New Release: Tor Browser 8.5a7

by boklm | January 30, 2019

Tor Browser 8.5a7 is now available from the Tor Browser Project page and also from our distribution directory.

This release features important security updates to Firefox.

This new Tor Browser version ships the first alpha in Tor's 0.4.0 series, 0.4.0.1-alpha.

This release also features a lot of improvements regarding our branding. We ship our new Tor Browser logo for the first time in a release build on desktop platforms and are eager to learn about bugs and general feedback. Thanks for Antonela and Richard working on this!

Due to a last minute bug making our build non-reproducible, we had to revert the patch rebranding the Windows installer. We plan to have it fixed in the next alpha release.

Additionally, we fixed a number of crashes noticed in previous releases (WebGL crashed on some Windows machines, the print dialog on some Linux systems, and downloading files on some Android devices).

Note: Due to a bug in Tor 0.4.0.1-alpha, the Windows bundles on a new clean install will get stuck during the first start. Restarting the browser should solve the issue.

The full changelog since Tor Browser 8.5a6 is:

  • All Platforms
    • Update Firefox to 60.5.0esr
    • Update Torbutton to 2.1.4
      • Bug 25702: Update Tor Browser icon to follow design guidelines
      • Bug 21805: Add click-to-play button for WebGL
      • Bug 28836: Links on about:tor are not clickable
      • Bug 29035: Clean up our donation campaign and add newsletter sign-up link
      • Translations update
      • Code clean-up
    • Update HTTPS Everywhere to 2019.1.7
    • Update NoScript to 10.2.1
      • Bug 28873: Cascading of permissions is broken
      • Bug 28720: Some videos are blocked outright on higher security levels
    • Bug 29082: Backport patches for bug 1469916
    • Bug 28711: Backport patches for bug 1474659
    • Bug 27828: "Check for Tor Browser update" doesn't seem to do anything
    • Bug 29028: Auto-decline most canvas warning prompts again
    • Bug 27597: Fix our debug builds
  • Windows
    • Update Tor to 0.4.0.1-alpha
    • Bug 25702: Activity 1.1 Update Tor Browser icon to follow design guidelines
    • Bug 28111: Use Tor Browser icon in identity box
    • Bug 22654: Firefox icon is shown for Tor Browser on Windows 10 start menu
    • Bug 27503: Compile with accessibility support
    • Bug 28874: Bump mingw-w64 commit to fix WebGL crash
    • Bug 12885: Windows Jump Lists fail for Tor Browser
    • Bug 28618: Set MOZILLA_OFFICIAL for Windows build
  • OS X
    • Update Tor to 0.4.0.1-alpha
    • Bug 25702: Activity 1.1 Update Tor Browser icon to follow design guidelines
    • Bug 28111: Use Tor Browser icon in identity box
  • Linux
    • Update Tor to 0.4.0.1-alpha
    • Bug 25702: Activity 1.1 Update Tor Browser icon to follow design guidelines
    • Bug 28111: Use Tor Browser icon in identity box
    • Bug 27531: Fix crashing print dialog
  • Android
    • Bug 28705: Fix download crash on newer Android devices
    • Bug 28814: Backport 1480079 to allow installing downloaded apps
  • Build System
    • All Platforms
      • Bug 29158: Install updated apt packages (CVE-2019-3462)
      • Bug 29097: Don't try to install python3.6-lxml for HTTPS Everywhere
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
      • Bug 28752: Don't download tor-android-binary resources during build
Tags
tor browser
tbb
tbb-8.5
k239

Anonymous (not verified) said:

January 30, 2019

Permalink

Tor WARN: Refusing to apply consensus diff because the base consensus doesn't match the digest as found in the consensus diff header.
Tor WARN: Expected: C543926A52B064BBDA1B7D69F8D729BAEAC5BA3CAE4A264BB9B448608FB96A6F; found: 1DCDD2B0E745BDDA51C4EEE0F3A1179D8099BF290600040B7545C43A3C762383
Tor WARN: Could not apply consensus diff received from server 'canpaste?:22'

Thank you TP as always. Remember everyone: there's more of 'us' than there is of 'them'. Use your TOR browser for everything so it never looks out of place if your ISP and/or others are watching and recording. The more normalised everyone's TOR use is, the better for all of us. More relays help, even if only for a short while. Get yourself used to setting it up so it becomes easier every time. xo

What does this browser support?

HTMLVideoElement
H.264
WebM VP8

Media Source Extensions
MSE & H.264
x MSE & WebM VP9

media.benchmark.vp9.fps 139
media.benchmark.vp9.versioncheck 4

This update disabled VP9 on my i7 notebook!

I don't think we disabled VP9 in this release. Are you saying with 8.5a6 it is working fine but with 8.5a7 you suddenly don't have VP9 available anymore?

Exactly.

Hm, now it's working again. That means something during update turns off VP9 until the test is rerun.

Which test are you (re-)running?

Not me. It is automatic bench:
media.benchmark.vp9.fps 139
media.benchmark.vp9.versioncheck 4
These prefs in config mean that it was run.

Going on five months or more, when I click to search by DuckDuckGoOnion on first starting Tor Browser or a New Identity, I usually receive "400 Bad Request nginx". When I click a second time, it always goes through ok from that point forward until I reopen Tor Browser or make a New Identity. When the error shows up, it's always on the first try of the session. DuckDuckGo knows about it but hasn't said anything. Why is it only on the first attempt? Does it indicate eavesdropping? You might not want to display my comment, then.

We don't know yet why this is happening but have https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/29119 for further investigation. Please help!

Yes, there is absolutely nothing in logs. So, gk, give him/her a debug build ;)

I get that and I still get it every time.All DW requests are nginx and 400.I've tried many times.WTF is Cloudflare?I used to be able to work around it but not anymore?

HTTPSE is spamming the console when you hover over its icon:

Warning: no handler for message Object { tabId: 2, __meta: Object, _messageName: "broadcastSettings" } in context moz-extension://uuid/ui/options.html Messages.js:34:5
Error: No handler registered for message "broadcastSettings" in context moz-extension://uuid/ui/options.html Messages.js
Warning: no handler for message Object { policy: Object, xssUserChoices: undefined, unrestrictedTab: undefined, local: undefined, sync: undefined, reloadAffected: undefined, tabId: 2, __meta: Object, _messageName: "updateSettings" } in context moz-extension://uuid/ui/options.html Messages.js:34:5
Error: No handler registered for message "updateSettings" in context moz-extension://uuid/ui/options.html Messages.js
Promise rejected after context unloaded: sender.tab is undefined
Messages.js:68
Promise rejected after context unloaded: Message manager disconnected
Messages.js:68

Sounds like good things to check with the HTTPS-Everywhere developers. See: https://github.com/EFForg/https-everywhere for filing issues. Please link to it/them here in case you've filed one/some. Thanks!

Firefox is not so compatible with Remote Desktop as it states. Therefore, with the latest Windows 10 host and
WebGL 1 Driver Renderer Google Inc. -- ANGLE (Microsoft Basic Render Driver Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0)
it has an issue that may affect fingerprinting:
06:04:33.674 Error: WebGL warning: Disallowing antialiased backbuffers due to blacklisting. 1 webgl.js:159:17

Hah, not only fingerprinting... https://demo.marpi.pl/biomes/ doesnt' work at all:
Error: WebGL warning: Disallowing antialiased backbuffers due to blacklisting. echarts-gl.min.js:1:173816
Error: WebGL warning: texImage2D: Invalid unpack format/type: 0x1908/0x1406 echarts-gl.min.js:1:44545
Error: WebGL warning: texImage2D: Invalid unpack format/type: 0x1902/0x1405 echarts-gl.min.js:1:44545
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer not complete. (status: 0x8cd6) COLOR_ATTACHMENT0's image is not defined echarts-gl.min.js:1:395878
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer must be complete. echarts-gl.min.js:1:395878
Error: WebGL warning: texImage2D: Alpha-premult and y-flip are deprecated for non-DOM-Element uploads. echarts-gl.min.js:1:44545
Error: WebGL warning: texImage2D: Invalid unpack format/type: 0x1908/0x1406 echarts-gl.min.js:1:44545
Error: WebGL warning: texImage2D: Invalid unpack format/type: 0x1902/0x1405 echarts-gl.min.js:1:44545
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer not complete. (status: 0x8cd6) COLOR_ATTACHMENT0's image is not defined echarts-gl.min.js:1:111563
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer must be complete. echarts-gl.min.js:1:111563
Error: WARNING: 0:1: 'GL_OES_standard_derivatives' : extension is not supported
WARNING: 0:2: 'GL_EXT_shader_texture_lod' : extension is not supported
ERROR: 0:31: 'GL_OES_standard_derivatives' : extension is not supported

1: #extension GL_OES_standard_derivatives : enable
2: #extension GL_EXT_shader_texture_lod : enable
3: precision highp float;
4: precision highp int;
5: precision highp sampler2D;
6: #define DIRECTIONAL_LIGHT_COUNT 1
7: #define AMBIENT_LIGHT_COUNT 1
8: #define AMBIENT_SH_LIGHT_COUNT 1
9: #define AMBIENT_CUBEMAP_LIGHT_COUNT 1
10: #define DIFFUSEMAP_ENABLED
11: #define ALPHA_TEST_THRESHOLD 0.5
12: #define SRGB_DECODE
13: varying vec2 v_Texcoord;
14: uniform sampler2D diffuseMap ;
15:
16: uniform vec3 color ;
17:
18: uniform vec3 emission ;
19:
20: uniform float alpha ;
21:
22:
23: uniform float lineWidth ;
24:
25: uniform vec3 lineColor ;
26:
27: varying vec3 v_Barycentric;
28:
29: float edgeFactor(float width)
30: {
31: vec3 d = fwidth(v_Barycentric);
32: v echarts-gl.min.js:1:179544
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer not complete. (status: 0x8cd6) COLOR_ATTACHMENT0's image is not defined echarts-gl.min.js:1:375984
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer must be complete. echarts-gl.min.js:1:375984
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer not complete. (status: 0x8cd6) COLOR_ATTACHMENT0's image is not defined echarts-gl.min.js:1:395878
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer must be complete. echarts-gl.min.js:1:395878
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer not complete. (status: 0x8cd6) COLOR_ATTACHMENT0's image is not defined echarts-gl.min.js:1:111563
Error: WebGL warning: clear: Framebuffer must be complete. echarts-gl.min.js:1:111563
TypeError: Argument 1 of WebGLRenderingContext.getAttribLocation is not an object. echarts-gl.min.js:1:57060

Yes, WebGL is not running by default anymore, we put it behind a placeholder: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/21805. But it seems some websites, like the one you visited block it outright, though. I've filed https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/29246 for further investigation.

Hah, that log is from enabled WebGL.

What are your steps to enable it and to produce that result?

Click the NoScript icon and select Custom for that site, and enable everything in it.

And where is my answer to your question? That you can enable it in NoScript settings.

Thanks. I looked closer and updated #29246 with my findings. In short, that error is expected right now as we have WebGL extensions disabled at the moment due to unsolved fingerprinting concerns. We have https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/15825, though, to fix that.

bn-BD is TOFU on Windows 10, but is readable on Windows 7!

Thanks! I filed https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/29257.

Also bn, hi, kn, mr, pa, si-LK, ta.

How did you test that given that we don't ship bn-BD bundles yet?

:) Sekrit ;) (https://gitweb.torproject.org/user/gk/torbutton.git/tree/src/chrome/loc…)

[01-31 08:28:51] Torbutton INFO: Component Load 0: New ExternalAppBlocker.
http channel Listener OnDataAvailable contract violation

pdf is broken?
Attempting to post a message to window with url "resource://pdf.js/web/viewer.html" and origin "resource://pdf.js^privateBrowsingId=1&firstPartyDomain=color.org" from a system principal scope with mismatched origin "[System Principal]".

Therefore, FPI is broken too:
[01-31 08:38:10] Torbutton INFO: New domain isolation for --unknown--: 01230d6736babaeb1a0c0131cad452e1
[01-31 08:38:10] Torbutton INFO: tor SOCKS: http://www.color.org/version4pdf.pdf via
--unknown--:01230d6736babaeb1a0c0131cad452e1

What are your steps to reproduce for getting that result?

Oh, that was with pdfjs.disableRange;true

07:12:06.361 TypeError: event.originalTarget.getAttribute is not a function 1 tabbrowser.xml:1977:13
onxblmouseout chrome://browser/content/tabbrowser.xml:1977:13

Bug 29158: Install updated apt packages (CVE-2019-3462)

Why is that listed if it's not fixed?

Because the patch got committed and made it into the release.

Bug 29081: Harden libwinpthread

Security is not one of your strong points :(

That 'Liberia' exit node becomes annoying with its 'Secure Connection Failed' jokes for e.g. this blog.

Often, directly after my Tor browser has done an auto-upgrade, every time I start it I get a 'please wait while Tor Browser installs the updates' message. The only way I can stop it happening is to download Tor manually and install it manually, then it's fine.

Might this be my computer? Or does it happen with other users?

That's normal as Tor Browser is not applying the update in the background anymore and has it then ready if you restart. Now, it will apply the update after you restart, hence the dialog to inform you what is going on.

Bug 27503: Compile with accessibility support

https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/27503#comment:2

Yes, that is https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/26505. I am not sure yet we should make it hard for folks who need accessibility tools to make it hard(er) to use Tor Browser given that we operate under the assumption that your local machine needs to be trusted anyway for Tor Browser to work properly.