[tbb-bugs] #17367 [Tor Browser]: Swap files can contain evidence of browsing history

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#17367: Swap files can contain evidence of browsing history
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 Reporter:  arthuredelstein  |          Owner:  tbb-team
     Type:  defect           |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium           |      Milestone:
Component:  Tor Browser      |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal           |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  tbb-disk-leak    |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:  #17208           |         Points:
  Sponsor:                   |
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Comment (by yawning):

 > Is there a reason this would be any worse than just running without a
 swap partition (as Tails does)?

 Doing so requires increasing the locked page limit for the user
 (`/etc/security/limits.conf`), which in turn requires elevated (root)
 privileges among other things.  Unilaterally disabling paging for a
 gigantic process is sort of a crappy thing to do when there are people
 with correct setups as well...

 > I'm not sure about most Linux distributions/Windows/OS X.

 I'd hope that Linux distributions opt for that behavior, since it's easy
 and the right thing to do. I *think* Windows randomizes the key.  Don't
 know about Darwin.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/17367#comment:5>
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