1

Tor connects to private obfs4 bridge, but torbrowser fails

I setup a private bridge (Tor 0.2.8.4) and tested it with Tor Browser (6.0.2) successfully.

When I enabled obsf4 (0.0.3) in the bridge, Tor Browser (both 6.0.2 and 6.5a1) fails connecting with a "general SOCKS server failure":

...
13/07/2016 15:07:46.200 [NOTICE] DisableNetwork is set. Tor will not make or accept non-control network connections. Shutting down all existing connections. 
13/07/2016 15:07:46.200 [NOTICE] Opening Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9150 
13/07/2016 15:07:47.500 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 5%: Connecting to directory server 
13/07/2016 15:07:47.500 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 10%: Finishing handshake with directory server 
13/07/2016 15:07:47.500 [WARN] Proxy Client: unable to connect to x.x.x.x:443 ("general SOCKS server failure") 
13/07/2016 15:07:54.800 [NOTICE] Closing no-longer-configured Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9150 
13/07/2016 15:07:54.800 [NOTICE] DisableNetwork is set. Tor will not make or accept non-control network connections. Shutting down all existing connections. 
13/07/2016 15:07:54.800 [NOTICE] Closing old Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9150

However, Tor connects well to the bridge via command line:

~# tor usebridges 1 bridge "obfs4 x.x.x.x:443 BRIDGEFINGERPRINT"
Jul 13 12:15:30.697 [notice] Tor v0.2.7.6 (git-605ae665009853bd) running on Linux with Libevent 2.0.21-stable, OpenSSL 1.0.2h and Zlib 1.2.8.
...
Jul 13 12:15:32.000 [notice] Bootstrapped 20%: Asking for networkstatus consensus
Jul 13 12:15:32.000 [notice] new bridge descriptor 'name' (fresh): $BRIDGEFINGERPRINT~name at x.x.x.x
...
Jul 13 12:15:34.000 [notice] Bootstrapped 100%: Done
Jul 13 13:15:33.000 [notice] new bridge descriptor 'name' (fresh): $BRIDGEFINGERPRINT~name at x.x.x.x
Jul 13 14:15:34.000 [notice] new bridge descriptor 'name' (fresh): $BRIDGEFINGERPRINT~name at x.x.x.x

Moreover, when I configure torbrowser to connect to obfs4 bridges configured automatically, it works.

This is my bridge torrc:

ORPort 443
Address x.x.x.x
Nickname name
BridgeRelay 1
PublishServerDescriptor 0
SocksPort 0
ServerTransportPlugin obfs4 exec /usr/bin/obfs4proxy managed
ExtORPort auto

I followed the official documentation in setting up the bridge. update: The official obfs4proxy setup doc has moved to the wiki

Improve this question
1
  • Please delete obfs2 in the ServerTransportPlugin above. obfs4proxy does not support it and it may be the root of your problem.
    – Jens Kubieziel ♦
    Jul 14, 2016 at 20:41

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

You can edit your ClientTransportPlugin or ServerTransportPlugin for obfs4proxy to include a -logLevel followed by one of ERROR,WARN,INFO, or DEBUG, an -enableLogging=true flag to enable logging, and a further -unsafeLogging=true flag which removed the address scrubbing. For example:

ClientTransportPlugin obfs3,obfs4,scramblesuit exec /usr/local/bin/obfs4proxy -enableLogging=true -logLevel INFO managed
Bridge obfs4 IP:Port Fingerprint Cert
UseBridges 1

This will log to a file located at $TOR_PT_STATE_LOCATION/obfs4proxy.log, which by default would be pt_state/obfs4proxy.log under your DataDirectory.

See: obfs4proxy/main.go:315

Improve this answer
5
  • In the client, what file should I edit? Adding theClientTransportPlugin options at the end of the obfs4 line in tor-browser_en-US/Browser/TorBrowser/Data/Tor/torrc-defaults makes Tor Browser crash (graciously). Same editing tor-browser_en-US/Browser/TorBrowser/Data/Tor/torrc
    – blau
    Jul 14, 2016 at 7:26
  • Added an example config that works for me, you should be editing the torrc-default existing ClientTransportPlugin line such that those options get added to the arguments passed to obfs4proxy
    – cacahuatl
    Jul 14, 2016 at 19:53
  • @canonizingironize I deleted the obfs2 entry in your posting. obfs4proxy does not support it and it's also not safe to use.
    – Jens Kubieziel ♦
    Jul 14, 2016 at 20:40
  • ACK, Jens. That line is copied verbatim (except for the path to obfs4proxy) from the Tor Browser torrc-defaults, would it be worth making a ticket to remove it from Tor Browser too if it's not safe?
    – cacahuatl
    Jul 14, 2016 at 22:09
  • Thank you C.I. and Jens. Logging obfs4proxy on Tor Browser showed that the connection was reset by the server. Logging on the server I found out my error: the PORT in the bridge line that you use with the client is the obfs4 port and not the Tor node port. BTW, -logLevel DEBUG blocks obfs4proxy from starting. I also corrected the docs link in my original question, as it was moved. Thanks!
    – blau
    Jul 15, 2016 at 9:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .