of
CSS popups - essentially CSS-based event handlers that fetch
content via CSS's onmouseover attribute. If these popups are
allowed to perform network activity in a different Tor state than
they were loaded in, they can easily correlate Tor and Non-Tor
activity and reveal a user's IP address."
I understand that Torbutton is useful for protecting privacy in
multiple ways. But I would like to address this specific issue if
I may.
Let us imagine that a user surfs the net using Tor (and Polipo or
Privoxy). He has _javascript_ installed and uses it for all sites.
He finishes his activities and then closes his browser. He then
wipes the following files and directories (I am using Ubuntu as my
example):
/.mozilla/firefox/nameofuser/cookies.sqlite
/.mozilla/firefox/nameofuser/downloads.sqlite
/.mozilla/firefox/nameofuser/cookies.sqlite-journal
/.mozilla/firefox/nameofuser/places.sqlite
/.mozilla/firefox/nameofuser/places.sqlite-journal
/.mozilla/firefox/nameofuser/formhistory.sqlite
/.mozilla/firefox/nameofuser/Cache/
Now I assume that these _javascript_ events and handlers and the CSS
handlers were downloaded into the Cache from when the user was
browsing using Tor. They would then be deleted as detailed above.
Therefore, when the user loads up Firefox and turns off the Tor
proxy settings, presumably the potential for _javascript_ or CSS to
connect Tor and non-Tor activity and get the users real (non-Tor)
IP address is no longer a concern?
Is this correct? Or am I missing something? Just to re-state: I
am only looking at this one issue - I am well aware of how useful
Tor button is in other areas!
Thanks.
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