New Release: Tor Browser 9.0a5

by boklm | August 1, 2019

Tor Browser 9.0a5 is now available for Android from our distribution directory and Google Play. This version is for Android only, the latest alpha version for Linux, macOS and Windows is still 9.0a4.

Note: this is an alpha release, an experimental version for users who want to help us test new features. For everyone else, we recommend downloading the latest stable release instead.

Starting August 1, 2019, Google Play requires that applications support 64-bit architectures. With this alpha release we are testing a fix on our aarch64 build in order to be able to fulfil this requirement.

The full changelog since Tor Browser 9.0a4 is:

  • Android
    • Bug 31260: Backport bug 1477259 for aarch64 support on Google Play

Comments

Please note that the comment area below has been archived.

anon (not verified) said:

August 02, 2019

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In alpha versions 9.a03 - 9.a05 there is a problem posing a threat!
Description of the problem:
I am going through authorization, logging in to the account, I am on the site, closing the page past the "exit" button; After closing the page, I clear the browser cache. I go back to the site, the following happens: I see that I am logging in to my account without authorization. This means that the browser cache is not completely cleared, which can in some cases pose a serious threat.

How exactly are you "clearing the browser cache"? You should be changing the Security Level shield and starting a New Identity from the onion icon or closing the browser. Did you logout of the site before you closed the tab, or were you logged in when you closed it? Are you opening the site from a bookmark that saved your login settings in the URL?

The description of the problem relates to Tor Browser for the Android operating system!
Present or not, this problem in Tor Browser for other operating systems is unknown to me.

Detailed description of the problem:

I perform all actions in one browser window!

1) I launch Tor Browser
2) on the main page about: tor in the window "address input field" I register the site address
3) click as usual
4) the site page opens
5) enter login and password
6) click
7) the page reloads, authorization occurs
8) I make any necessary actions on the site under my login
9) after completing the actions I close the browser window
10) automatically opens a new browser window about: tor
11) enter the browser settings menu, click: "clear private data"
12) the browser reports: "personal data deleted"
13) close the browser menu
14) in the about: tor window that opens, in the address input field I re-register the site address
15) click
16) the site page loads and opens
17) I see on the opening main page of the site that I am logged in and am online!
18) I click for example: on the link to enter your personal account, and freely enter without entering a username and password! And I can perform any action without authorization.

In alpha versions 9.0a3 - 9.0a4 - 9.0a5 where the page immediately opens and works in private mode, this bug occurs on all sites with any protocol. It helps to avoid this only by exiting the browser completely and closing the tor process.
After a new browser launch and tor launch, this is not observed.

IN ALL STABLE VERSIONS OF Tor Browser IN PRIVATE MODE A LIKE SITUATION occurs.
THEREFORE I DON'T USE NEVER PRIVATE MODE IN Tor Browser.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
A SIMILAR SITUATION IS OBSERVED IN ALL VERSIONS OF THE FIREFOX BROWSER.

> 9) after completing the actions I close the browser window

Logout from the site before you close the window.

> 10) automatically opens a new browser window about: tor

A new window should never open automatically. How many windows did you open in that session? Tor Browser doesn't close if you don't close all TB windows. Did you intend to say "tabs"?

> 17) I see on the opening main page of the site that I am logged in and am online!

Is the site yours? Is the site misconfigured and not logging out users correctly? Does it use HTTPS or plain HTTP?

> In alpha versions 9.0a3 - 9.0a4 - 9.0a5 where the page immediately opens and works in private mode, this bug occurs on all sites with any protocol.

No page should immediately open except about:tor when you first open the browser. If other users reading this have confirmed this user's bug, please reply.

> It helps to avoid this only by exiting the browser completely and closing the tor process. After a new browser launch and tor launch, this is not observed.

Good. That's what you're supposed to do. Either that or click "New Identity". If you disabled private browsing mode or customized Preferences or about:config, then you're responsible to understand what the effects are. Most of those preferences are documented by Mozilla Firefox. That might be why nobody else here has confirmed your bug yet.

Sounds to me like you still had cookies. Clearing the cache* doesn't clear the cookies, and cookies are how sites usually keep track of your authentication. Generally, though, logging out removes that authentication, so you should either do that or clear cookies; doing both is not a bad idea, either, and neither is changing circuits, or even just getting a New Identity. But a cookie is likely the reason you saw this behavior.

* Cache is just copies of data stored to improve performance; clearing it is sometimes helpful to get rid of stale copies of pages that are causing you to not see current information.

Samsung S8+ User (not verified) said:

August 02, 2019

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After this update my tor browser app stopped working. I open it then hit connect and then it crashes.

I've had this exact same thing. Running android 9 based MIUI 10.3.6 stable. When looking around if other people have a similar problem there's quite a few mentions of similar seconds-after-startup-crashes in the Play store reviews for the current update...

Google translated:
"How can I use Tor's translation function?"

My answer:
Tor does not have a translation function. I guess you could try Google Translate for basic purposes. On the Tor Project homepage, there is a language menu at the top of the page.

Tor没有翻译功能。 我想你可以尝试谷歌翻译用于基本目的。 在Tor项目主页上，页面顶部有一个语言菜单。
https://www.torproject.org/zh-CN/
https://support.torproject.org/zh-CN/tbb/tbb-37/
https://translate.google.com/

YY (not verified) said:

August 03, 2019

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Hi!
I have just installed the Alpha version for Android.
The first thing which appears to be inconvenient is a font. All websites in times new Roman I guess.
Is there any possibility to change the font?

damian doherty (not verified) said:

August 04, 2019

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Mines not working either and cant retrieve bookmarks I'm on android samsung s9 note any one how I can get my bookmarks out of tor alpha and in to the normal tor browser .

Anonymous (not verified) said:

August 04, 2019

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Idem for my phone after update the browser crash and auto close but orbit remain active in background (huawei mya-L11)

I can not get … (not verified) said:

August 04, 2019

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Every time I click on the Tor Browser icon I get an pop up window that tells me Tor unexpected exited. Says it may be due to a Tor bug or a program on my computer. I click the log to copy it to my computer and it says there is no log file. I am wondering how I can determine what program of mine if it is a program of mine that is causing trouble and what I can do to get the browser to start.

Ronnie (not verified) said:

August 06, 2019

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I cannot download thru free.fr. I know there is a setting to change 2 to 1 or vise versa. I just
cannot find the setting.

Алексей (not verified) said:

August 06, 2019

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После обновления до последней версии открываешь тор и он через сикунду вылитает. HUAWEI Mate 20 lite

mlak347 (not verified) said:

August 07, 2019

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Great work!! but maybe someone can post the exact apps required for each individual device for full anoninimity as well as there exact configuration to startup. This most likely will save people screwing it up and allow the saints to infiltrate. Updated blogs for problems that arise built into tor browser would be cool too.

John (not verified) said:

August 11, 2019

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Is there a bug tracked yet for the bug where this crashed on startup in Android? If not, I will create an account and make one.

S9 user (not verified) said:

August 12, 2019

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The latest Alpha version Just keeps on crashing on S9 Android pie. It worked fine in previous release.

Because translation services send the address or text of the page you're visiting to a third party. Allowing a third party to log your browsing history is antithetical to privacy. You can if you want to, but it will be at your own risk.

Because Twitter is blocking signups coming from Tor exit nodes. Ask Twitter or look for alternatives.

AnIdea (not verified) said:

August 14, 2019

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A recent post in Tor blog mentioned that FF is considering to incorporate TB into FF.

LibreOffice has announced that they plan to incorporate document redaction (mat2? pdf-redact-tools?) into their next version.

Would it be absurd for Tor Project to reach out to Libre Office to brainstorm ways in which various Tor provided things, such as OnionShare, could perhaps be made more visible and easy to use by incorporation in LO?

configured to … (not verified) said:

August 14, 2019

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Your connection is not secure

The owner of www.cdtfa.ca.gov has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Tor Browser has not connected to this website.

osger (not verified) said:

August 18, 2019

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Hola buenas tardes, en esto soy muy nuevo, lo que me sucede es que cuando abro el tor me conecta muy bien pero no sale de la pagina de donación, pero ya he donado, alguien me puede echapr un cable y decir.e si es fallo mio o del navegador?
Muchas Gracias por vuestfo tiempo

Google translated:
"Hello good afternoon, in this I am very new, what happens to me is that when I open tor it connects me very well but it does not leave the donation page, but I have already donated, someone can throw me a cable and tell me if it is fault mine or browser? Thank you very much for your time"

My reply:
What is the address of the page? Are you speaking of the address, about:tor? That is not a donation page. It is the browser's default home page. Open a new browser tab, and type about:tor. That page is not loaded from the Internet but from your local drive.

¿Cuál es la dirección de la página? ¿Estás hablando de la dirección, about:tor? Esa no es una página de donación. Es la página de inicio predeterminada del navegador. Abra una nueva pestaña del navegador y escriba about:tor. Esa página no se carga desde Internet sino desde su disco local.

Peter I. Martín (not verified) said:

August 20, 2019

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Porque no aparecen en español las cuestiones del buscador cuando ya he cambiado el idioma en configuración?

Google translated:
"Why don't search engine issues appear in Spanish when I have already changed the language in settings?"

My reply:
Websites see the IP address of the exit node of your Tor circuit. Some websites detect the geolocation of that IP address and display the language of that country. Changing the preferences for language in the browser's main preferences decreases your anonymity. It is safer to change language options provided by a webpage.

Los sitios web ven la dirección IP del nodo de salida de su circuito Tor. Algunos sitios web detectan la geolocalización de esa dirección IP y muestran el idioma de ese país. Cambiar las preferencias de idioma en las preferencias principales del navegador disminuye su anonimato. Es más seguro cambiar las opciones de idioma proporcionadas por una página web.

Anonymous (not verified) said:

August 26, 2019

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Why do I read that it is advisable to disable Java? I disabled it, some sites, including captchas wouldn't work. I enabled it and I get this icon at bottom of menu when right clicking, an S with a line through it and NoScirpt.

That isn't Java; it's JavaScript. The safest way to disable JavaScript is to change your security level. The S with a red line through it is the icon for opening the options of NoScript, a browser add-on that comes in the Tor Browser Bundle.

Anonymous (not verified) said:

August 29, 2019

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Does any bridges in beta version works in China? Meek is working sometime however in very bad speed.

Stephane (not verified) said:

September 04, 2019

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Depuis la mise a jour du 3 09 19 , tor se crache a chaque démarage
Cela retourne au départ a chaque tentative d'ouverture
Pourquoi ? Et quoi faire ?

Google translated:
"Since the update of 3/09/19, tor is spitting at each startup. It goes back to the beginning each time you try to open. Why? And what to do?"

My reply:
What is your OS? Many Android users are reporting crashes. Developers are working on it.

Quel est votre système d'exploitation? De nombreux utilisateurs d'Android signalent des pannes. Les développeurs y travaillent.

Navy (not verified) said:

November 14, 2019

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Tor is crashing in tails. Sometimes it takes a minute but other times it's almost instantaneous. Tails 4.0 works fine... roam around, open programs... open tor... blame, keyboard shuts off, mouse unresponsive. Unusable.