Tor not working just after clean install

[btlechowski]

Steps to Reproduce

1. Clean install (make sure that profile does not exists)
2. Immediately after Brave is launched open https://check.torproject.org/ in Tor Window

Actual result:

Tor is not used
Tor will not be used till browser restart.
Tor process is not running.

Expected result:

Tor is used

Reproduces how often:

90% of the time

Brave version (brave://version info)

Reproduced on the latest builds for all channels.

Brave	0.58.21 Chromium: 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Revision	15234034d19b85dcd9a03b164ae89d04145d8368-refs/branch-heads/3578@{#897}
OS	Windows 7

Brave	0.59.28 Chromium: 72.0.3626.64 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
Revision	eaa9668e80ce5405e7f1902579558ea725c06ca1-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#708}
OS	Windows 7

Brave	0.60.16 Chromium: 72.0.3626.64 (Official Build) dev (64-bit)
Revision	eaa9668e80ce5405e7f1902579558ea725c06ca1-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#708}
OS	Windows 7

cc @brave/legacy_qa @tomlowenthal @riastradh-brave

[LaurenWags]

haven't been able to reproduce on macOS yet using

Brave	0.59.28 Chromium: 72.0.3626.64 (Official Build) beta(64-bit)
Revision	eaa9668e80ce5405e7f1902579558ea725c06ca1-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#708}
OS	Mac OS X

[kjozwiak]

Same results as @LaurenWags. Tried reproducing it ~20 times on macOS without any luck. Used 0.59.28 Chromium: 72.0.3626.64.

[tildelowengrimm]

Sounds like a race condition?

[kjozwiak]

Sounds like a race condition?

Definitely seems like it. If you manage to type something in the URL before Tor gets initialized 👇, that particular Tor window will load everything without using Tor.

Jan 25 00:12:08.962 [notice] Tor 0.3.4.9 (git-4ac3ccf2863b86e7) running on Darwin with Libevent 2.1.8-stable, OpenSSL 1.0.2p, Zlib 1.2.11, Liblzma N/A, and Libzstd N/A.
Jan 25 00:12:08.963 [notice] Tor can't help you if you use it wrong! Learn how to be safe at https://www.torproject.org/download/download#warning
Jan 25 00:12:08.963 [notice] Configuration file "/nonexistent" not present, using reasonable defaults.
Jan 25 00:12:08.967 [notice] Scheduler type KISTLite has been enabled.
Jan 25 00:12:08.967 [notice] Opening Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9360
Jan 25 00:12:08.967 [notice] Opening Control listener on 127.0.0.1:0
Jan 25 00:12:08.967 [notice] Control listener listening on port 58071.

Here's an alternative STR that I found a bit easier to use and reproduce:

• launch brave with a new profile
• open New Private Window with Tor and quickly mash some keys and press Enter

This way, it will attempt a DDG search. If you manage to quickly mash some letters/keys in before Tor is initialized, the DDG search will be performed without using Tor. Now within the same window, open check.torproject.org and you'll see the exact same thing @btlechowski mentioned above.

Reproduced on the following platforms:

• Win 7 x64 VM - Reproduced
• Win 10 x64 VM - Reproduced
• Win 10 x64 (psychical machine) - Reproduced
• Mint 19.1 x64 VM - Reproduced
• macOS 10.14.2 x64 - Couldn't reproduce (but I think I'm not fast enough as Tor loads quickly)

Used the following build:

Brave	0.59.28 Chromium: 72.0.3626.64 (Official Build) beta(64-bit)
Revision	eaa9668e80ce5405e7f1902579558ea725c06ca1-refs/branch-heads/3626@{#708}

Looking at @btlechowski's findings, looks like this isn't a new regression and is currently reproducible under 0.58.21 Chromium: 71.0.3578.98.

@tomlowenthal I don't think this is a blocker but I would like to see what the security team thinks. Thanks!

[srirambv]

@kjozwiak I can reproduce this on Linux. This is an issue because the option available in hamburger menu. Until Tor binaries are downloaded the Tor Window options is not shown on profile icon which is correct. Because we have the option to launch a Tor window from hamburger menu it creates a Tor window without the binaries downloaded completely. Thats why even after Tor binaries are downloaded it doesn't work until browser is restarted. Ideal behaviour should be show Tor window option in hamburger menu only after Tor binaries are downloaded.

I used keyboard shortcuts to reproduce the issue as it works quicker than using the hamburger menu.

On Muon we had the progress indicator to stop users loading a site without Tor binaries being completely downloaded. So either bring back the progess indicator in URL or just hide the option until its downloaded. My vote would be to hide the option(everywhere hamburger/file menu/keyboard shortcuts) until binaries are downloaded fully

[tildelowengrimm]

Ideal behavior is to ship Tor binaries with the installer so you don't have to wait.

[riastradh-brave]

See #3349 for diagnosis of a related bug whose fix might fix this too.

Progress bar is blocked on #359.

[grand-lotus-iroh]

I had this similar issue on Windows Desktop and I was able to fix it by cut & pasting two folders from a previous User Data Brave install.

C:\Users\420VaypeNaysh\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data

• tor
• Tor Profile

Close / Quit Brave and just rename your existing folders before you cut / paste.

[btlechowski]

Verification passed on

Brave	0.61.39 Chromium: 73.0.3683.39 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
Revision	cc53b0e12fcaf42e4bab8d6c23bd4fb7aae99f6c-refs/branch-heads/3683@{#413}
OS	Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Build 7601.24312

This issue is partially fixed. It is no longer possible to open pages without Tor (Error page is shown).
But Tor is still not usable till browser restart. Logged: #3512

Verification passed on

Brave	0.61.41 Chromium: 73.0.3683.39 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
Revision	cc53b0e12fcaf42e4bab8d6c23bd4fb7aae99f6c-refs/branch-heads/3683@{#413}
OS	Linux mint

• Verified the STR mentioned in the description
• Encountered Tor not working till browser restart if page is opened just after clean install #3512

Verification PASSED on macOS 10.14.3 x64 using the following build:

Brave	0.61.45 Chromium: 73.0.3683.39 (Official Build) beta(64-bit)
Revision	cc53b0e12fcaf42e4bab8d6c23bd4fb7aae99f6c-refs/branch-heads/3683@{#413}
OS	Mac OS X

• went through the original STR outlined under Tor not working just after clean install #3058 (comment)
• went through the test plan outlined under Block URL requests in Tor windows if Tor is not set up right. brave-core#1679