[metrics-bugs] #23958 [Metrics/Onionoo]: Onionoo not fetching the bridge descriptor correctly?

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#23958: Onionoo not fetching the bridge descriptor correctly?
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 Reporter:  dgoulet          |          Owner:  metrics-team
     Type:  defect           |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Very High        |      Milestone:
Component:  Metrics/Onionoo  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal           |     Resolution:
 Keywords:                   |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                   |         Points:
 Reviewer:                   |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by dcf):

 I'm pretty sure that this is the case for all the Tor Browser default
 bridges, and it's because we ask the bridge operators to block their
 ORPort from outside access. This is to prevent reachability tests from
 succeeding, and so keep the default bridges out of BridgeDB.

 For the default bridges, having them in BridgeDB does nothing but make
 them more discoverable to a censor: in addition to being scraped from the
 source code, they can also be harvested through BridgeDB, or be detected
 on the wire when some user connects to them using vanilla Tor (easily
 fingerprintable) instead of obfs4.

 Blocking the ORPort is a workaround we have been applying for the default
 bridges for a long time, until #18329 is fixed. Also #7349 is related:
 most bridges can't hide their ORPort because they will be kept out of
 BridgeDB and be useless, but default bridges don't need BridgeDB so they
 can enhance their security by hiding their ORPort.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/23958#comment:9>
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