Tor specifications

These specifications describe how Tor works. They try to present Tor's protocols in sufficient detail to allow the reader to implement a compatible implementation of Tor without ever having to read the Tor source code.

They were once a separate set of text files, but in late 2023 we migrated to use mdbook. We're in the process of updating these documents to improve their quality.

This is a living document: we are always changing and improving them in order to make them easier and more accurate, and to improve the quality of the Tor protocols. They are maintained as a set of documents in a gitlab repository; you can use that repository to see their history.

Additionally, the proposals directory holds our design proposals. These include historical documents that have now been merged into the main specifications, and new proposals that are still under discussion. Of particular interrest are the FINISHED Tor proposals: They are the ones that have been implemented, but not yet merged into these documents.

Getting started

There's a lot of material here, and it's not always as well organized as we like. We have broken it into a few major sections.

For a table of contents, click on the menu icon to the top-left of your browser scene. You should probably start by reading the core tor protocol specification, which describes how our protocol works. After that, you should be able to jump around to the topics that interest you most. The introduction of each top-level chapter should provide an introduction.

A short introduction to Tor

Basic functionality

Tor is a distributed overlay network designed to anonymize low-latency TCP-based applications such as web browsing, secure shell, and instant messaging. The network is built of a number of servers, called relays (also called "onion routers" or "ORs" in some older documentation).

To connect to the network, a client needs to download an up-to-date signed directory of the relays on the network. These directory documents are generated and signed by a set of semi-trusted directory authority servers, and are cached by the relays themselves. (If a client does not yet have a directory, it finds a cache by looking at a list of stable cache locations, distributed along with its source code.)

For more information on the directory subsystem, see the directory protocol specification.

After the client knows the relays on the network, it can pick a relay and open a channel to one of these relays. A channel is an encrypted reliable non-anonymous transport between a client and a relay or a relay and a relay, used to transmit messages called cells. (Under the hood, a channel is just a TLS connection over TCP, with a specified encoding for cells.)

To anonymize its traffic, a client chooses a path—a sequence of relays on the network— and opens a channel to the first relay on the path (if it does not already have a channel open to that relay). The client then uses that channel to build a multi-hop cryptographic structure called a circuit. A circuit is built over a sequence of relays (typically three). Every relay in the circuit knows its precessor and successor, but no other relays in the circuit. Many circuits can be multiplexed over a single channel.

For more information on how paths are selected, see the path specification. The first hop on a path, also called a guard node, has complicated rules for its selection; for more on those, see the guard specification.

Once a circuit exists, the client can use it to exchange fixed-length relay cells with any relay on the circuit. These relay cells are wrapped in multiple layers of encryption: as part of building the circuit, the client negotiates a separate set of symmetric keys with each relay on the circuit. Each relay removes (or adds) a single layer of encryption for each relay cell before passing it on.

A client uses these relay cells to exchange relay messages with relays on a circuit. These "relay messages" in turn are used to actually deliver traffic over the network. In the simplest use case, the client sends a BEGIN message to tell the last relay on the circuit (called the exit node) to create a new session, or stream, and associate that stream with a new TCP connection to a target host. The exit node replies with a CONNECTED message to say that the TCP connection has succeeded. Then the client and the exit exchange DATA messages to represent the contents of the anonymized stream.

Note that as of 2023, the specifications do not perfectly distinguish between relay cells and relay messages. This is because, until recently, there was a 1-to-1 relationship between the two: every relay cell held a single relay message. As proposal 340 is implemented, we will revise the specifications for improved clarify on this point.

Other kinds of relay messages can be used for more advanced functionality.

Using a system called conflux a client can build multiple circuits to the same exit node, and associate those circuits within a conflux set. Once this is done, relay messages can be sent over either circuit in the set, depending on capacity and performance.

For more on conflux, which has been integrated into the C tor implementation, but not yet (as of 2023) into this document, see proposal 329.

Advanced topics: Onion services and responder anonymity

In addition to initiating anonymous communications, clients can also arrange to receive communications without revealing their identity or location. This is called responder anonymity, and the mechanism Tor uses to achieve it is called onion services (or "hidden services" or "rendezvous services" in some older documentation).

For the details on onion services, see the Tor Rendezvous Specification.

Advanced topics: Censorship resistence

In some places, Tor is censored. Typically, censors do this by blocking connections to the addresses of the known Tor relays, and by blocking traffic that resembles Tor.

To resist this censorship, some Tor relays, called bridges, are unlisted in the public directory: their addresses are distributed by other means. (To distinguish ordinary published relays from bridges, we sometimes call them public relays.)

Additionally, Tor clients and bridges can use extension programs, called pluggable transports, that obfuscate their traffic to make it harder to detect.

Notation and conventions

These conventions apply, at least in theory, to all of the specification documents unless stated otherwise.

Remember, our specification documents were once a collection of separate text files, written separately and edited over the course of years.

While we are trying (as of 2023) to edit them into consistency, you should be aware that these conventions are not now followed uniformly everywhere.

MUST, SHOULD, and so on

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

Data lengths

Unless otherwise stated, all lengths are given as a number of 8-bit bytes.

All bytes are 8 bits long. We sometimes call them "octets"; the terms as used here are interchangeable.

When referring to longer lengths, we use SI binary prefixes (as in "kibibytes", "mebibytes", and so on) to refer unambiguously to increments of 1024^X bytes.

If you encounter a reference to "kilobytes", "megabytes", or so on, you cannot safely infer whether the author intended a decimal (1000^N) or binary (1024^N) interpretation. In these cases, it is better to revise the specifications.

Integer encoding

Unless otherwise stated, all multi-byte integers are encoded in big-endian ("network") order.

For example, 4660 (0x1234), when encoded as a two-byte integer, is the byte 0x12 followed by the byte 0x34. ([12 34])

When encoded as a four-byte integer, it is the byte 0x00, the byte 0x00, the byte 0x12, and the byte 0x34. ([00 00 12 34]).

Binary-as-text encodings

When we refer to "base64", "base32", or "base16", we mean the encodings described in RFC 4648, with the following notes:

• In base32, we never insert linefeeds in base32, and we omit trailing = padding characters.
• In base64, we sometimes omit trailing = padding characters, and we do not insert linefeeds unless explicitly noted.
• We do not insert any other whitespace, except as specifically noted.

Base 16 and base 32 are case-insensitive. Unless otherwise stated, implementations should accept any cases, and should produce a single uniform case.

We sometimes refer to base16 as "hex" or "hexadecimal".

Note that as of 2023, in some places, the specs are not always explicit about:

• which base64 strings are multiline
• which base32 strings and base16 strings should be generated in what case.

This is something we should correct.

Notation

Operations on byte strings

• A | B represents the concatenation of two binary strings A and B.

Binary literals

When we write a series of one-byte hexadecimal literals in square brackets, it represents a multi-byte binary string.

For example, [6f 6e 69 6f 6e 20 72 6f 75 74 69 6e 67] is a 13-byte sequence representing the unterminated ASCII string, onion routing.

Tor Protocol Specification

Note: This document aims to specify Tor as currently implemented, though it may take it a little time to become fully up to date. Future versions of Tor may implement improved protocols, and compatibility is not guaranteed. We may or may not remove compatibility notes for other obsolete versions of Tor as they become obsolete.

This specification is not a design document; most design criteria are not examined. For more information on why Tor acts as it does, see tor-design.pdf.

Preliminaries

Notation and encoding

   KP -- a public key for an asymmetric cipher.
   KS -- a private key for an asymmetric cipher.
   K  -- a key for a symmetric cipher.
   N  -- a "nonce", a random value, usually deterministically chosen
         from other inputs using hashing.

H(m) -- a cryptographic hash of m.

Security parameters

Tor uses a stream cipher, a public-key cipher, the Diffie-Hellman protocol, and a hash function.

KEY_LEN -- the length of the stream cipher's key, in bytes.

   KP_ENC_LEN -- the length of a public-key encrypted message, in bytes.
   KP_PAD_LEN -- the number of bytes added in padding for public-key
     encryption, in bytes. (The largest number of bytes that can be encrypted
     in a single public-key operation is therefore KP_ENC_LEN-KP_PAD_LEN.)

   DH_LEN -- the number of bytes used to represent a member of the
     Diffie-Hellman group.
   DH_SEC_LEN -- the number of bytes used in a Diffie-Hellman private key (x).

   HASH_LEN -- the length of the hash function's output, in bytes.

Message lengths

Some message lengths are fixed in the Tor protocol. We give them here. Some of these message lengths depend on the version of the Tor link protocol in use: for these, the link protocol is denoted in this table with v.

Note that for all v, CELL_LEN(v) = 1 + CIRCID_LEN(v) + CELL_BODY_LEN.

Formerly CELL_BODY_LEN was called sometimes called PAYLOAD_LEN.

Ciphers

These are the ciphers we use unless otherwise specified. Several of them are deprecated for new use.

For a stream cipher, unless otherwise specified, we use 128-bit AES in counter mode, with an IV of all 0 bytes. (We also require AES256.)

For a public-key cipher, unless otherwise specified, we use RSA with 1024-bit keys and a fixed exponent of 65537. We use OAEP-MGF1 padding, with SHA-1 as its digest function. We leave the optional "Label" parameter unset. (For OAEP padding, see ftp://ftp.rsasecurity.com/pub/pkcs/pkcs-1/pkcs-1v2-1.pdf)

We also use the Curve25519 group and the Ed25519 signature format in several places.

For Diffie-Hellman, unless otherwise specified, we use a generator (g) of 2. For the modulus (p), we use the 1024-bit safe prime from rfc2409 section 6.2 whose hex representation is:

     "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFC90FDAA22168C234C4C6628B80DC1CD129024E08"
     "8A67CC74020BBEA63B139B22514A08798E3404DDEF9519B3CD3A431B"
     "302B0A6DF25F14374FE1356D6D51C245E485B576625E7EC6F44C42E9"
     "A637ED6B0BFF5CB6F406B7EDEE386BFB5A899FA5AE9F24117C4B1FE6"
     "49286651ECE65381FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF"

As an optimization, implementations SHOULD choose DH private keys (x) of 320 bits. Implementations that do this MUST never use any DH key more than once. [May other implementations reuse their DH keys?? -RD] [Probably not. Conceivably, you could get away with changing DH keys once per second, but there are too many oddball attacks for me to be comfortable that this is safe. -NM]

For a hash function, unless otherwise specified, we use SHA-1.

KEY_LEN=16. DH_LEN=128; DH_SEC_LEN=40. KP_ENC_LEN=128; KP_PAD_LEN=42. HASH_LEN=20.

We also use SHA256 and SHA3-256 in some places.

When we refer to "the hash of a public key", unless otherwise specified, we mean the SHA-1 hash of the DER encoding of an ASN.1 RSA public key (as specified in PKCS.1).

A bad hybrid encryption algorithm, for legacy purposes

Some specifications will refer to the "legacy hybrid encryption" of a byte sequence M with a public key KP. It is computed as follows:

      1. If the length of M is no more than KP_ENC_LEN-KP_PAD_LEN,
         pad and encrypt M with KP.
      2. Otherwise, generate a KEY_LEN byte random key K.
         Let M1 = the first KP_ENC_LEN-KP_PAD_LEN-KEY_LEN bytes of M,
         and let M2 = the rest of M.
         Pad and encrypt K|M1 with KP.  Encrypt M2 with our stream cipher,
         using the key K.  Concatenate these encrypted values.

Note that this "hybrid encryption" approach does not prevent an attacker from adding or removing bytes to the end of M. It also allows attackers to modify the bytes not covered by the OAEP -- see Goldberg's PET2006 paper for details. Do not use it as the basis for new protocols! Also note that as used in Tor's protocols, case 1 never occurs.

Relay keys and identities

Every Tor relay has multiple public/private keypairs, with different lifetimes and purposes. We explain them here.

Each key here has an English name (like "Ed25519 identity key") and an unambiguous identifier (like KP_relayid_ed).

In an identifier, a KP_ prefix denotes a public key, and a KS_ prefix denotes the corresponding secret key.

For historical reasons or reasons of space, you will sometimes encounter multiple English names for the same key, or shortened versions of that name. The identifier for a key, however, should always be unique and unambiguous.

For security reasons, all keys MUST be distinct: the same key or keypair should never be used for separate roles within the Tor protocol suite, unless specifically stated. For example, a relay's identity key KP_relayid_ed MUST NOT also be used as its medium-term signing key KP_relaysign_ed.

Identity keys

An identity key is a long-lived key that uniquely identifies a relay. Two relays with the same set of identity keys are considered to be the same; any relay that changes its identity key is considered to have become a different relay.

An identity keypair's lifetime is the same as the lifetime of the relay.

Two identity keys are currently defined:

• KP_relayid_ed, KS_relayid_ed: An "ed25519 identity key", also sometimes called a "master identity key".

  This is an Ed25519 key. This key never expires. It is used for only one purpose: signing the KP_relaysign_ed key, which is used to sign other important keys and objects.

• KP_relayid_rsa, KS_relayid_rsa: A legacy "RSA identity key".

  This is an RSA key. It never expires. It is always 1024 bits long, and (as discussed above) its exponent must be 65537. It is used to sign directory documents and certificates.

Note that because the legacy RSA identity key is so short, it should not be assumed secure against an attacker. It exists for legacy purposes only. When authenticating a relay, a failure to prove an expected RSA identity is sufficient evidence of a failure to authenticate, but a successful proof of an RSA identity is not sufficient to establish a relay's identity. Parties SHOULD NOT use the RSA identity on its own.

We write KP_relayid to refer to a key which is either KP_relayid_rsa or KP_relayid_ed.

Online signing keys

Since Tor's design tries to support keeping the high-value Ed25519 relay identity key offline, we need a corresponding key that can be used for online signing:

• KP_relaysign_ed, KS_relaysign_ed: A medium-term Ed25519 "signing" key. This key is signed by the identity key KP_relayid_ed, and must be kept online. A new one should be generated periodically. It signs nearly everything else, including directory objects, and certificates for other keys.

When this key is generated, it needs to be signed with the KP_relayid_ed key, producing a certificate of type IDENTITY_V_SIGNING. The KP_relayid_ed key is not used for anything else.

Circuit extension keys

Each relay has one or more circuit extension keys (also called "onion keys"). When creating or extending a circuit, a client uses this key to perform a one-way authenticated key exchange with the target relay. If the recipient does not have the correct private key, the handshake will fail.

Circuit extension keys have moderate lifetimes, on the order of weeks. They are published as part of the directory protocol, and relays SHOULD accept handshakes for a while after publishing any new key. (The exact durations for these are set via a set of network parameters.)

There are two current kinds of circuit extension keys:

• KP_ntor, KS_ntor: A curve25519 key used for the ntor and ntorv3 circuit extension handshakes.

• KP_onion_tap, KS_onion_tap: A 1024 bit RSA key used for the obsolete TAP circuit extension handshake.

Channel authentication

There are other keys that relays use to authenticate as part of their channel negotiation handshakes.

These keys are authenticated with other, longer lived keys. Relays MAY rotate them as often as they like, and SHOULD rotate them frequently—typically, at least once a day.

• KP_link_ed, KS_link_ed. A short-term Ed25519 "link authentication" key, used to authenticate the link handshake: see "Negotiating and initializing channels". This key is signed by the "signing" key, and should be regenerated frequently.

Legacy channel authentication

These key types were used in older versions of the channel negotiation handshakes.

• KP_legacy_linkauth_rsa, KS_legacy_linkauth_rsa: A 1024-bit RSA key, used to authenticate the link handshake. (No longer used in modern Tor.) It played a role similar to KP_link_ed.

As a convenience, to describe legacy versions of the link handshake, we give a name to the public key used for the TLS handshake itself:

• KP_legacy_conn_tls, KS_legacy_conn_tls: A short term key used to for TLS connections. (No longer used in modern Tor.) This was another name for the server's TLS key, which at the time was required to be an RSA key. It was used in some legacy handshake versions.

Channels

A channel is a direct encrypted connection between two Tor relays, or between a client and a relay.

Channels are implemented as TLS sessions over TCP.

Clients and relays may both open new channels; only a relay may be the recipient of a channel.

Historical note: in some older documentation, channels were sometimes called "connections". This proved to be confusing, and we are trying not to use the term.

As part of establishing a channel, the responding relay will always prove cryptographic ownership of one or more relay identities, using a handshake that combines TLS facilities and a series of Tor cells.

Parties should usually reuse an existing channel rather than opening new a channel to the same relay. There are exceptions here; we discuss them more below.

To open a channel, a client or relay must know the IP address and port of the target relay. (This is sometimes called the "OR address" or "OR port" for the relay.) In most cases, the participant will also know one or more expected identities for the target relay, and will reject the channel if the target relay cannot cryptographically prove ownership of those identities.

(When initiating a connection, if a reasonably live consensus is available, then the expected identity key is taken from that consensus. But when initiating a connection otherwise, the expected identity key is the one given in the hard-coded authority or fallback list. Finally, when creating a connection because of an EXTEND/EXTEND2 message, the expected identity key is the one given in the message.)

Opening a channel is multi-step process:

1. The initiator opens a new TLS session with certain properties, and the responding relay checks and enforces those properties.
2. Both parties exchange cells over this TLS session in order to establish their identity or identities.
3. Both parties verify that the identities that they received are the ones that they expected. (If any expected key is missing or not as expected, the party MUST close the connection.)

Once this is done, the channel is Open, and regular cells can be exchanged.

Channel lifetime

Channels are not permanent. Either side MAY close a channel if there are no circuits running on it and an amount of time (KeepalivePeriod, defaults to 5 minutes) has passed since the last time any traffic was transmitted over it. Clients SHOULD also hold a TLS connection with no circuits open, if it is likely that a circuit will be built soon using that connection.

Negotiating and initializing channels

Here we describe the primary TLS behavior used by Tor relays and clients to create a new channel. There are older versions of these handshakes, which we describe in another section.

In brief:

• The initiator starts the handshake by opening a TLS connection.
• Both parties send a VERSIONS to negotiate the protocol version to use.
• The responder sends a CERTS cell to give the initiator the certificates it needs to learn the responder's identity, an AUTH_CHALLENGE cell that the initiator must include as part of its answer if it chooses to authenticate, and a NETINFO cell to establish clock skew and IP addresses.
• The initiator checks whether the CERTS cell is correct, and decides whether to authenticate.
• If the initiator is not authenticating itself, it sends a NETINFO cell.
• If the initiator is authenticating itself, it sends a CERTS cell, an AUTHENTICATE cell, a NETINFO cell.

When this handshake is in use, the first cell must be VERSIONS, VPADDING, or AUTHORIZE, and no other cell type is allowed to intervene besides those specified, except for VPADDING cells.

(The AUTHORIZE cell type is reserved for future use by scanning-resistance designs. It is not specified here.)

The TLS handshake

The initiator must send a ciphersuite list containing at least one ciphersuite other than those listed in the obsolete v1 handshake.

This is trivially achieved by using any modern TLS implementation, and most implementations will not need to worry about it.

This requirement distinguishes the current protocol (sometimes called the "in-protocol" or "v3" handshake) from the obsolete v1 protocol.

TLS security considerations

(Standard TLS security guarantees apply; this is not a comprehensive guide.)

Implementations SHOULD NOT allow TLS session resumption -- it can exacerbate some attacks (e.g. the "Triple Handshake" attack from Feb 2013), and it plays havoc with forward secrecy guarantees.

Implementations SHOULD NOT allow TLS compression -- although we don't know a way to apply a CRIME-style attack to current Tor directly, it's a waste of resources.

Negotiating versions with VERSIONS cells

There are multiple instances of the Tor channel protocol.

Once the TLS handshake is complete, both parties send a VERSIONS cell to negotiate which one they will use.

The body in a VERSIONS cell is a series of big-endian two-byte integers. Both parties MUST select as the link protocol version the highest number contained both in the VERSIONS cell they sent and in the VERSIONS cell they received. If they have no such version in common, they cannot communicate and MUST close the connection. Either party MUST close the connection if the VERSIONS cell is not well-formed (for example, if the body contains an odd number of bytes).

Any VERSIONS cells sent after the first VERSIONS cell MUST be ignored. (To be interpreted correctly, later VERSIONS cells MUST have a CIRCID_LEN matching the version negotiated with the first VERSIONS cell.)

(The obsolete v1 channel protocol does note VERSIONS cells. Implementations MUST NOT list version 1 in their VERSIONS cells. The obsolete v2 channel protocol can only be used after renegotiation; implementations MUST NOT list version 2 in their VERSIONS cells unless they have renegotiated the TLS session.)

The currently specified Link protocols are:

CERTS cells

The CERTS cell describes the keys that a Tor instance is claiming to have, and provides certificates to authenticate that those keys belong, ultimately, to one or more identity keys.

CERTS is a variable-length cell. Its body format is:

Any extra octets at the end of a CERTS cell MUST be ignored.

The CertType field determines the format of the certificate, and the roles of its keys within the Tor protcol. Recognized values are defined in "Certificate types (CERT_TYPE field)".

A CERTS cell MUST have no more than one certificate of any CertType.

Authenticating the responder from its CERTS

The responder's CERTS cell is as follows:

• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 4 Ed25519 IDENTITY_V_SIGNING_CERT.
  • This cert must be self-signed; the signing key must be included in a "signed-with-ed25519-key" extension extension. This signing key is KP_relayid_ed. The subject key is KP_relaysign_ed.
• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 5 Ed25519 SIGNING_V_TLS_CERT certificate.
  • This cert must be signed with KP_relaysign_ed. Its subject must be the SHA-256 digest of the TLS certificate that was presented during the TLS handshake.
• All of the certs above must be correctly signed, and not expired.

The initiator must check all of the above. If this is successful the initiator knows that the responder has the identity KP_relayid_ed.

The responder's CERTS cell is meant to prove that the responder posseses one or more relay identities. It does this by containing certificate chains from each relay identity key to the TLS certificate presented during the TLS handshake.

The responder's ownership of that TLS certificate was already proven during the TLS hadnshake itself.

Validating an initiator's CERTS

When required by other parts of this specification; to prove its identity, the initiator must provide a CERTS cell.

Recall that not all initiators authenticate themselves; bridges and clients do not prove their identity.

The initiator's CERTS cell must conform to the rules for the responder's CERTS cell (see above, exchanging "initiator" and "responder") except that:

Instead of containg a SIGNING_V_TLS_CERT,

• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 6 SIGNING_V_LINK_AUTH certificate.
  • This certificate must be signed with KP_relayid_ed. (Its subject key is deemed to be KP_link_ed.)
• All of the certs above must be correctly signed, and not expired.

The responder must check all of the CERTS cell's properties (as stated here, and in the previous section). If this is successful and the initiator later sends a valid AUTHENTICATE cell, then the initiator has ownership of the presented KP_relayid_ed.

Note that the CERTS cell is not yet sufficent to authenticate the channel, until AUTHENTICATE is received: unlike the responder, the initiator is not required to present a TLS certificate during the TLS handshake. Therefore, the initiator has no meaningful SIGNING_V_TLS_CERT certificate.

Therefore, instead, the initiator's CERTS cell proves a chain from the initiator's relay identities to a "link authentication" key. This key is later used to sign an "authentication challenge", and bind it to the channel.

Authenticating an RSA identity (#auth-RSA)

After processing a CERTS cell to find the other party's KP_relayid_ed Ed25519 identity key, a Tor instance MAY additionally check the CERTS cell to find the other party's KP_relayid_rsa legacy RSA identity key.

A party with a given KP_relayid_ed identity key also has a given KP_relayid_rsa legacy identity key when all of the following are true. (A party MUST NOT conclude that an RSA identity key is associated with a channel without checking these properties.)

• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 2 RSA_ID_X509 certificate.
  • This must be a self-signed certificate containing a 1024-bit RSA key; that key's exponent must be 65537. That key is KP_relayid_rsa.
• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 7 RSA_ID_V_IDENTITY certificate.
  • This certificate must be signed with KP_relayid_rsa.
  • This certificate's subject key must be the same as an already-authenticated KP_relayid_ed.
• All of the certs above must be correctly signed, not expired, and not before their validAfter dates.

If the above tests all pass, then any relay which can prove it has the the identity KP_relayid_ed also has the legacy identity KP_relayid_rsa.

AUTH_CHALLENGE cells

An AUTH_CHALLENGE cell is a variable-length cell with the following fields:

It is sent from the responder to the initiator. Initiators MUST ignore unexpected bytes at the end of the cell. Responders MUST generate every challenge independently.

The Challenge field is a randomly generated binary string that the initiator must sign (a hash of) as part of their AUTHENTICATE cell.

The Methods are a list of authentication methods that the responder will accept. These methods are defined:

AUTHENTICATE cells

To authenticate, an initiator MUST it respond to the AUTH_CHALLENGE cell with a CERTS cell and an AUTHENTICATE cell.

Recall that initiators are not always required to authenticate.

(As discussed above, the initiator's CERTS cell differs slightly from what a responder would send.)

An AUTHENTICATE cell contains the following:

Responders MUST ignore extra bytes at the end of an AUTHENTICATE cell.

The AuthType value corresponds to one of the authentication methods. The initiator MUST NOT send an AUTHENTICATE cell whose AuthType was not contained in the responder's AUTH_CHALLENGE.

An initiator MUST NOT send an AUTHENTICATE cell before it has verified the certificates presented in the responder's CERTS cell, and authenticated the responder.

Link authentication type 3: Ed25519-SHA256-RFC5705

If AuthType is [00 03], meaning "Ed25519-SHA256-RFC5705", the Authentication field of the AUTHENTICATE cell is as follows

Modified values and new fields below are marked with asterisks.

• The TYPE string distinguishes this authentication document from others. It must be the nonterminated 8-byte string AUTH0003.
• For CID and SID, the SHA256 digest of an RSA key is computed as the SHA256 digest of its asn.1 encoding.
• The SLOG field is computed as the SHA256 digest of all bytes received within the TLS channel up to and including the AUTH_CHALLENGE cell.
  • This includes the VERSIONS cell, the CERTS cell, the AUTH_CHALLENGE cell, and any padding cells.
• The CLOG field is computed as the SHA256 digest of all bytes sent within the TLS channel up to but not including the AUTHENTICATE cell.
  • This includes the VERSIONS cell, the CERTS cell, and any padding cells.
• The SCERT field holds the SHA256 digest of the X.509 certificate presented by the responder as part of the TLS negotiation.
• The TLSSECRETS field is computed as the output of a Keying Material Exporter function on the TLS section.
  • The parameters for this exporter are:
    • Label string: "EXPORTER FOR TOR TLS CLIENT BINDING AUTH0003"
    • Context value: The CID value above.¹
    • Length: 32.
  • For keying material exporters on TLS 1.3, see RFC 8446 Section 7.5.
  • For keying material exporters on older TLS versions, see RFC5705.
• The RAND field is a uniform squence of Random bytes.
• The SIG field is an Ed25519 signature of all earlier members in the Authentication (from TYPE through RAND) using KS_link_ed.

To check an AUTHENTICATE cell, a responder checks that all fields from TYPE through TLSSECRETS contain their unique correct values as described above, and then verifies the signature. The responder MUST ignore any extra bytes in the signed data after the RAND field.

NETINFO cells

To finish the handshake, each party sends the other a NETINFO cell.

A NETINFO cell's body is:

Recognized address types (ATYPE) are:

Implementations SHOULD ignore addresses with unrecognized types.

ALEN MUST be 4 when ATYPE is 0x04 (IPv4) and 16 when ATYPE is 0x06 (IPv6). If the ALEN value is wrong for the given ATYPE value, then the provided address should be ignored.

The OTHERADDR field SHOULD be set to the actual IP address observed for the other party.

(This is typically the address passed to connect() when acting as the channel initiator, or the address received from accept() when acting as the channel responder.)

In the ATYPE/ALEN/AVAL fields, relays SHOULD send the addresses that they have advertised in their router descriptors. Bridges and clients SHOULD send none of their own addresses.

For the TIME field, relays send a (big-endian) integer holding the number of seconds since the Unix epoch. Clients SHOULD send [00 00 00 00] as their timestamp, to avoid fingerprinting.

See proposal 338 for a proposal to extend the timestamp to 8 bytes.

Implementations MUST ignore unexpected bytes at the end of the NETINFO cell.

Using information from NETINFO cells

Implementations MAY use the timestamp value to help decide if their clocks are skewed.

Initiators MAY use "other relay's address" field to help learn which address their connections may be originating from, if they do not know it; and to learn whether the peer will treat the current connection as canonical. (See Canonical connections)

Implementations SHOULD NOT trust these values unconditionally, especially when they come from non-authorities, since the other party can lie about the time or the IP addresses it sees.

Initiators SHOULD use "this relay's address" to make sure that they have connected to another relay at its canonical address.

Obsolete channel handshakes

These handshake variants are no longer in use. Channel initiators MUST NOT send them. Relays MAY detect and reject them.

If you are experienced with TLS, you will find some aspects of this handshake strange or obfuscated. Several historical factors led to its current state.

First, before the development of pluggable transports, Tor tried to avoid censorship by mimicking the behavior of a web client negotiating HTTPS with a web server. If we wanted a secure option that was not in common use, we had to hide our use of that option.

Second, prior to the introduction of TLS 1.3, many more aspects of the handshake (such as the number and nature of certificates sent by each party) were sent in the clear, and were easy to distinguish.

Third, prior to the introduction of TLS 1.3, there was no good encrypted signalling mechanism that a client could use to declare how it wanted the rest of the TLS handshake to proceed. Thus, we wound up using the client's list of supported ciphersuites to send a signal about which variation of the handshake is in use.

Version 1, or "certificates up front"

With this obsolete handshake, the responding relay proves ownership of an RSA identity (KP_relayid_rsa), and the initiator also proves ownership of an RSA identity.

(If the initiator does not have an RSA identity to prove, it invents one and throws it away afterwards.)

To select this handshake, the initiator starts a TLS handshake containing no ciphersuites other than these:

     TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
     TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
     SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA

Note that because of this list, it is impossible to use this obsolete handshake with TLS 1.3.

As part of the TLS handshake, the initiator sends a two-certificate chain, consisting of an X.509 certificate for its short-term connection public key (KP_legacy_conn_tls) signed by KP_relayid_rsa, and a second self-signed X.509 certificate containing KP_relayid_rsa. The responder sends a similar certificate chain.

Once the TLS handshake is done, both parties validate each other's certificate chains. If they are valid, then the connection is Open, and both parties may start exchanging cells.

Version 2, or "renegotiation"

In "renegotiation" (a.k.a. "the v2 handshake"), the connection initiator selects at least one ciphersuite not in the list above. The initiator sends no certificates, and the responder sends a single connection certificate in return.

(If the responder sends a certificate chain, the initiator assumes that it only knows about the v1 handshake.)

Once this initial TLS handshake is complete, the initiator renegotiates the session. During the renegotiation, each party sends a two-certificate chain as in the "certificates up front" handshake above.

When this handshake is used, both parties immediately send a VERSIONS cell, and after negotiating a link protocol version (which will be 2), each sends a NETINFO cell to confirm their addresses and timestamps. At that point, the channel is Open. No other intervening cell types are allowed.

Indicating support for the in-protocol handshake

When the in-protocol handshake was new, we placed a set of constraints on the certificate that the responder would send to indicate that it supported the v3 handshake.

Specifically, if at least one of these properties was true of the responders's certificate, the initiator could be sure that the responder supported the in-protocol handshake:

• The certificate is self-signed
• Some component other than "commonName" is set in the subject or issuer DN of the certificate.
• The commonName of the subject or issuer of the certificate ends with a suffix other than ".net".
• The certificate's public key modulus is longer than 1024 bits.

Otherwise, the initiator would assume that only the v2 protocol was in use.

Fixed ciphersuite list

For a long time, clients would advertise a certain "fixed ciphersuite list" regardless of whether they actually supported those ciphers.

That list is:

     TLS1_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
     TLS1_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
     TLS1_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_SHA
     TLS1_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
     TLS1_RSA_WITH_AES_256_SHA
     TLS1_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
     TLS1_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
     TLS1_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
     TLS1_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
     TLS1_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_SHA
     TLS1_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
     SSL3_RSA_RC4_128_MD5
     SSL3_RSA_RC4_128_SHA
     TLS1_RSA_WITH_AES_128_SHA
     TLS1_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_DES_192_CBC3_SHA
     TLS1_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_DES_192_CBC3_SHA
     SSL3_EDH_RSA_DES_192_CBC3_SHA
     SSL3_EDH_DSS_DES_192_CBC3_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_RSA_WITH_DES_192_CBC3_SHA
     TLS1_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_DES_192_CBC3_SHA
     SSL3_RSA_FIPS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
     SSL3_RSA_DES_192_CBC3_SHA
     [*] The "extended renegotiation is supported" ciphersuite, 0x00ff, is
         not counted when checking the list of ciphersuites.

When encountering this list, a responder would not select any ciphersuites besides the mandatory-to-implement TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, and SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA.

Clients no longer report ciphers that they do not support.

Legacy CERTS authentication: Responder has RSA Identity only

A Tor relay that has only an RSA identity key (KP_relayid_rsa) and not an Ed25519 identity key (KP_relayid_ed) will present a different set of certificates in its CERTS cell.

(Relays like this are no longer supported; all relays must now have Ed25519 identities.)

To authenticate a responder as having only an RSA identity, the initiator would verify the following:

• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 2 RSA_ID_X509 certificate.
  • This must be a self-signed certificate containing a 1024-bit RSA key; that key's exponent must be 65537. That key is KP_relayid_rsa.
• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 1 TLS_LINK_X509 certificate.
  • It must be signed with KP_relayid_rsa.
  • Its subject key must be the same as KP_legacy_conn_tls (the key used to negotiate the TLS connection).
• All of the certs above must be correctly signed, not expired, and not before their validAfter dates.

Legacy CERTS authentication: Initiator has RSA Identity only

As discussed in "Validating an initiator's CERTS", the initiator of the v3 handshake does not present a TLS certificate.

Therefore, to process an initiator's CERTS cell, the responder would have to procede as for a responder's certificates, as described above, except that instead of checking for a TLS_LINK_X509 certificate, it would need to verify that:

• The CERTS cell contains exactly one CertType 3 LINK_AUTH_X509 certificate.
  • This certificate must be signed with KP_relayid_rsa. Its subject key is deemed to be KP_legacy_linkauth_rsa.
• All of the certs above must be correctly signed, not expired, and not before their validAfter dates.

Link authentication type 1: RSA-SHA256-TLSSecret

This is an obsolete authentication method used before RFC5705 support was ubiquitous. It is nearly the same as Ed25519-SHA256-RFC5705, but lacks support for Ed25519, and does not use keying material exporters (which were not widely supported at the time it as used.

If AuthType is [00 01] (meaning "RSA-SHA256-TLSSecret"), then the authentication field of the AUTHENTICATE cell contains the following:

Notes are as for Ed25519-SHA256-RFC5705, except as follows:

• The TLSSECRETS fields holds a SHA256 HMAC, using the TLS master secret as the secret key, of the following concatenated fields:
  • client_random, as sent in the TLS Client Hello
  • server_random, as sent in the TLS Server Hello
  • the NUL terminated ASCII string: "Tor V3 handshake TLS cross-certification"

• The SIG fields holds an RSA signature of a SHA256 hash of all the previous fields (that is, TYPE through RAND), using the initiator's KS_legacy_linkauth_rsa. This field extends through the end of the AUTHENTICATE cell.

Responders MUST NOT accept this AuthType if the initiator has claimed to have an Ed25519 identity.

Cells (messages on channels)

The basic unit of communication on a Tor channel is a "cell".

Once a TLS connection is established, the two parties send cells to each other. Cells are sent serially, one after another.

Cells may be sent embedded in TLS records of any size, or divided across TLS records, but the framing of TLS records MUST NOT leak information about the type or contents of the cells.

Most cells are of fixed length, with the actual length depending on the negotiated link protocol on the channel. Below we designate the negotiated protocol as v.

As an exception, VERSIONS cells are always sent with v = 0, since no version has yet been negotiated.

A fixed-length cell has this format:

The value of CIRCID_LEN depends on the negotiated link protocol.

Some cells have variable length; the length of these cells is encoded in their header.

A variable-length cell has this format:

Fixed-length and variable-length cells are distinguished based on the value of their Command field:

• Command 7 (VERSIONS) is variable-length.
• Every other command less than 128 denotes a fixed-length cell.
• Every command greater than or equal to 128 denotes a variable-length cell.

Historical note:

On version 1 connections, all cells were fixed-length.

On version 2 connections, only the VERSIONS command was variable-length, and all others were fixed-length.

These link protocols are obsolete, and implementations SHOULD NOT support them.

Interpreting the fields: CircID

The CircID field determines which circuit, if any, the cell is associated with. If the cell is not associated with any circuit, its CircID is set to 0.

Note that a CircID is a channel-local identifier.

A single multi-hop circuit will have a different CircID on every channel that is used to transmit its data.

Interpreting the fields: Command

The Command field of a fixed-length cell holds one of the following values:

The variable-length Command values are:

In the tables above, C=Y indicates that a command must have a nonzero CircId, and C=N indicates that a command must have a zero CircId. Where given, P is the first link protocol version to support a command. Commands with no value given for P are supported at least in link protocols 3 and above.

No other command values are allowed. Implementations SHOULD NOT send undefined command values. Upon receiving an unrecognized command, an implementation MAY silently drop the cell and MAY terminate the channel with an error.

Extensibility note:

When we add new cell command types, we define a new link protocol version to indicate support for that command.

Therefore, implementations can now safely assume that other correct implementations will never send them an unrecognized cell command.

Historically, before the link protocol was not versioned, implementations would drop cells with unrecognized commands, under the assumption that the command was sent by a more up-to-date version of Tor.

Interpreting the fields: Cell Body

The interpretation of a cell's Body depends on the cell's command. see the links in the command descriptions above for more information on each command.

Padding fixed-length cell bodies

Often, the amount of information to be sent in a fixed-length cell is less than CELL_BODY_LEN bytes. When this happens, the sender MUST fill the unused part of the cell's body with zero-valued bytes.

Recipients MUST ignore padding bytes.

RELAY and RELAY_EARLY cells' bodies contain encrypted data, and are always full from the point of the view of the channel layer.

The plaintext of these cells' contents may be padded; this uses a different mechanism and does not interact with cell body padding.

Variable-length cells never have extra space, so there is no need to pad their bodies. Unless otherwise specified, variable-length cells have no padding.

Circuit management

This section describes how circuits are created, and how they operate once they are constructed.

CREATE and CREATED cells

Users set up circuits incrementally, one hop at a time. To create a new circuit, clients send a CREATE/CREATE2 cell to the first node, with the first half of an authenticated handshake; that node responds with a CREATED/CREATED2 cell with the second half of the handshake. To extend a circuit past the first hop, the client sends an EXTEND/EXTEND2 clientrelay message (see EXTEND and EXTENDED messages which instructs the last node in the circuit to send a CREATE/CREATE2 cell to extend the circuit.

There are two kinds of CREATE and CREATED cells: The obsolete "CREATE/CREATED" format, and the newer "CREATE2/CREATED2" format. The newer format is extensible by design; the older one is not.

A CREATE2 cell contains:

A CREATED2 cell contains:

Recognized HTYPEs (handshake types) are:

The format of a CREATE cell is one of the following:

or

The first format is equivalent to a CREATE2 cell with HTYPE of 'tap' and length of TAP_C_HANDSHAKE_LEN. The second format is a way to encapsulate new handshake types into the old CREATE cell format for migration. See "EXTEND and EXTENDED messages" below. Recognized HTAG values are:

The format of a CREATED cell is:

(It's equivalent to a CREATED2 cell with length of TAP_S_HANDSHAKE_LEN.)

As usual with DH, x and y MUST be generated randomly.

In general, clients SHOULD use CREATE whenever they are using the TAP handshake, and CREATE2 otherwise. Clients SHOULD NOT send the second format of CREATE cells (the one with the handshake type tag) to a server directly.

Servers always reply to a successful CREATE with a CREATED, and to a successful CREATE2 with a CREATED2. On failure, a server sends a DESTROY cell to tear down the circuit.

[CREATE2 is handled by Tor 0.2.4.7-alpha and later.]

Choosing circuit IDs in create cells

The CircID for a CREATE/CREATE2 cell is a nonzero integer, selected by the node (client or relay) that sends the CREATE/CREATED2 cell. Depending on the link protocol version, there are certain rules for choosing the value of CircID which MUST be obeyed, as implementations MAY decide to refuse in case of a violation. In link protocol 3 or lower, CircIDs are 2 bytes long; in protocol 4 or higher, CircIDs are 4 bytes long.

In link protocol version 3 or lower, the nodes choose from only one half of the possible values based on the relays' public identity keys, in order to avoid collisions. If the sending node has a lower key, it chooses a CircID with an MSB of 0; otherwise, it chooses a CircID with an MSB of 1. (Public keys are compared numerically by modulus.) A client with no public key MAY choose any CircID it wishes, since clients never need to process CREATE/CREATE2 cells.

In link protocol version 4 or higher, whichever node initiated the connection MUST set its MSB to 1, and whichever node didn't initiate the connection MUST set its MSB to 0.

The CircID value 0 is specifically reserved for cells that do not belong to any circuit: CircID 0 MUST not be used for circuits. No other CircID value, including 0x8000 or 0x80000000, is reserved.

Existing Tor implementations choose their CircID values at random from among the available unused values. To avoid distinguishability, new implementations should do the same. Implementations MAY give up and stop attempting to build new circuits on a channel, if a certain number of randomly chosen CircID values are all in use (today's Tor stops after 64).

EXTEND and EXTENDED messagess

To extend an existing circuit, the client sends an EXTEND or EXTEND2 message, in a RELAY_EARLY cell, to the last node in the circuit.

The body of an EXTEND2 message contains:

Link specifiers describe the next node in the circuit and how to connect to it. Recognized specifiers are:

Nodes MUST ignore unrecognized specifiers, and MUST accept multiple instances of specifiers other than 'legacy identity' and 'Ed25519 identity'. (Nodes SHOULD reject link specifier lists that include multiple instances of either one of those specifiers.)

For purposes of indistinguishability, implementations SHOULD send these link specifiers, if using them, in this order: [00], [02], [03], [01].

The body for an (obsolete) EXTEND relay message consists of:

Clients SHOULD NOT send EXTEND messages; relays SHOULD NOT accept them.

The "legacy identity" and "identity fingerprint" fields are the SHA1 hash of the PKCS#1 ASN1 encoding of the next onion router's identity (signing) key. (See "Preliminaries » Ciphers") The "Ed25519 identity" field is the Ed25519 identity key of the target node. Including this key information allows the relay extending to verify that it is indeed connected to the correct target relay, and prevents certain man-in-the-middle attacks.

The extending relay MUST check all provided identity keys (if they recognize the format), and and MUST NOT extend the circuit if the target relay did not prove its ownership of any such identity key. If only one identity key is provided, but the extending relay knows the other (from directory information), then the relay SHOULD also enforce the key in the directory.

If the extending relay has a channel with a given Ed25519 ID and RSA identity, and receives a request for that Ed25519 ID and a different RSA identity, it SHOULD NOT attempt to make another connection: it should just fail and DESTROY the circuit.

The client MAY include multiple IPv4 or IPv6 link specifiers in an EXTEND2 message; current relay implementations only consider the first of each type.

After checking relay identities, extending relays generate a CREATE/CREATE2 cell from the contents of the EXTEND/EXTEND2 message. See Creating circuits for details.

The body of an (obsolete) EXTENDED message is the same as the body of a CREATED cell.

The body of an EXTENDED2 message is the same as the body of a CREATED2 cell.

[Support for EXTEND2/EXTENDED2 was added in Tor 0.2.4.8-alpha.]

Clients SHOULD use the EXTEND format whenever sending a TAP handshake, and MUST use it whenever the EXTEND message will be handled by a node running a version of Tor too old to support EXTEND2. In other cases, clients SHOULD use EXTEND2.

When generating an EXTEND2 message, clients SHOULD include the target's Ed25519 identity whenever the target has one, and whenever the target supports LinkAuth subprotocol version "3". (See LinkAuth).

When encoding a non-TAP handshake in an EXTEND message, clients SHOULD use the format with 'client handshake type tag'.

The "TAP" handshake

This obsolete handshake uses Diffie-Hellman in Z_p and RSA to compute a set of shared keys which the client knows are shared only with a particular server, and the server knows are shared with whomever sent the original handshake (or with nobody at all). It's not very fast and not very good. (See Goldberg's "On the Security of the Tor Authentication Protocol".)

Clients SHOULD NOT use this handshake. Relays SHOULD NOT accept this handshake, and MAY reply to it with a DESTROY cell.

Define TAP_C_HANDSHAKE_LEN as DH_LEN+KEY_LEN+KP_PAD_LEN. Define TAP_S_HANDSHAKE_LEN as DH_LEN+HASH_LEN.

The body for a CREATE cell is an 'onion skin', which consists of the first step of the DH handshake data (also known as g^x). This value is encrypted using the "legacy hybrid encryption" algorithm (see "Preliminaries » A bad hybrid encryption algorithm...") to the server's onion key, giving a client handshake:

The body for a CREATED cell, or the body for an EXTENDED relay message, contains:

Once the handshake between the client and a relay is completed, both can now calculate g^xy with ordinary DH. Before computing g^xy, both parties MUST verify that the received g^x or g^y value is not degenerate; that is, it must be strictly greater than 1 and strictly less than p-1 where p is the DH modulus. Implementations MUST NOT complete a handshake with degenerate keys. Implementations MUST NOT discard other "weak" g^x values.

(Discarding degenerate keys is critical for security; if bad keys are not discarded, an attacker can substitute the relay's CREATED cell's g^y with 0 or 1, thus creating a known g^xy and impersonating the relay. Discarding other keys may allow attacks to learn bits of the private key.)

Once both parties have g^xy, they derive their shared circuit keys and 'derivative key data' value via the KDF-TOR function.

The "ntor" handshake

This handshake uses a set of DH handshakes to compute a set of shared keys which the client knows are shared only with a particular server, and the server knows are shared with whomever sent the original handshake (or with nobody at all). Here we use the "curve25519" group and representation as specified in "Curve25519: new Diffie-Hellman speed records" by D. J. Bernstein.

[The ntor handshake was added in Tor 0.2.4.8-alpha.]

In this section, define:

H(x,t) as HMAC_SHA256 with message x and key t.
H_LENGTH  = 32.
ID_LENGTH = 20.
G_LENGTH  = 32
PROTOID   = "ntor-curve25519-sha256-1"
t_mac     = PROTOID | ":mac"
t_key     = PROTOID | ":key_extract"
t_verify  = PROTOID | ":verify"
G         = The preferred base point for curve25519 ([9])
KEYGEN()  = The curve25519 key generation algorithm, returning
            a private/public keypair.
m_expand  = PROTOID | ":key_expand"
KEYID(A)  = A
EXP(a, b) = The ECDH algorithm for establishing a shared secret.

To perform the handshake, the client needs to know an identity key digest for the server, and an ntor onion key (a curve25519 public key) for that server. Call the ntor onion key B. The client generates a temporary keypair:

x,X = KEYGEN()

and generates a client-side handshake with contents:

The server generates a keypair of y,Y = KEYGEN(), and uses its ntor private key b to compute:

secret_input = EXP(X,y) | EXP(X,b) | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID
KEY_SEED = H(secret_input, t_key)
verify = H(secret_input, t_verify)
auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | PROTOID | "Server"

The server's handshake reply is:

The client then checks Y is in G^* [see NOTE below], and computes

secret_input = EXP(Y,x) | EXP(B,x) | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID
KEY_SEED = H(secret_input, t_key)
verify = H(secret_input, t_verify)
auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | PROTOID | "Server"

The client verifies that AUTH == H(auth_input, t_mac).

Both parties check that none of the EXP() operations produced the point at infinity. [NOTE: This is an adequate replacement for checking Y for group membership, if the group is curve25519.]

Both parties now have a shared value for KEY_SEED. They expand this into the keys needed for the Tor relay protocol, using the KDF described in "KDF-RFC5869" and the tag m_expand.

The "ntor-v3" handshake

This handshake extends the ntor handshake to include support for extra data transmitted as part of the handshake. Both the client and the server can transmit extra data; in both cases, the extra data is encrypted, but only server data receives forward secrecy.

To advertise support for this handshake, servers advertise the "Relay=4" subprotocol version. To select it, clients use the 'ntor-v3' HTYPE value in their CREATE2 cells.

In this handshake, we define:

PROTOID = "ntor3-curve25519-sha3_256-1"
t_msgkdf = PROTOID | ":kdf_phase1"
t_msgmac = PROTOID | ":msg_mac"
t_key_seed = PROTOID | ":key_seed"
t_verify = PROTOID | ":verify"
t_final = PROTOID | ":kdf_final"
t_auth = PROTOID | ":auth_final"

`ENCAP(s)` -- an encapsulation function.  We define this
as `htonll(len(s)) | s`.  (Note that `len(ENCAP(s)) = len(s) + 8`).

`PARTITION(s, n1, n2, n3, ...)` -- a function that partitions a
bytestring `s` into chunks of length `n1`, `n2`, `n3`, and so
on. Extra data is put into a final chunk.  If `s` is not long
enough, the function fails.

H(s, t) = SHA3_256(ENCAP(t) | s)
MAC(k, msg, t) = SHA3_256(ENCAP(t) | ENCAP(k) | s)
KDF(s, t) = SHAKE_256(ENCAP(t) | s)
ENC(k, m) = AES_256_CTR(k, m)

EXP(pk,sk), KEYGEN: defined as in curve25519

DIGEST_LEN = MAC_LEN = MAC_KEY_LEN = ENC_KEY_LEN = PUB_KEY_LEN = 32

ID_LEN = 32  (representing an ed25519 identity key)

For any tag "t_foo":
   H_foo(s) = H(s, t_foo)
   MAC_foo(k, msg) = MAC(k, msg, t_foo)
   KDF_foo(s) = KDF(s, t_foo)

Other notation is as in the ntor description above.

The client begins by knowing:

B, ID -- The curve25519 onion key and Ed25519 ID of the server that it
         wants to use.
CM -- A message it wants to send as part of its handshake.
VER -- An optional shared verification string:

The client computes:

x,X = KEYGEN()
Bx = EXP(B,x)
secret_input_phase1 = Bx | ID | X | B | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
phase1_keys = KDF_msgkdf(secret_input_phase1)
(ENC_K1, MAC_K1) = PARTITION(phase1_keys, ENC_KEY_LEN, MAC_KEY_LEN)
encrypted_msg = ENC(ENC_K1, CM)
msg_mac = MAC_msgmac(MAC_K1, ID | B | X | encrypted_msg)

The client then sends, as its CREATE handshake:

The client remembers x, X, B, ID, Bx, and msg_mac.

When the server receives this handshake, it checks whether NODEID is as expected, and looks up the (b,B) keypair corresponding to KEYID. If the keypair is missing or the NODEID is wrong, the handshake fails.

Now the relay uses X=CLIENT_PK to compute:

Xb = EXP(X,b)
secret_input_phase1 = Xb | ID | X | B | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
phase1_keys = KDF_msgkdf(secret_input_phase1)
(ENC_K1, MAC_K1) = PARTITION(phase1_keys, ENC_KEY_LEN, MAC_KEY_LEN)

expected_mac = MAC_msgmac(MAC_K1, ID | B | X | MSG)

If expected_mac is not MAC, the handshake fails. Otherwise the relay computes CM as:

CM = DEC(MSG, ENC_K1)

The relay then checks whether CM is well-formed, and in response composes SM, the reply that it wants to send as part of the handshake. It then generates a new ephemeral keypair:

y,Y = KEYGEN()

and computes the rest of the handshake:

Xy = EXP(X,y)
secret_input = Xy | Xb | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
ntor_key_seed = H_key_seed(secret_input)
verify = H_verify(secret_input)

RAW_KEYSTREAM = KDF_final(ntor_key_seed)
(ENC_KEY, KEYSTREAM) = PARTITION(RAW_KEYSTREAM, ENC_KEY_LKEN, ...)

encrypted_msg = ENC(ENC_KEY, SM)

auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | MAC | ENCAP(encrypted_msg) |
    PROTOID | "Server"
AUTH = H_auth(auth_input)

The relay then sends as its CREATED handshake:

Upon receiving this handshake, the client computes:

Yx = EXP(Y, x)
secret_input = Yx | Bx | ID | B | X | Y | PROTOID | ENCAP(VER)
ntor_key_seed = H_key_seed(secret_input)
verify = H_verify(secret_input)

auth_input = verify | ID | B | Y | X | MAC | ENCAP(MSG) |
    PROTOID | "Server"
AUTH_expected = H_auth(auth_input)

If AUTH_expected is equal to AUTH, then the handshake has succeeded. The client can then calculate:

RAW_KEYSTREAM = KDF_final(ntor_key_seed)
(ENC_KEY, KEYSTREAM) = PARTITION(RAW_KEYSTREAM, ENC_KEY_LKEN, ...)

SM = DEC(ENC_KEY, MSG)

SM is the message from the relay, and the client uses KEYSTREAM to generate the shared secrets for the newly created circuit.

Now both parties share the same KEYSTREAM, and can use it to generate their circuit keys.

CREATE_FAST/CREATED_FAST cells

When creating a one-hop circuit, the client has already established the relay's identity and negotiated a secret key using TLS. Because of this, it is not necessary for the client to perform the public key operations to create a circuit. In this case, the client MAY send a CREATE_FAST cell instead of a CREATE cell. The relay responds with a CREATED_FAST cell, and the circuit is created.

A CREATE_FAST cell contains:

A CREATED_FAST cell contains:

The values of X and Y must be generated randomly.

Once both parties have X and Y, they derive their shared circuit keys and 'derivative key data' value via the KDF-TOR function.

Parties SHOULD NOT use CREATE_FAST except for creating one-hop circuits.

Additional data in CREATE/CREATED cells

Some handshakes (currently ntor-v3 defined above) allow the client or the relay to send additional data as part of the handshake. When used in a CREATE/CREATED handshake, this additional data must have the following format:

(EXT_FIELD_LEN may be zero, in which case EXT_FIELD is absent.)

All parties MUST reject messages that are not well-formed per the rules above.

We do not specify specific TYPE semantics here; we leave those for other proposals and specifications.

Parties MUST ignore extensions with EXT_FIELD_TYPE bodies they do not recognize.

Unless otherwise specified in the documentation for an extension type:

• Each extension type SHOULD be sent only once in a message.
• Parties MUST ignore any occurrences all occurrences of an extension with a given type after the first such occurrence.
• Extensions SHOULD be sent in numerically ascending order by type.

(The above extension sorting and multiplicity rules are only defaults; they may be overridden in the description of individual extensions.)

Currently supported extensions are:

• 1 -- CC_FIELD_REQUEST [Client to server]

  Contains an empty body. Signifies that the client wants to use the extended congestion control described in proposal 324.

• 2 -- CC_FIELD_RESPONSE [Server to client]

  Indicates that the relay will use the congestion control of proposal 324, as requested by the client. One byte in length:

  sendme_inc [1 byte]

• 3 -- Subprotocol Request [Client to Server]

  (RESERVED) Tells the endpoint what protocol version to use on the circuit (proposal 346).

Setting circuit keys

KDF-TOR

This key derivation function is used by the TAP and CREATE_FAST handshakes, and in the current hidden service protocol. It shouldn't be used for new functionality.

If the TAP handshake is used to extend a circuit, both parties base their key material on K0=g^xy, represented as a big-endian unsigned integer.

If CREATE_FAST is used, both parties base their key material on K0=X|Y.

From the base key material K0, they compute KEY_LEN2+HASH_LEN3 bytes of derivative key data as

K = H(K0 | [00]) | H(K0 | [01]) | H(K0 | [02]) | ...

The first HASH_LEN bytes of K form KH; the next HASH_LEN form the forward digest Df; the next HASH_LEN 41-60 form the backward digest Db; the next KEY_LEN 61-76 form Kf, and the final KEY_LEN form Kb. Excess bytes from K are discarded.

KH is used in the handshake response to demonstrate knowledge of the computed shared key. Df is used to seed the integrity-checking hash for the stream of data going from the client to the relay, and Db seeds the integrity-checking hash for the data stream from the relay to the client. Kf is used to encrypt the stream of data going from the client to the relay, and Kb is used to encrypt the stream of data going from the relay to the client.

KDF-RFC5869

For newer KDF needs, Tor uses the key derivation function HKDF from RFC5869, instantiated with SHA256. (This is due to a construction from Krawczyk.) The generated key material is:

K = K_1 | K_2 | K_3 | ...

       Where H(x,t) is HMAC_SHA256 with value x and key t
         and K_1     = H(m_expand | INT8(1) , KEY_SEED )
         and K_(i+1) = H(K_i | m_expand | INT8(i+1) , KEY_SEED )
         and m_expand is an arbitrarily chosen value,
         and INT8(i) is a octet with the value "i".

In RFC5869's vocabulary, this is HKDF-SHA256 with info == m_expand, salt == t_key, and IKM == secret_input.

When used in the ntor handshake, the first HASH_LEN bytes form the forward digest Df; the next HASH_LEN form the backward digest Db; the next KEY_LEN form Kf, the next KEY_LEN form Kb, and the final DIGEST_LEN bytes are taken as a nonce to use in the place of KH in the hidden service protocol. Excess bytes from K are discarded.

Creating circuits

When creating a circuit through the network, the circuit creator (client) performs the following steps:

1. Choose an onion router as an end node (R_N):

   • N MAY be 1 for non-anonymous directory mirror, introduction point, or service rendezvous connections.
   • N SHOULD be 3 or more for anonymous connections. Some end nodes accept streams (see "Opening streams"), others are introduction or rendezvous points (see the Rendezvous Spec).

2. Choose a chain of (N-1) onion routers (R_1...R_N-1) to constitute the path, such that no router appears in the path twice.

3. If not already connected to the first router in the chain, open a new connection to that router.

4. Choose a circID not already in use on the connection with the first router in the chain; send a CREATE/CREATE2 cell along the connection, to be received by the first onion router.

5. Wait until a CREATED/CREATED2 cell is received; finish the handshake and extract the forward key Kf_1 and the backward key Kb_1.

6. For each subsequent onion router R (R_2 through R_N), extend the circuit to R.

To extend the circuit by a single onion router R_M, the client performs these steps:

1. Create an onion skin, encrypted to R_M's public onion key.

2. Send the onion skin in a relay EXTEND/EXTEND2 message along the circuit (see "EXTEND and EXTENDED messages" and "Routing relay cells").

3. When a relay EXTENDED/EXTENDED2 message is received, verify KH, and calculate the shared keys. The circuit is now extended.

When an onion router receives an EXTEND relay message, it sends a CREATE cell to the next onion router, with the enclosed onion skin as its body.

When an onion router receives an EXTEND2 relay message, it sends a CREATE2 cell to the next onion router, with the enclosed HLEN, HTYPE, and HDATA as its body. The initiating onion router chooses some circID not yet used on the connection between the two onion routers. (But see section "Choosing circuit IDs in create cells")

As special cases, if the EXTEND/EXTEND2 message includes a legacy identity, or identity fingerprint of all zeroes, or asks to extend back to the relay that sent the extend cell, the circuit will fail and be torn down.

Ed25519 identity keys are not required in EXTEND2 messages, so all zero keys SHOULD be accepted. If the extending relay knows the ed25519 key from the consensus, it SHOULD also check that key. (See EXTEND and EXTENDED message)

If an EXTEND2 message contains the ed25519 key of the relay that sent the EXTEND2 message, the circuit will fail and be torn down.

When an onion router receives a CREATE/CREATE2 cell, if it already has a circuit on the given connection with the given circID, it drops the cell. Otherwise, after receiving the CREATE/CREATE2 cell, it completes the specified handshake, and replies with a CREATED/CREATED2 cell.

Upon receiving a CREATED/CREATED2 cell, an onion router packs its body into an EXTENDED/EXTENDED2 relay message, and sends that message up the circuit. Upon receiving the EXTENDED/EXTENDED2 relay message, the client can retrieve the handshake material.

(As an optimization, relay implementations may delay processing onions until a break in traffic allows time to do so without harming network latency too greatly.)

Canonical connections

It is possible for an attacker to launch a man-in-the-middle attack against a connection by telling relay Alice to extend to relay Bob at some address X controlled by the attacker. The attacker cannot read the encrypted traffic, but the attacker is now in a position to count all bytes sent between Alice and Bob (assuming Alice was not already connected to Bob.)

To prevent this, when a relay gets an extend request, it SHOULD use an existing relay connection if the ID matches, and ANY of the following conditions hold:

• The IP matches the requested IP.
• The relay knows that the IP of the connection it's using is canonical because it was listed in the NETINFO cell.

Relays SHOULD NOT check the IPs that are listed in the server descriptor. Trusting server IPs makes it easier to covertly impersonate a relay, after stealing its keys.

Tearing down circuits

Circuits are torn down when an unrecoverable error occurs along the circuit, or when all streams on a circuit are closed and the circuit's intended lifetime is over.

Relays SHOULD also tear down circuits which attempt to create:

• streams with RELAY_BEGIN, or
• rendezvous points with ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS, ending at the first hop. Letting Tor be used as a single hop proxy makes exit and rendezvous nodes a more attractive target for compromise.

Relays MAY use multiple methods to check if they are the first hop:

   * If a relay sees a circuit created with CREATE_FAST, the relay is sure to be
     the first hop of a circuit.
   * If a relay is the responder, and the initiator:
     * did not authenticate the link, or
     * authenticated with a key that is not in the consensus,
     then the relay is probably the first hop of a circuit (or the second hop of
     a circuit via a bridge relay).

   Circuits may be torn down either completely or hop-by-hop.

To tear down a circuit completely, a relay or client sends a DESTROY cell to the adjacent nodes on that circuit, using the appropriate direction's circID.

Upon receiving an outgoing DESTROY cell, a relay frees resources associated with the corresponding circuit. If it's not the end of the circuit, it sends a DESTROY cell for that circuit to the next relay in the circuit. If the node is the end of the circuit, then it tears down any associated edge connections (see Calculating the 'Digest' field).

After a DESTROY cell has been processed, a relay ignores all data or DESTROY cells for the corresponding circuit.

To tear down part of a circuit, the client may send a RELAY_TRUNCATE message signaling a given relay (Stream ID zero). That relay sends a DESTROY cell to the next node in the circuit, and replies to the client with a RELAY_TRUNCATED message.

[Note: If a relay receives a TRUNCATE message and it has any relay cells still queued on the circuit for the next node it will drop them without sending them. This is not considered conformant behavior, but it probably won't get fixed until a later version of Tor. Thus, clients SHOULD NOT send a TRUNCATE message to a node running any current version of Tor if a) they have sent relay cells through that node, and b) they aren't sure whether those cells have been sent on yet.]

   When an unrecoverable error occurs along one a circuit, the nodes
   must report it as follows:
     * If possible, send a DESTROY cell to relays _away_ from the client.
     * If possible, send *either* a DESTROY cell towards the client, or
       a RELAY_TRUNCATED cell towards the client.

Current versions of Tor do not reuse truncated RELAY_TRUNCATED circuits: A client, upon receiving a RELAY_TRUNCATED, will send forward a DESTROY cell in order to entirely tear down the circuit. Because of this, we recommend that relays should send DESTROY towards the client, not RELAY_TRUNCATED.

   NOTE:
     In tor versions before 0.4.5.13, 0.4.6.11 and 0.4.7.9, relays would
     handle an inbound DESTROY by sending the client a RELAY_TRUNCATED
     message.  Beginning with those versions, relays now propagate
     DESTROY cells in either direction, in order to tell every
     intermediary relays to stop queuing data on the circuit.  The earlier
     behavior created queuing pressure on the intermediary relays.

The body of a DESTROY cell or RELAY_TRUNCATED message contains a single octet, describing the reason that the circuit was closed. RELAY_TRUNCATED message, and DESTROY cells sent _towards the client, should contain the actual reason from the list of error codes below. Reasons in DESTROY cell SHOULD NOT be propagated downward or upward, due to potential side channel risk: A relay receiving a DESTROY command should use the DESTROYED reason for its next cell. A client should always use the NONE reason for its own DESTROY cells.

The error codes are:

     0 -- NONE            (No reason given.)
     1 -- PROTOCOL        (Tor protocol violation.)
     2 -- INTERNAL        (Internal error.)
     3 -- REQUESTED       (A client sent a TRUNCATE command.)
     4 -- HIBERNATING     (Not currently operating; trying to save bandwidth.)
     5 -- RESOURCELIMIT   (Out of memory, sockets, or circuit IDs.)
     6 -- CONNECTFAILED   (Unable to reach relay.)
     7 -- OR_IDENTITY     (Connected to relay, but its OR identity was not
                           as expected.)
     8 -- CHANNEL_CLOSED  (The OR connection that was carrying this circuit
                           died.)
     9 -- FINISHED        (The circuit has expired for being dirty or old.)
    10 -- TIMEOUT         (Circuit construction took too long)
    11 -- DESTROYED       (The circuit was destroyed w/o client TRUNCATE)
    12 -- NOSUCHSERVICE   (Request for unknown hidden service)

Routing relay cells

Circuit ID Checks

When a node wants to send a RELAY or RELAY_EARLY cell, it checks the cell's circID and determines whether the corresponding circuit along that connection is still open. If not, the node drops the cell.

When a node receives a RELAY or RELAY_EARLY cell, it checks the cell's circID and determines whether it has a corresponding circuit along that connection. If not, the node drops the cell.

Here and elsewhere, we refer to RELAY and RELAY_EARLY cells collectively as "relay cells".

Forward Direction

The forward direction is the direction that CREATE/CREATE2 cells are sent.

Routing from the Origin

When a relay cell is sent from a client, the client encrypts the cell's body with the stream cipher as follows:

Client sends relay cell:
   For I=N...1, where N is the destination node:
      Encrypt with Kf_I.
   Transmit the encrypted cell to node 1.

Relaying Forward at Onion Routers

When a forward relay cell is received by a relay, it decrypts the cell's body with the stream cipher, as follows:

'Forward' relay cell:
   Use Kf as key; decrypt.

The relay then decides whether it recognizes the relay cell, by inspecting the cell as described in Relay cells. If the relay recognizes the cell, it processes the contents of the relay cell. Otherwise, it passes the decrypted relay cell along the circuit if the circuit continues. If the relay at the end of the circuit encounters an unrecognized relay cell, an error has occurred: the relay sends a DESTROY cell to tear down the circuit.

For more information, see Application connections and stream management.

Backward Direction

The backward direction is the opposite direction from CREATE/CREATE2 cells.

Relaying Backward at Onion Routers

When a backward relay cell is received by a relay, it encrypts the cell's body with the stream cipher, as follows:

'Backward' relay cell:
   Use Kb as key; encrypt.

Routing to the Origin

When a relay cell arrives at a client, the client decrypts the cell's body with the stream cipher as follows:

Client receives relay cell from node 1:
   For I=1...N, where N is the final node on the circuit:
       Decrypt with Kb_I.
       If the cell is recognized (see [1]), then:
           The sending node is I.
           Stop and process the cell.

[1]: "Relay cells"

Handling RELAY_EARLY cells

A RELAY_EARLY cell is designed to limit the length any circuit can reach. When a relay receives a RELAY_EARLY cell, and the next node in the circuit is speaking v2 of the link protocol or later, the relay relays the cell as a RELAY_EARLY cell. Otherwise, older Tors will relay it as a RELAY cell.

If a node ever receives more than 8 RELAY_EARLY cells on a given outbound circuit, it SHOULD close the circuit. If it receives any inbound RELAY_EARLY cells, it MUST close the circuit immediately.

When speaking v2 of the link protocol or later, clients MUST only send EXTEND/EXTEND2 message inside RELAY_EARLY cells. Clients SHOULD send the first ~8 relay cells that are not targeted at the first hop of any circuit as RELAY_EARLY cells too, in order to partially conceal the circuit length.

[Starting with Tor 0.2.3.11-alpha, relays should reject any EXTEND/EXTEND2 cell not received in a RELAY_EARLY cell.]

Application connections and stream management

This section describes how clients use relay messages to communicate with exit nodes, and how use this communication channel to send and receive application data.

Relay cells

Within a circuit, the client and the end node use the contents of relay cells to tunnel end-to-end commands and TCP connections ("Streams") across circuits. End-to-end commands can be initiated by either edge; streams are initiated by the client.

End nodes that accept streams may be:

• exit relays (RELAY_BEGIN, anonymous),
• directory servers (RELAY_BEGIN_DIR, anonymous or non-anonymous),
• onion services (RELAY_BEGIN, anonymous via a rendezvous point).

The body of each unencrypted relay cell consists of an enveloped relay message, encoded as follows:

TODO: When we implement prop340, we should clarify which parts of the above are about the relay cell, and which are the enveloped message.

The relay commands are:

• F (Forward): Must only be sent by the originator of the circuit.
• B (Backward): Must only be sent by other nodes in the circuit back towards the originator.
• F/B (Forward or backward): May be sent in either direction.
• C: (Control) must have a zero-valued stream ID. (Other commands must have a nonzero stream ID.)

The 'recognized' field is used as a simple indication that the cell is still encrypted. It is an optimization to avoid calculating expensive digests for every cell. When sending cells, the unencrypted 'recognized' MUST be set to zero.

When receiving and decrypting cells the 'recognized' will always be zero if we're the endpoint that the cell is destined for. For cells that we should relay, the 'recognized' field will usually be nonzero, but will accidentally be zero with P=2^-16.

When handling a relay cell, if the 'recognized' in field in a decrypted relay cell is zero, the 'digest' field is computed as the first four bytes of the running digest of all the bytes that have been destined for this hop of the circuit or originated from this hop of the circuit, seeded from Df or Db respectively (obtained in Setting circuit keys), and including this relay cell's entire body (taken with the digest field set to zero). Note that these digests do include the padding bytes at the end of the cell, not only those up to "Len". If the digest is correct, the cell is considered "recognized" for the purposes of decryption (see Routing relay cells).

(The digest does not include any bytes from relay cells that do not start or end at this hop of the circuit. That is, it does not include forwarded data. Therefore if 'recognized' is zero but the digest does not match, the running digest at that node should not be updated, and the cell should be forwarded on.)

All relay messages pertaining to the same tunneled stream have the same stream ID. StreamIDs are chosen arbitrarily by the client. No stream may have a StreamID of zero. Rather, relay messages that affect the entire circuit rather than a particular stream use a StreamID of zero -- they are marked in the table above as "C" ([control") style cells. (Sendme cells are marked as "sometimes control" because they can include a StreamID or not depending on their purpose -- see Flow control.)

The 'Length' field of a relay cell contains the number of bytes in the relay cell's body which contain the body of the message. The remainder of the unencrypted relay cell's body is padded with padding bytes. Implementations handle padding bytes of unencrypted relay cells as they do padding bytes for other cell types; see Cell Packet format.

The 'Padding' field is used to make relay cell contents unpredictable, to avoid certain attacks (see proposal 289 for rationale). Implementations SHOULD fill this field with four zero-valued bytes, followed by as many random bytes as will fit. (If there are fewer than 4 bytes for padding, then they should all be filled with zero.

Implementations MUST NOT rely on the contents of the 'Padding' field.

If the relay cell is recognized but the relay command is not understood, the cell must be dropped and ignored. Its contents still count with respect to the digests and flow control windows, though.

Calculating the 'Digest' field

The 'Digest' field itself serves the purpose to check if a cell has been fully decrypted, that is, all onion layers have been removed. Having a single field, namely 'Recognized' is not sufficient, as outlined above.

When ENCRYPTING a relay cell, an implementation does the following:

# Encode the cell in binary (recognized and digest set to zero)
tmp = cmd + [0, 0] + stream_id + [0, 0, 0, 0] + length + data + padding

# Update the digest with the encoded data
digest_state = hash_update(digest_state, tmp)
digest = hash_calculate(digest_state)

# The encoded data is the same as above with the digest field not being
# zero anymore
encoded = cmd + [0, 0] + stream_id + digest[0..4] + length + data +
          padding

# Now we can encrypt the cell by adding the onion layers ...

When DECRYPTING a relay cell, an implementation does the following:

decrypted = decrypt(cell)

# Replace the digest field in decrypted by zeros
tmp = decrypted[0..5] + [0, 0, 0, 0] + decrypted[9..]

# Update the digest field with the decrypted data and its digest field
# set to zero
digest_state = hash_update(digest_state, tmp)
digest = hash_calculate(digest_state)

if digest[0..4] == decrypted[5..9]
  # The cell has been fully decrypted ...

The caveat itself is that only the binary data with the digest bytes set to zero are being taken into account when calculating the running digest. The final plain-text cells (with the digest field set to its actual value) are not taken into the running digest.

Opening streams and transmitting data

Opening a new stream: The begin/connected handshake

To open a new anonymized TCP connection, the client chooses an open circuit to an exit that may be able to connect to the destination address, selects an arbitrary StreamID not yet used on that circuit, and constructs a RELAY_BEGIN message with a body encoding the address and port of the destination host. The body format is:

         ADDRPORT [nul-terminated string]
         FLAGS    [4 bytes, optional]

   ADDRPORT is made of ADDRESS | ':' | PORT | [00]

where ADDRESS can be a DNS hostname, or an IPv4 address in dotted-quad format, or an IPv6 address surrounded by square brackets; and where PORT is a decimal integer between 1 and 65535, inclusive.

The ADDRPORT string SHOULD be sent in lower case, to avoid fingerprinting. Implementations MUST accept strings in any case.

The FLAGS value has one or more of the following bits set, where "bit 1" is the LSB of the 32-bit value, and "bit 32" is the MSB. (Remember that all integers in Tor are big-endian, so the MSB of a 4-byte value is the MSB of the first byte, and the LSB of a 4-byte value is the LSB of its last byte.)

If FLAGS is absent, its value is 0. Whenever 0 would be sent for FLAGS, FLAGS is omitted from the message body.

     bit   meaning
      1 -- IPv6 okay.  We support learning about IPv6 addresses and
           connecting to IPv6 addresses.
      2 -- IPv4 not okay.  We don't want to learn about IPv4 addresses
           or connect to them.
      3 -- IPv6 preferred.  If there are both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses,
           we want to connect to the IPv6 one.  (By default, we connect
           to the IPv4 address.)
      4..32 -- Reserved. Current clients MUST NOT set these. Servers
           MUST ignore them.

Upon receiving this message, the exit node first checks whether it happens to be the first node in the circuit (i.e. someone attempts to create a one-hop circuit). It does so, by inspecting the accompanying channel, whether the channel initiator has authenticated itself as well as its fingerprint is part of the current consensus. (See "Negotiating and initializing channels")

Any attempts to create a one-hop circuit using a RELAY_BEGIN cell SHOULD be declined by sending an appropriate DESTROY cell with a protocol violation as its reason.

Afterwards, the exit node resolves the address as necessary, and opens a new TCP connection to the target port. If the address cannot be resolved, or a connection can't be established, the exit nodes replies with a RELAY_END message. (See "Closing streams") Otherwise, the exit node replies with a RELAY_CONNECTED message, whose body is one of the following formats:

       The IPv4 address to which the connection was made [4 octets]
       A number of seconds (TTL) for which the address may be cached [4 octets]

    or

       Four zero-valued octets [4 octets]
       An address type (6)     [1 octet]
       The IPv6 address to which the connection was made [16 octets]
       A number of seconds (TTL) for which the address may be cached [4 octets]

Implementations MUST accept either of these formats, and MUST also accept an empty RELAY_CONNECTED message body.

Implmentations MAY ignore the address value, and MAY choose not to cache it. If an implementation chooses to cache the address, it SHOULD NOT reuse that address with any other circuit.

The reason not to cache an address is that the exit might have lied about the actual address of the host, or might have given us a unique address to identify us in the future.

[Tor exit nodes before 0.1.2.0 set the TTL field to a fixed value. Later versions set the TTL to the last value seen from a DNS server, and expire their own cached entries after a fixed interval. This prevents certain attacks.]

Transmitting data

Once a connection has been established, the client and exit node package stream data in RELAY_DATA message, and upon receiving such messages, echo their contents to the corresponding TCP stream.

If the exit node does not support optimistic data (i.e. its version number is before 0.2.3.1-alpha), then the client MUST wait for a RELAY_CONNECTED message before sending any data. If the exit node supports optimistic data (i.e. its version number is 0.2.3.1-alpha or later), then the client MAY send RELAY_DATA messages immediately after sending the RELAY_BEGIN message (and before receiving either a RELAY_CONNECTED or RELAY_END message).

RELAY_DATA messages sent to unrecognized streams are dropped. If the exit node supports optimistic data, then RELAY_DATA messages it receives on streams which have seen RELAY_BEGIN but have not yet been replied to with a RELAY_CONNECTED or RELAY_END are queued. If the stream creation succeeds with a RELAY_CONNECTED, the queue is processed immediately afterwards; if the stream creation fails with a RELAY_END, the contents of the queue are deleted.

Relay RELAY_DROP messages are long-range dummies; upon receiving such a message, the relay or client must drop it.

Opening a directory stream

If a Tor relay is a directory server, it should respond to a RELAY_BEGIN_DIR message as if it had received a BEGIN message requesting a connection to its directory port. RELAY_BEGIN_DIR message ignore exit policy, since the stream is local to the Tor process.

Directory servers may be:

• authoritative directories (RELAY_BEGIN_DIR, usually non-anonymous),
• bridge authoritative directories (RELAY_BEGIN_DIR, anonymous),
• directory mirrors (RELAY_BEGIN_DIR, usually non-anonymous),
• onion service directories (RELAY_BEGIN_DIR, anonymous).

If the Tor relay is not running a directory service, it should respond with a REASON_NOTDIRECTORY RELAY_END message.

Clients MUST generate a empty body for RELAY_BEGIN_DIR message; relays MUST ignore the the body of a RELAY_BEGIN_DIR message.

In response to a RELAY_BEGIN_DIR message, relays respond either with a RELAY_CONNECTED message on success, or a RELAY_END message on failure. They MUST send a RELAY_CONNECTED message with an empty body; clients MUST ignore the body.

[RELAY_BEGIN_DIR was not supported before Tor 0.1.2.2-alpha; clients SHOULD NOT send it to routers running earlier versions of Tor.]

Closing streams

When an anonymized TCP connection is closed, or an edge node encounters error on any stream, it sends a 'RELAY_END' message along the circuit (if possible) and closes the TCP connection immediately. If an edge node receives a 'RELAY_END' message for any stream, it closes the TCP connection completely, and sends nothing more along the circuit for that stream.

The body of a RELAY_END message begins with a single 'reason' byte to describe why the stream is closing. For some reasons, it contains additional data (depending on the reason.) The values are:

       1 -- REASON_MISC           (catch-all for unlisted reasons)
       2 -- REASON_RESOLVEFAILED  (couldn't look up hostname)
       3 -- REASON_CONNECTREFUSED (remote host refused connection) [*]
       4 -- REASON_EXITPOLICY     (Relay refuses to connect to host or port)
       5 -- REASON_DESTROY        (Circuit is being destroyed)
       6 -- REASON_DONE           (Anonymized TCP connection was closed)
       7 -- REASON_TIMEOUT        (Connection timed out, or relay timed out
                                   while connecting)
       8 -- REASON_NOROUTE        (Routing error while attempting to
                                   contact destination)
       9 -- REASON_HIBERNATING    (Relay is temporarily hibernating)
      10 -- REASON_INTERNAL       (Internal error at the relay)
      11 -- REASON_RESOURCELIMIT  (Relay has no resources to fulfill request)
      12 -- REASON_CONNRESET      (Connection was unexpectedly reset)
      13 -- REASON_TORPROTOCOL    (Sent when closing connection because of
                                   Tor protocol violations.)
      14 -- REASON_NOTDIRECTORY   (Client sent RELAY_BEGIN_DIR to a
                                   non-directory relay.)

   [*] Older versions of Tor also send this reason when connections are
       reset.

Clients and relays MUST accept reasons not on the above list, since future versions of Tor may provide more fine-grained reasons.

For most reasons, the format of RELAY_END is:

Reason [1 byte]

For REASON_EXITPOLICY, the format of RELAY_END is:

      Reason                      [1 byte]
      IPv4 or IPv6 address        [4 bytes or 16 bytes]
      TTL                         [4 bytes]

(If the TTL is absent, it should be treated as if it were 0xffffffff. If the address is absent or is the wrong length, the RELAY_END message should be processed anyway.)

Tors SHOULD NOT send any reason except REASON_MISC for a stream that they have originated.

Implementations SHOULD accept empty RELAY_END messages, and treat them as if they specified REASON_MISC.

Upon receiving a RELAY_END message, the recipient may be sure that no further messages will arrive on that stream, and can treat such messages as a protocol violation.

After sending a RELAY_END message, the sender needs to give the recipient time to receive that message. In the meantime, the sender SHOULD remember how many messages of which types (CONNECTED, SENDME, DATA) it would have accepted on that stream, and SHOULD kill the circuit if it receives more than permitted.

--- [The rest of this section describes unimplemented functionality.]

Because TCP connections can be half-open, we follow an equivalent to TCP's FIN/FIN-ACK/ACK protocol to close streams.

An exit (or onion service) connection can have a TCP stream in one of three states: 'OPEN', 'DONE_PACKAGING', and 'DONE_DELIVERING'. For the purposes of modeling transitions, we treat 'CLOSED' as a fourth state, although connections in this state are not, in fact, tracked by the onion router.

A stream begins in the 'OPEN' state. Upon receiving a 'FIN' from the corresponding TCP connection, the edge node sends a 'RELAY_FIN' message along the circuit and changes its state to 'DONE_PACKAGING'. Upon receiving a 'RELAY_FIN' message, an edge node sends a 'FIN' to the corresponding TCP connection (e.g., by calling shutdown(SHUT_WR)) and changing its state to 'DONE_DELIVERING'.

When a stream in already in 'DONE_DELIVERING' receives a 'FIN', it also sends a 'RELAY_FIN' along the circuit, and changes its state to 'CLOSED'. When a stream already in 'DONE_PACKAGING' receives a 'RELAY_FIN' message, it sends a 'FIN' and changes its state to 'CLOSED'.

If an edge node encounters an error on any stream, it sends a 'RELAY_END' message (if possible) and closes the stream immediately.

Remote hostname lookup

To find the address associated with a hostname, the client sends a RELAY_RESOLVE message containing the hostname to be resolved with a NUL terminating byte.

For a reverse lookup, the client sends a RELAY_RESOLVE message containing an in-addr.arpa address.

The relay replies with a RELAY_RESOLVED message containing any number of answers. Each answer is of the form:

       Type   (1 octet)
       Length (1 octet)
       Value  (variable-width)
       TTL    (4 octets)
   "Length" is the length of the Value field.
   "Type" is one of:

      0x00 -- Hostname
      0x04 -- IPv4 address
      0x06 -- IPv6 address
      0xF0 -- Error, transient
      0xF1 -- Error, nontransient

If any answer has a type of 'Error', then no other answer may be given.

The 'Value' field encodes the answer:

• IP addresses are given in network order.

• Hostnames are given in standard DNS order ("www.example.com") and not NUL-terminated.

• The content of Errors is currently ignored. Relays currently set it to the string "Error resolving hostname" with no terminating NUL. Implementations MUST ignore this value.

For backward compatibility, if there are any IPv4 answers, one of those must be given as the first answer.

The RELAY_RESOLVE messge must use a nonzero, distinct streamID; the corresponding RELAY_RESOLVED message must use the same streamID. No stream is actually created by the relay when resolving the name.

Flow control

Link throttling

Each client or relay should do appropriate bandwidth throttling to keep its user happy.

Communicants rely on TCP's default flow control to push back when they stop reading.

The mainline Tor implementation uses token buckets (one for reads, one for writes) for the rate limiting.

Since 0.2.0.x, Tor has let the user specify an additional pair of token buckets for "relayed" traffic, so people can deploy a Tor relay with strict rate limiting, but also use the same Tor as a client. To avoid partitioning concerns we combine both classes of traffic over a given relay connection, and keep track of the last time we read or wrote a high-priority (non-relayed) cell. If it's been less than N seconds (currently N=30), we give the whole connection high priority, else we give the whole connection low priority. We also give low priority to reads and writes for connections that are serving directory information. See proposal 111 for details.

Link padding

Link padding can be created by sending PADDING or VPADDING cells along the connection; relay messages of type "DROP" can be used for long-range padding. The bodies of PADDING cells, VPADDING cells, or DROP message are filled with padding bytes. See Cell Packet format.

If the link protocol is version 5 or higher, link level padding is enabled as per padding-spec.txt. On these connections, clients may negotiate the use of padding with a PADDING_NEGOTIATE command whose format is as follows:

         Version           [1 byte]
         Command           [1 byte]
         ito_low_ms        [2 bytes]
         ito_high_ms       [2 bytes]

Currently, only version 0 of this cell is defined. In it, the command field is either 1 (stop padding) or 2 (start padding). For the start padding command, a pair of timeout values specifying a low and a high range bounds for randomized padding timeouts may be specified as unsigned integer values in milliseconds. The ito_low_ms field should not be lower than the current consensus parameter value for nf_ito_low (default: 1500). The ito_high_ms field should not be lower than ito_low_ms. (If any party receives an out-of-range value, they clamp it so that it is in-range.)

For the stop padding command, the timeout fields should be sent as zero (to avoid client distinguishability) and ignored by the recipient.

For more details on padding behavior, see padding-spec.txt.

Circuit-level flow control

To control a circuit's bandwidth usage, each relay keeps track of two 'windows', consisting of how many DATA-bearing relay cells it is allowed to originate or willing to consume.

(For the purposes of flow control, we call a relay cell "DATA-bearing" if it holds a DATA relay message. Note that this design does not limit relay cells that don't contain a DATA message; this limitation may be addressed in the future.)

These two windows are respectively named: the package window (packaged for transmission) and the deliver window (delivered for local streams).

Because of our leaky-pipe topology, every relay on the circuit has a pair of windows, and the client has a pair of windows for every relay on the circuit. These windows apply only to originated and consumed cells. They do not, however, apply to relayed cells, and a relay that is never used for streams will never decrement its windows or cause the client to decrement a window.

Each 'window' value is initially set based on the consensus parameter 'circwindow' in the directory (see dir-spec.txt), or to 1000 DATA-bearing relay cells if no 'circwindow' value is given. In each direction, cells that are not RELAY_DATA cells do not affect the window.

A relay or client (depending on the stream direction) sends a RELAY_SENDME message to indicate that it is willing to receive more DATA-bearing cells when its deliver window goes down below a full increment (100). For example, if the window started at 1000, it should send a RELAY_SENDME when it reaches 900.

When a relay or client receives a RELAY_SENDME, it increments its package window by a value of 100 (circuit window increment) and proceeds to sending the remaining DATA-bearing cells.

If a package window reaches 0, the relay or client stops reading from TCP connections for all streams on the corresponding circuit, and sends no more DATA-bearing cells until receiving a RELAY_SENDME message.

If a deliver window goes below 0, the circuit should be torn down.

Starting with tor-0.4.1.1-alpha, authenticated SENDMEs are supported (version 1, see below). This means that both the relay and client need to remember the rolling digest of the relay cell that precedes (triggers) a RELAY_SENDME. This can be known if the package window gets to a multiple of the circuit window increment (100).

When the RELAY_SENDME version 1 arrives, it will contain a digest that MUST match the one remembered. This represents a proof that the end point of the circuit saw the sent relay cells. On failure to match, the circuit should be torn down.

To ensure unpredictability, random bytes should be added to at least one RELAY_DATA cell within one increment window. In other word, at every 100 data-bearing cells (increment), random bytes should be introduced in at least one cell.

SENDME Message Format

A circuit-level RELAY_SENDME message always has its StreamID=0.

A relay or client must obey these two consensus parameters in order to know which version to emit and accept.

      'sendme_emit_min_version': Minimum version to emit.
      'sendme_accept_min_version': Minimum version to accept.

If a RELAY_SENDME version is received that is below the minimum accepted version, the circuit should be closed.

The body of a RELAY_SENDME message contains the following:

      VERSION     [1 byte]
      DATA_LEN    [2 bytes]
      DATA        [DATA_LEN bytes]

The VERSION tells us what is expected in the DATA section of length DATA_LEN and how to handle it. The recognized values are:

0x00: The rest of the message should be ignored.

0x01: Authenticated SENDME. The DATA section MUST contain:

DIGEST [20 bytes]

         If the DATA_LEN value is less than 20 bytes, the message should be
         dropped and the circuit closed. If the value is more than 20 bytes,
         then the first 20 bytes should be read to get the DIGEST value.

         The DIGEST is the rolling digest value from the DATA-bearing relay cell that
         immediately preceded (triggered) this RELAY_SENDME. This value is
         matched on the other side from the previous cell sent that the relay/client
         must remember.

         (Note that if the digest in use has an output length greater than 20
         bytes—as is the case for the hop of an onion service rendezvous
         circuit created by the hs_ntor handshake—we truncate the digest
         to 20 bytes here.)

If the VERSION is unrecognized or below the minimum accepted version (taken from the consensus), the circuit should be torn down.

Stream-level flow control

Edge nodes use RELAY_SENDME messages to implement end-to-end flow control for individual connections across circuits. Similarly to circuit-level flow control, edge nodes begin with a window of DATA-bearing cells (500) per stream, and increment the window by a fixed value (50) upon receiving a RELAY_SENDME message. Edge nodes initiate RELAY_SENDME messages when both a) the window is <= 450, and b) there are less than ten cells' worth of data remaining to be flushed at that edge.

Stream-level RELAY_SENDME messages are distinguished by having nonzero StreamID. They are still empty; the body still SHOULD be ignored.

Subprotocol versioning

This section specifies the Tor subprotocol versioning. They are broken down into different types with their current version numbers. Any new version number should be added to this section.

The dir-spec.txt details how those versions are encoded. See the "proto"/"pr" line in a descriptor and the "recommended-relay-protocols", "required-relay-protocols", "recommended-client-protocols" and "required-client-protocols" lines in the vote/consensus format.

Here are the rules a relay and client should follow when encountering a protocol list in the consensus:

• When a relay lacks a protocol listed in recommended-relay-protocols, it should warn its operator that the relay is obsolete.

• When a relay lacks a protocol listed in required-relay-protocols, it should warn its operator as above. If the consensus is newer than the date when the software was released or scheduled for release, it must not attempt to join the network.

• When a client lacks a protocol listed in recommended-client-protocols, it should warn the user that the client is obsolete.

• When a client lacks a protocol listed in required-client-protocols, it should warn the user as above. If the consensus is newer than the date when the software was released, it must not connect to the network. This implements a "safe forward shutdown" mechanism for zombie clients.

• If a client or relay has a cached consensus telling it that a given protocol is required, and it does not implement that protocol, it SHOULD NOT try to fetch a newer consensus.

Software release dates SHOULD be automatically updated as part of the release process, to prevent forgetting to move them forward. Software release dates MAY be manually adjusted by maintainers if necessary.

Starting in version 0.2.9.4-alpha, the initial required protocols for clients that we will Recommend and Require are:

Cons=1-2 Desc=1-2 DirCache=1 HSDir=1 HSIntro=3 HSRend=1 Link=4
LinkAuth=1 Microdesc=1-2 Relay=2

For relays we will Require:

Cons=1 Desc=1 DirCache=1 HSDir=1 HSIntro=3 HSRend=1 Link=3-4
LinkAuth=1 Microdesc=1 Relay=1-2

For relays, we will additionally Recommend all protocols which we recommend for clients.

"Link"

The "link" protocols are those used by clients and relays to initiate and receive relay connections and to handle cells on relay connections. The "link" protocol versions correspond 1:1 to those versions.

Two Tor instances can make a connection to each other only if they have at least one link protocol in common.

The current "link" versions are: "1" through "5". See Negotiating versions with VERSIONS cells for more information. All current Tor versions support "1-3"; versions from 0.2.4.11-alpha and on support "1-4"; versions from 0.3.1.1-alpha and on support "1-5". Eventually we will drop "1" and "2".

"LinkAuth"

LinkAuth protocols correspond to varieties of AUTHENTICATE cells used for the v3+ link protocols.

Current versions are:

• "1" is the RSA link authentication described in Link authentication type 1: RSA-SHA256-TLSSecret.

• "2" is unused, and reserved by proposal 244.

• "3" is the ed25519 link authentication described in Link authentication type 3: Ed25519-SHA256-RFC5705.

"Relay"

The "relay" protocols are those used to handle CREATE/CREATE2 cells, and those that handle the various relay messages received after a CREATE/CREATE2 cell. (Except, relay cells used to manage introduction and rendezvous points are managed with the "HSIntro" and "HSRend" protocols respectively.)

Current versions are as follows.

• "1" -- supports the TAP key exchange, with all features in Tor 0.2.3. Support for CREATE and CREATED.

• "2" -- supports the ntor key exchange, and all features in Tor 0.2.4.19. Includes support for CREATE2 and CREATED2 and EXTEND2 and EXTENDED2.

  Relay=2 has limited IPv6 support:

  • Clients might not include IPv6 ORPorts in EXTEND2 messages.
  • Relays (and bridges) might not initiate IPv6 connections in response to EXTEND2 messages containing IPv6 ORPorts, even if they are configured with an IPv6 ORPort.

  However, relays support accepting inbound connections to their IPv6 ORPorts. And they might extend circuits via authenticated IPv6 connections to other relays.

• "3" -- relays support extending over IPv6 connections in response to an EXTEND2 message containing an IPv6 ORPort.

  Bridges might not extend over IPv6, because they try to imitate client behaviour.

  A successful IPv6 extend requires:

  • Relay subprotocol version 3 (or later) on the extending relay,
  • an IPv6 ORPort on the extending relay,
  • an IPv6 ORPort for the accepting relay in the EXTEND2 message, and
  • an IPv6 ORPort on the accepting relay. (Because different tor instances can have different views of the network, these checks should be done when the path is selected. Extending relays should only check local IPv6 information, before attempting the extend.)

  When relays receive an EXTEND2 message containing both an IPv4 and an IPv6 ORPort, and there is no existing authenticated connection with the target relay, the extending relay may choose between IPv4 and IPv6 at random. The extending relay might not try the other address, if the first connection fails.

  As is the case with other subprotocol versions, tor advertises, recommends, or requires support for this protocol version, regardless of its current configuration.

  In particular:

  • relays without an IPv6 ORPort, and
  • tor instances that are not relays, have the following behaviour, regardless of their configuration:
  • advertise support for "Relay=3" in their descriptor (if they are a relay, bridge, or directory authority), and
  • react to consensuses recommending or requiring support for "Relay=3".

  This subprotocol version is described in proposal 311, and implemented in Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha.

• "4" -- support the ntorv3 (version 3) key exchange and all features in 0.4.7.3-alpha. This adds a new CREATE2 cell type. See proposal 332 and The "ntor-v3" handshake for more details.

• "5" -- [RESERVED] support the ntorv3 subprotocol request extension (proposal 346) allowing a client to request what features to be used on a circuit.

"HSIntro"

The "HSIntro" protocol handles introduction points.

• "3" -- supports authentication as of proposal 121 in Tor 0.2.1.6-alpha.

• "4" -- support ed25519 authentication keys which is defined by the HS v3 protocol as part of proposal 224 in Tor 0.3.0.4-alpha.

• "5" -- support ESTABLISH_INTRO message DoS parameters extension for onion service version 3 only in Tor 0.4.2.1-alpha.

"HSRend"

The "HSRend" protocol handles rendezvous points.

• "1" -- supports all features in Tor 0.0.6.

• "2" -- supports RENDEZVOUS2 messages of arbitrary length as long as they have 20 bytes of cookie in Tor 0.2.9.1-alpha.

"HSDir"

The "HSDir" protocols are the set of hidden service document types that can be uploaded to, understood by, and downloaded from a tor relay, and the set of URLs available to fetch them.

• "1" -- supports all features in Tor 0.2.0.10-alpha.

• "2" -- support ed25519 blinded keys request which is defined by the HS v3 protocol as part of proposal 224 in Tor 0.3.0.4-alpha.

"DirCache"

The "DirCache" protocols are the set of documents available for download from a directory cache via BEGIN_DIR, and the set of URLs available to fetch them. (This excludes URLs for hidden service objects.)

• "1" -- supports all features in Tor 0.2.4.19.

• "2" -- adds support for consensus diffs in Tor 0.3.1.1-alpha.

"Desc"

Describes features present or absent in descriptors.

Most features in descriptors don't require a "Desc" update -- only those that need to someday be required. For example, someday clients will need to understand ed25519 identities.

• "1" -- supports all features in Tor 0.2.4.19.

• "2" -- cross-signing with onion-keys, signing with ed25519 identities.

• "3" -- parsing relay descriptors without onion-keys; generating them when the publish-dummy-tap-key option is 0.

"Microdesc"

Describes features present or absent in microdescriptors.

Most features in descriptors don't require a "MicroDesc" update -- only those that need to someday be required. These correspond more or less with consensus methods.

• "1" -- consensus methods 9 through 20.

• "2" -- consensus method 21 (adds ed25519 keys to microdescs).

• "3" -- Accepts Microdescriptors without onion-key bodies. (Consensus method TBD; see proposal 350.)

"Cons"

Describes features present or absent in consensus documents.

Most features in consensus documents don't require a "Cons" update -- only those that need to someday be required.

These correspond more or less with consensus methods.

• "1" -- consensus methods 9 through 20.

• "2" -- consensus method 21 (adds ed25519 keys to microdescs).

"Padding"

Describes the padding capabilities of the relay.

• "1" -- [DEFUNCT] Relay supports circuit-level padding. This version MUST NOT be used as it was also enabled in relays that don't actually support circuit-level padding. Advertised by Tor versions from tor-0.4.0.1-alpha and only up to and including tor-0.4.1.4-rc.

• "2" -- Relay supports the HS circuit setup padding machines (proposal 302). Advertised by Tor versions from tor-0.4.1.5 and onwards.

"FlowCtrl"

Describes the flow control protocol at the circuit and stream level. If there is no FlowCtrl advertised, tor supports the unauthenticated flow control features (version 0).

• "1" -- supports authenticated circuit level SENDMEs as of proposal 289 in Tor 0.4.1.1-alpha.

• "2" -- supports congestion control by the Exits which implies a new SENDME format and algorithm. See proposal 324 for more details. Advertised in tor 0.4.7.3-alpha.

"Conflux"

Describes the communications mechanisms used to bundle circuits together, in order to split traffic across multiple paths.

TODO: This is not yet described here. For details see proposal 329.

"Datagram"

Describes the UDP protocol capabilities of a relay.

• "1" -- [RESERVED] supports UDP by an Exit as in the relay command CONNECT_UDP, CONNECTED_UDP and DATAGRAM. See proposal 339 for more details. (Not yet advertised, reserved)

Certificates in Tor

This document describes a certificate formats that Tor uses for its Ed25519 internal certificates, and discusses how that format is labeled and encoded.

This format is not the only certificate format that Tor uses. For the certificates that authorities use for their signing keys, see "Creating key certificates".

Additionally, Tor uses TLS, which depends on X.509 certificates.

The certificates in this document were first introduced in proposal 220, and were first supported by Tor in Tor version 0.2.7.2-alpha.

Signing

All signatures here, unless otherwise specified, are computed using an Ed25519 key.

In order to future-proof the format, before signing anything, the signed document is prefixed with a personalization string, which will be different in each case.

Document formats

X.509 certificates

Describing this format is out of scope for the Tor specifications.

Ed25519 Certificates

When generating a signing key, we also generate a certificate for it. These representation for this certificate is:

The VERSION field holds the value [01].

The CERT_TYPE field holds a value depending on the type of certificate. (See "Certificate types".)

The CERTIFIED_KEY field is an Ed25519 public key if CERT_KEY_TYPE is [01], or a digest of some other key type depending on the value of CERT_KEY_TYPE. (See "List of certified key types".)

The EXPIRATION_DATE is a date, given in hours since the epoch, after which this certificate isn't valid.

(A four-byte date here will work fine until 10136 A.D.)

The ExtFlags field holds flags. Only one flag is currently defined:

• 1: AFFECTS_VALIDATION. If this flag is present, then the extension affects whether the certificate is valid; implementations MUST NOT accept the certificate as valid unless they recognize the ExtType and accept the extension as valid.

The interpretation of ExtBody depends on the ExtType field. See "Recognized extensions" below.

It is an error for an extension to be truncated; such a certificate is invalid.

Before processing any certificate, parties SHOULD know which key it is supposed to be signed by, and then check the signature.

The signature is created by signing all the fields in the certificate up until but not including SIGNATURE.

Recognized extensions

Signed-with-ed25519-key extension [type 04]

In several places, it's desirable to bundle the signing key along with the certificate. We do so with this extension.

With this extension:

• ExtLen is 32.
• `ExtData is a 32-byte Ed25519 public key.

When this extension is present, it MUST match the key used to sign the certificate.

RSA→Ed25519 cross-certificate

In one place, we have a binary certificate that signs an Ed25519 key using a legacy 1024-bit RSA key. Its format is:

Just as with the Ed25519 certificates above, the EXPIRATION_DATE field is a number of hours since the epoch.

As elsewhere, the RSA signature is generated using RSA-PKCSv1 padding, with hash algorithm OIDs omitted.

The signature is computed on the SHA256 hash of PREFIX | FIELDS, where PREFIX is the string "Tor TLS RSA/Ed25519 cross-certificate" (without any terminating NUL), and FIELDS is all other fields in the certificate (other than the signature itself).

Certificate types (CERT_TYPE field)

This table shows values of the CERT_TYPE field in Ed, as well as values of the CertType field used in a CERTS cell during channel negotiation.

You might ned to scroll this table to view it all.

We'll try to fix this once we have a better grip on our mdbook CSS.

Note 1: The certificate types [09] HS_IP_V_SIGNING and [0B] HS_IP_CC_SIGNING were implemented incorrectly, and now cannot be changed. Their signing keys and subject keys, as implemented, are given in the table. They were originally meant to be the inverse of this order.

List of extension types

• [04] - signed-with-ed25519-key

List of signature prefixes

We describe various documents as being signed with a prefix. Here are those prefixes:

"Tor router descriptor signature v1" (see dir-spec.txt)

List of certified key types (CERT_KEY_TYPE field)

• [01]: ed25519 key
• [02]: SHA256 hash of an RSA key. (Not currently used.)
• [03]: SHA256 hash of an X.509 certificate. (Used with certificate type 5.)

(NOTE: Up till 0.4.5.1-alpha, all versions of Tor have incorrectly used [01] for all types of certified key. Implementations SHOULD allow "01" in this position, and infer the actual key type from the CERT_TYPE field.

Tor directory protocol, version 3

This directory protocol is used by Tor version 0.2.0.x-alpha and later. See dir-spec-v1.txt for information on the protocol used up to the 0.1.0.x series, and dir-spec-v2.txt for information on the protocol used by the 0.1.1.x and 0.1.2.x series.

This document merges and supersedes the following proposals:

• 101 Voting on the Tor Directory System
• 103 Splitting identity key from regularly used signing key
• 104 Long and Short Router Descriptors

XXX timeline XXX fill in XXXXs

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

History

The earliest versions of Onion Routing shipped with a list of known routers and their keys. When the set of routers changed, users needed to fetch a new list.

The Version 1 Directory protocol

Early versions of Tor (0.0.2) introduced "Directory authorities": servers that served signed "directory" documents containing a list of signed "server descriptors", along with short summary of the status of each router. Thus, clients could get up-to-date information on the state of the network automatically, and be certain that the list they were getting was attested by a trusted directory authority.

Later versions (0.0.8) added directory caches, which download directories from the authorities and serve them to clients. Non-caches fetch from the caches in preference to fetching from the authorities, thus distributing bandwidth requirements.

Also added during the version 1 directory protocol were "router status" documents: short documents that listed only the up/down status of the routers on the network, rather than a complete list of all the descriptors. Clients and caches would fetch these documents far more frequently than they would fetch full directories.

The Version 2 Directory Protocol

During the Tor 0.1.1.x series, Tor revised its handling of directory documents in order to address two major problems:

      * Directories had grown quite large (over 1MB), and most directory
        downloads consisted mainly of server descriptors that clients
        already had.

      * Every directory authority was a trust bottleneck: if a single
        directory authority lied, it could make clients believe for a time
        an arbitrarily distorted view of the Tor network.  (Clients
        trusted the most recent signed document they downloaded.) Thus,
        adding more authorities would make the system less secure, not
        more.

To address these, we extended the directory protocol so that authorities now published signed "network status" documents. Each network status listed, for every router in the network: a hash of its identity key, a hash of its most recent descriptor, and a summary of what the authority believed about its status. Clients would download the authorities' network status documents in turn, and believe statements about routers iff they were attested to by more than half of the authorities.

Instead of downloading all server descriptors at once, clients downloaded only the descriptors that they did not have. Descriptors were indexed by their digests, in order to prevent malicious caches from giving different versions of a server descriptor to different clients.

Routers began working harder to upload new descriptors only when their contents were substantially changed.

Goals of the version 3 protocol

Version 3 of the Tor directory protocol tries to solve the following issues:

      * A great deal of bandwidth used to transmit server descriptors was
        used by two fields that are not actually used by Tor routers
        (namely read-history and write-history).  We save about 60% by
        moving them into a separate document that most clients do not
        fetch or use.

      * It was possible under certain perverse circumstances for clients
        to download an unusual set of network status documents, thus
        partitioning themselves from clients who have a more recent and/or
        typical set of documents.  Even under the best of circumstances,
        clients were sensitive to the ages of the network status documents
        they downloaded.  Therefore, instead of having the clients
        correlate multiple network status documents, we have the
        authorities collectively vote on a single consensus network status
        document.

      * The most sensitive data in the entire network (the identity keys
        of the directory authorities) needed to be stored unencrypted so
        that the authorities can sign network-status documents on the fly.
        Now, the authorities' identity keys are stored offline, and used
        to certify medium-term signing keys that can be rotated.

Outline

There is a small set (say, around 5-10) of semi-trusted directory authorities. A default list of authorities is shipped with the Tor software. Users can change this list, but are encouraged not to do so, in order to avoid partitioning attacks.

Every authority has a very-secret, long-term "Authority Identity Key". This is stored encrypted and/or offline, and is used to sign "key certificate" documents. Every key certificate contains a medium-term (3-12 months) "authority signing key", that is used by the authority to sign other directory information. (Note that the authority identity key is distinct from the router identity key that the authority uses in its role as an ordinary router.)

Routers periodically upload signed "routers descriptors" to the directory authorities describing their keys, capabilities, and other information. Routers may also upload signed "extra-info documents" containing information that is not required for the Tor protocol. Directory authorities serve server descriptors indexed by router identity, or by hash of the descriptor.

Routers may act as directory caches to reduce load on the directory authorities. They announce this in their descriptors.

Periodically, each directory authority generates a view of the current descriptors and status for known routers. They send a signed summary of this view (a "status vote") to the other authorities. The authorities compute the result of this vote, and sign a "consensus status" document containing the result of the vote.

Directory caches download, cache, and re-serve consensus documents.

Clients, directory caches, and directory authorities all use consensus documents to find out when their list of routers is out-of-date. (Directory authorities also use vote statuses.) If it is, they download any missing server descriptors. Clients download missing descriptors from caches; caches and authorities download from authorities. Descriptors are downloaded by the hash of the descriptor, not by the relay's identity key: this prevents directory servers from attacking clients by giving them descriptors nobody else uses.

All directory information is uploaded and downloaded with HTTP.

What's different from version 2?

Clients used to download multiple network status documents, corresponding roughly to "status votes" above. They would compute the result of the vote on the client side.

Authorities used to sign documents using the same private keys they used for their roles as routers. This forced them to keep these extremely sensitive keys in memory unencrypted.

All of the information in extra-info documents used to be kept in the main descriptors.

Document meta-format

Server descriptors, directories, and running-routers documents all obey the following lightweight extensible information format.

The highest level object is a Document, which consists of one or more Items. Every Item begins with a KeywordLine, followed by zero or more Objects. A KeywordLine begins with a Keyword, optionally followed by whitespace and more non-newline characters, and ends with a newline. A Keyword is a sequence of one or more characters in the set [A-Za-z0-9-], but may not start with -. An Object is a block of encoded data in pseudo-Privacy-Enhanced-Mail (PEM) style format: that is, lines of encoded data MAY be wrapped by inserting an ascii linefeed ("LF", also called newline, or "NL" here) character (cf. RFC 4648 §3.1). When line wrapping, implementations MUST wrap lines at 64 characters. Upon decoding, implementations MUST ignore and discard all linefeed characters.

More formally:

NL = The ascii LF character (hex value 0x0a).
Document ::= (Item | NL)+
Item ::= KeywordLine Object?
KeywordLine ::= Keyword (WS Argument)*NL
Keyword = KeywordStart KeywordChar*
KeywordStart ::= 'A' ... 'Z' | 'a' ... 'z' | '0' ... '9'
KeywordChar ::= KeywordStart | '-'
Argument := ArgumentChar+
ArgumentChar ::= any graphical printing ASCII character.
WS = (SP | TAB)+
Object ::= BeginLine Base64-encoded-data EndLine
BeginLine ::= "-----BEGIN " Keyword (" " Keyword)*"-----" NL
EndLine ::= "-----END " Keyword (" " Keyword)* "-----" NL

A Keyword may not be -----BEGIN.

The BeginLine and EndLine of an Object must use the same keyword.

When interpreting a Document, software MUST ignore any KeywordLine that starts with a keyword it doesn't recognize; future implementations MUST NOT require current clients to understand any KeywordLine not currently described.

Other implementations that want to extend Tor's directory format MAY introduce their own items. The keywords for extension items SHOULD start with the characters "x-" or "X-", to guarantee that they will not conflict with keywords used by future versions of Tor.

In our document descriptions below, we tag Items with a multiplicity in brackets. Possible tags are:

    "At start, exactly once": These items MUST occur in every instance of
      the document type, and MUST appear exactly once, and MUST be the
      first item in their documents.

    "Exactly once": These items MUST occur exactly one time in every
      instance of the document type.

    "At end, exactly once": These items MUST occur in every instance of
      the document type, and MUST appear exactly once, and MUST be the
      last item in their documents.

    "At most once": These items MAY occur zero or one times in any
      instance of the document type, but MUST NOT occur more than once.

    "Any number": These items MAY occur zero, one, or more times in any
      instance of the document type.

    "Once or more": These items MUST occur at least once in any instance
      of the document type, and MAY occur more.

For forward compatibility, each item MUST allow extra arguments at the end of the line unless otherwise noted. So if an item's description below is given as:

"thing" int int int NL

then implementations SHOULD accept this string as well:

"thing 5 9 11 13 16 12" NL

but not this string:

"thing 5" NL

and not this string:

       "thing 5 10 thing" NL
   .

Whenever an item DOES NOT allow extra arguments, we will tag it with "no extra arguments".

Network document description conventions

NB these conventions are not yet followed everywhere in the Tor Specifications.

When presenting a specific document format, the Items forming the document are shown one per subsection.

The syntax of each item is defined in detail with a bulleted list at the start of the section.

The first bullet point shows the syntax of the line introducing the item. Literal parts (including the Item Keyword) are shown in fixed width. Arguments are shown with italic emphasis. The spaces between arguments, and the final newline, are not depicted. If (as is usual) extra arguments are to be tolerated (for future expansion), a short ellipsis .. is shown as a reminder. Optional arguments are shown in [ ]. (If this has been omitted, but there is no "no extra arguments" statement, the omission of the .. is a spec mistake and extra arguments are allowed.)

When an Item has (or may have) an Object, that is shown as the 2nd line in the bullet list, in the form:

• something, Object, OBJECT KEYWORD where something will be used to refer to the Object in the text, and OBJECT KEYWORD is the Object's Keyword in the base64 delimiters. (The ----BEGIN etc. are not depicted.)

Further bullet points give further information about the syntax - often, in terms defined more fully here.

The type (therefore, format) of arguments, and permissible values, are stated in the text. The argument is named in bold-italic in its principal description.

Rest-of-line arguments

Exceptionally, for some items there is a "rest of line" argument. This is denoted by writing ARGUMENT.... in the syntax summary, in the first bullet point, and stating

• ARGUMENT is the whole rest of the line,

in the syntax description.

In this case, the value of the argument is all the characters after the SP following the keyword or previous argument.

Signing documents

Every signable document below is signed in a similar manner, using a given "Initial Item", a final "Signature Item", a digest algorithm, and a signing key.

The Initial Item must be the first item in the document.

The Signature Item has the following format:

<signature item keyword> [arguments] NL SIGNATURE NL

The "SIGNATURE" Object contains a signature (using the signing key) of the PKCS#1 1.5 padded digest of the entire document, taken from the beginning of the Initial item, through the newline after the Signature Item's keyword and its arguments.

The signature does not include the algorithmIdentifier specified in PKCS #1.

Unless specified otherwise, the digest algorithm is SHA-1.

All documents are invalid unless signed with the correct signing key.

The "Digest" of a document, unless stated otherwise, is its digest as signed by this signature scheme.

Voting timeline

Every consensus document has a "valid-after" (VA) time, a "fresh-until" (FU) time and a "valid-until" (VU) time. VA MUST precede FU, which MUST in turn precede VU. Times are chosen so that every consensus will be "fresh" until the next consensus becomes valid, and "valid" for a while after. At least 3 consensuses should be valid at any given time.

The timeline for a given consensus is as follows:

VA-DistSeconds-VoteSeconds: The authorities exchange votes. Each authority uploads their vote to all other authorities.

VA-DistSeconds-VoteSeconds/2: The authorities try to download any votes they don't have.

Authorities SHOULD also reject any votes that other authorities try to upload after this time. (0.4.4.1-alpha was the first version to reject votes in this way.)

Note: Refusing late uploaded votes minimizes the chance of a consensus split, particular when authorities are under bandwidth pressure. If an authority is struggling to upload its vote, and finally uploads to a fraction of authorities after this period, they will compute a consensus different from the others. By refusing uploaded votes after this time, we increase the likelihood that most authorities will use the same vote set.

Rejecting late uploaded votes does not fix the problem entirely. If some authorities are able to download a specific vote, but others fail to do so, then there may still be a consensus split. However, this change does remove one common cause of consensus splits.

VA-DistSeconds: The authorities calculate the consensus and exchange signatures. (This is the earliest point at which anybody can possibly get a given consensus if they ask for it.)

VA-DistSeconds/2: The authorities try to download any signatures they don't have.

VA: All authorities have a multiply signed consensus.

   VA ... FU: Caches download the consensus.  (Note that since caches have
        no way of telling what VA and FU are until they have downloaded
        the consensus, they assume that the present consensus's VA is
        equal to the previous one's FU, and that its FU is one interval after
        that.)

   FU: The consensus is no longer the freshest consensus.

   FU ... (the current consensus's VU): Clients download the consensus.
        (See note above: clients guess that the next consensus's FU will be
        two intervals after the current VA.)

VU: The consensus is no longer valid; clients should continue to try to download a new consensus if they have not done so already.

VU + 24 hours: Clients will no longer use the consensus at all.

VoteSeconds and DistSeconds MUST each be at least 20 seconds; FU-VA and VU-FU MUST each be at least 5 minutes.

Router operation and formats

This section describes how relays must behave when publishing their information to the directory authorities, and the formats that they use to do so.

Uploading server descriptors and extra-info documents

ORs SHOULD generate a new server descriptor and a new extra-info document whenever any of the following events have occurred:

      - A period of time (18 hrs by default) has passed since the last
        time a descriptor was generated.

      - A descriptor field other than bandwidth or uptime has changed.

      - Its uptime is less than 24h and bandwidth has changed by a factor of 2
        from the last time a descriptor was generated, and at least a given
        interval of time (3 hours by default) has passed since then.

      - Its uptime has been reset (by restarting).

      - It receives a networkstatus consensus in which it is not listed.

      - It receives a networkstatus consensus in which it is listed
        with the StaleDesc flag.

      [XXX this list is incomplete; see router_differences_are_cosmetic()
       in routerlist.c for others]

ORs SHOULD NOT publish a new server descriptor or extra-info document if none of the above events have occurred and not much time has passed (12 hours by default).

Tor versions older than 0.3.5.1-alpha ignore uptime when checking for bandwidth changes.

After generating a descriptor, ORs upload them to every directory authority they know, by posting them (in order) to the URL

http://hostname:port/tor/

Server descriptors may not exceed 20,000 bytes in length; extra-info documents may not exceed 50,000 bytes in length. If they do, the authorities SHOULD reject them.

Server descriptor format

Server descriptors consist of the following items.

In lines that take multiple arguments, extra arguments SHOULD be accepted and ignored. Many of the nonterminals below are defined in section 2.1.3.

Note that many versions of Tor will generate an extra newline at the end of their descriptors. Implementations MUST tolerate one or more blank lines at the end of a single descriptor or a list of concatenated descriptors. New implementations SHOULD NOT generate such blank lines.

Server descriptor items

router --- Introduce a router descriptor

• router nickname address ORPort SOCKSPort DirPort ..
• At start, exactly once.

Indicates the beginning of a server descriptor.

nickname must be a valid router nickname as specified in section 2.1.3. address must be an IPv4 address in dotted-quad format.

The last three numbers indicate the TCP ports at which this OR exposes functionality. ORPort is a port at which this OR accepts TLS connections for the main OR protocol; SOCKSPort is deprecated and should always be 0; and DirPort is the port at which this OR accepts directory-related HTTP connections. If any port is not supported, the value 0 is given instead of a port number. (At least one of DirPort and ORPort SHOULD be set; authorities MAY reject any descriptor with both DirPort and ORPort of 0.)

identity-ed25519 --- Specify the router's ed25519 identity

• identity-ed25519
• certificate Object, ED25519 CERT
• Exactly once, in second position in document.
• No extra arguments.

certificate is an Ed25519 certificate (see cert-spec.txt) with terminating =s removed from its base64-encoding.

When this element is present, it MUST appear as the first or second element in the router descriptor.

certificate has CERT_TYPE of [04]. It must include a signed-with-ed25519-key extension (see cert-spec.txt, section 2.2.1), so that we can extract the master identity key.

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional.]

(Server descriptor items in ad-hoc representation)

"master-key-ed25519" SP MasterKey NL

[Exactly once]

Contains the base-64 encoded ed25519 master key as a single argument. If it is present, it MUST match the identity key in the identity-ed25519 entry.

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional.]

"bandwidth" bandwidth-avg bandwidth-burst bandwidth-observed NL

[Exactly once]

Estimated bandwidth for this router, in bytes per second. The "average" bandwidth is the volume per second that the OR is willing to sustain over long periods; the "burst" bandwidth is the volume that the OR is willing to sustain in very short intervals. The "observed" value is an estimate of the capacity this relay can handle. The relay remembers the max bandwidth sustained output over any ten second period in the past 5 days, and another sustained input. The "observed" value is the lesser of these two numbers.

Tor versions released before 2018 only kept bandwidth-observed for one day. These versions are no longer supported or recommended.

"platform" string NL

[At most once]

A human-readable string describing the system on which this OR is running. This MAY include the operating system, and SHOULD include the name and version of the software implementing the Tor protocol.

"published" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once]

The time, in UTC, when this descriptor (and its corresponding extra-info document if any) was generated.

"fingerprint" fingerprint NL

[At most once]

A fingerprint (a HASH_LEN-byte of asn1 encoded public key, encoded in hex, with a single space after every 4 characters) for this router's identity key. A descriptor is considered invalid (and MUST be rejected) if the fingerprint line does not match the public key.

       [We didn't start parsing this line until Tor 0.1.0.6-rc; it should
        be marked with "opt" until earlier versions of Tor are obsolete.]

    "hibernating" bool NL

       [At most once]

If the value is 1, then the Tor relay was hibernating when the descriptor was published, and shouldn't be used to build circuits.

       [We didn't start parsing this line until Tor 0.1.0.6-rc; it should be
        marked with "opt" until earlier versions of Tor are obsolete.]

    "uptime" number NL

       [At most once]

       The number of seconds that this OR process has been running.

[At most once] [No extra arguments]

This element MUST be present if onion-key-crosscert is present. Relays MUST generate this element unless the publish-dummy-tap-key network parameter is set to 0.

This obsolete RSA key was once used used to encrypt CREATE cells. It is no longer used. The key, if present, MUST be 1024 bits. Clients SHOULD validate this element if it is provided.

The key encoding is the encoding of the key as a PKCS#1 RSAPublicKey structure, encoded in base64, and wrapped in "-----BEGIN RSA PUBLIC KEY-----" and "-----END RSA PUBLIC KEY-----".

"onion-key-crosscert" NL a RSA signature in PEM format.

[At most once] [No extra arguments]

This element MUST be present if onion-key is present. Clients SHOULD validate this element if it is provided.

This element contains an RSA signature, generated using the onion-key, of the following:

          A SHA1 hash of the RSA identity key,
            i.e. RSA key from "signing-key" (see below) [20 bytes]
          The Ed25519 identity key,
            i.e. Ed25519 key from "master-key-ed25519" [32 bytes]

If there is no Ed25519 identity key, or if in some future version there is no RSA identity key, the corresponding field must be zero-filled.

Parties verifying this signature MUST allow additional data beyond the 52 bytes listed above.

This signature proves that the party creating the descriptor had control over the secret key corresponding to the onion-key.

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional whenever identity-ed25519 was absent.]

"ntor-onion-key" base-64-encoded-key

[Exactly once]

A curve25519 public key used for the ntor circuit extended handshake. It's the standard encoding of the OR's curve25519 public key, encoded in base 64. The trailing '=' sign MAY be omitted from the base64 encoding. The key MUST be accepted for at least 1 week after any new key is published in a subsequent descriptor.

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional.]

    "ntor-onion-key-crosscert" SP Bit NL
           "-----BEGIN ED25519 CERT-----" NL certificate
           "-----END ED25519 CERT-----" NL

[Exactly once] [No extra arguments]

A signature created with the ntor-onion-key, using the certificate format documented in cert-spec.txt, with type [0a]. The signed key here is the master identity key.

Bit must be "0" or "1". It indicates the sign of the ed25519 public key corresponding to the ntor onion key. If Bit is "0", then implementations MUST guarantee that the x-coordinate of the resulting ed25519 public key is positive. Otherwise, if Bit is "1", then the sign of the x-coordinate MUST be negative.

To compute the ed25519 public key corresponding to a curve25519 key, and for further explanation on key formats, see appendix C.

This signature proves that the party creating the descriptor had control over the secret key corresponding to the ntor-onion-key.

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional whenever identity-ed25519 was absent.]

"signing-key" NL a public key in PEM format

[Exactly once] [No extra arguments]

The OR's long-term RSA identity key. It MUST be 1024 bits.

The encoding is as for "onion-key" above.

"accept" exitpattern NL "reject" exitpattern NL

[Any number]

These lines describe an "exit policy": the rules that an OR follows when deciding whether to allow a new stream to a given address. The 'exitpattern' syntax is described below. There MUST be at least one such entry. The rules are considered in order; if no rule matches, the address will be accepted. For clarity, the last such entry SHOULD be accept : or reject :.

"ipv6-policy" SP ("accept" / "reject") SP PortList NL

[At most once.]

An exit-policy summary as specified in sections 3.4.1 and 3.8.2, summarizing the router's rules for connecting to IPv6 addresses. A missing "ipv6-policy" line is equivalent to "ipv6-policy reject 1-65535".

"overload-general" SP version SP YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS NL

[At most once.]

Indicates that a relay has reached an "overloaded state" which can be one or many of the following load metrics:

         - Any OOM invocation due to memory pressure
         - Any ntor onionskins are dropped
         - TCP port exhaustion

The timestamp is when at least one metrics was detected. It should always be at the hour and thus, as an example, "2020-01-10 13:00:00" is an expected timestamp. Because this is a binary state, if the line is present, we consider that it was hit at the very least once somewhere between the provided timestamp and the "published" timestamp of the document which is when the document was generated.

The overload-general line should remain in place for 72 hours since last triggered. If the limits are reached again in this period, the timestamp is updated, and this 72 hour period restarts.

The 'version' field is set to '1' for now.

      (Introduced in tor-0.4.6.1-alpha, but moved from extra-info to general
       descriptor in tor-0.4.6.2-alpha)

    "router-sig-ed25519" SP Signature NL

       [Exactly once.]

It MUST be the next-to-last element in the descriptor, appearing immediately before the RSA signature. It MUST contain an Ed25519 signature of a SHA256 digest of the entire document. This digest is taken from the first character up to and including the first space after the "router-sig-ed25519" string. Before computing the digest, the string "Tor router descriptor signature v1" is prefixed to the document.

The signature is encoded in Base64, with terminating =s removed.

The signing key in the identity-ed25519 certificate MUST be the one used to sign the document.

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional whenever identity-ed25519 was absent.]

"router-signature" NL Signature NL

[At end, exactly once] [No extra arguments]

The "SIGNATURE" object contains a signature of the PKCS1-padded hash of the entire server descriptor, taken from the beginning of the "router" line, through the newline after the "router-signature" line. The server descriptor is invalid unless the signature is performed with the router's identity key.

contact --- Server administrator contact information

• contact INFO....
• INFO is the whole rest of the line
• At most once

Describes a way to contact the relay's administrator, preferably including an email address and a PGP key fingerprint.

INFO is starts with the first non-whitespace after the whitespace after contact, and is the whole rest of the line up to but not including the newline.

(Server descriptor items in ad-hoc representation, continued)

"bridge-distribution-request" SP Method NL

[At most once, bridges only.]

The "Method" describes how a Bridge address is distributed by BridgeDB. Recognized methods are: "none", "any", "https", "email", "moat". If set to "none", BridgeDB will avoid distributing your bridge address. If set to "any", BridgeDB will choose how to distribute your bridge address. Choosing any of the other methods will tell BridgeDB to distribute your bridge via a specific method:

          - "https" specifies distribution via the web interface at
             https://bridges.torproject.org;
          - "email" specifies distribution via the email autoresponder at
            bridges@torproject.org;
          - "moat" specifies distribution via an interactive menu inside Tor
            Browser; and

        Potential future "Method" specifiers must be as follows:
            Method = (KeywordChar | "_") +

All bridges SHOULD include this line. Non-bridges MUST NOT include it.

BridgeDB SHOULD treat unrecognized Method values as if they were "none".

(Default: "any")

[This line was introduced in 0.3.2.3-alpha, with a minimal backport to 0.2.5.16, 0.2.8.17, 0.2.9.14, 0.3.0.13, 0.3.1.9, and later.]

"family" names NL

[At most once]

'Names' is a space-separated list of relay nicknames or hexdigests. If two ORs list one another in their "family" entries, then OPs should treat them as a single OR for the purpose of path selection.

For example, if node A's descriptor contains "family B", and node B's descriptor contains "family A", then node A and node B should never be used on the same circuit.

    "read-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once]
    "write-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once]

(These fields once appeared in router descriptors, but have appeared in extra-info descriptors since 0.2.0.x.)

"eventdns" bool NL

[At most once]

Declare whether this version of Tor is using the newer enhanced dns logic. Versions of Tor with this field set to false SHOULD NOT be used for reverse hostname lookups.

        [This option is obsolete.  All Tor current relays should be presumed
         to have the evdns backend.]

   "caches-extra-info" NL

[At most once.] [No extra arguments]

Present only if this router is a directory cache that provides extra-info documents.

[Versions before 0.2.0.1-alpha don't recognize this]

"extra-info-digest" SP sha1-digest [SP sha256-digest] NL

[At most once]

"sha1-digest" is a hex-encoded SHA1 digest (using upper-case characters) of the router's extra-info document, as signed in the router's extra-info (that is, not including the signature). (If this field is absent, the router is not uploading a corresponding extra-info document.)

"sha256-digest" is a base64-encoded SHA256 digest of the extra-info document. Unlike the "sha1-digest", this digest is calculated over the entire document, including the signature. This difference is due to a long-lived bug in the tor implementation that it would be difficult to roll out an incremental fix for, not a design choice. Future digest algorithms specified should not include the signature in the data used to compute the digest.

[Versions before 0.2.7.2-alpha did not include a SHA256 digest.] [Versions before 0.2.0.1-alpha don't recognize this field at all.]

"hidden-service-dir" NL

[At most once.]

Present only if this router stores and serves hidden service descriptors. This router supports the descriptor versions declared in the HSDir "proto" entry. If there is no "proto" entry, this router supports version 2 descriptors.

   "protocols" SP "Link" SP LINK-VERSION-LIST SP "Circuit" SP
          CIRCUIT-VERSION-LIST NL

       [At most once.]

An obsolete list of protocol versions, superseded by the "proto" entry. This list was never parsed, and has not been emitted since Tor 0.2.9.4-alpha. New code should neither generate nor parse this line.

"allow-single-hop-exits" NL

[At most once.] [No extra arguments]

Present only if the router allows single-hop circuits to make exit connections. Most Tor relays do not support this: this is included for specialized controllers designed to support perspective access and such. This is obsolete in tor version >= 0.3.1.0-alpha.

"or-address" SP ADDRESS ":" PORT NL

[Any number]

ADDRESS = IP6ADDR | IP4ADDR IPV6ADDR = an ipv6 address, surrounded by square brackets. IPV4ADDR = an ipv4 address, represented as a dotted quad. PORT = a number between 1 and 65535 inclusive.

An alternative for the address and ORPort of the "router" line, but with two added capabilities:

         * or-address can be either an IPv4 or IPv6 address
         * or-address allows for multiple ORPorts and addresses

A descriptor SHOULD NOT include an or-address line that does nothing but duplicate the address:port pair from its "router" line.

The ordering of or-address lines and their PORT entries matter because Tor MAY accept a limited number of address/port pairs. As of Tor 0.2.3.x only the first address/port pair is advertised and used.

"tunnelled-dir-server" NL

[At most once.] [No extra arguments]

       Present if the router accepts "tunneled" directory requests using a
       BEGIN_DIR relay message over the router's OR port.
          (Added in 0.2.8.1-alpha. Before this, Tor relays accepted
          tunneled directory requests only if they had a DirPort open,
          or if they were bridges.)

proto - Protocol versions supported

• proto entry entry ..
• Exactly once.
• Zero or more entry arguments.

Syntax of each entry:

entry = Keyword "=" Values

Values =
Values = Value
Values = Value "," Values

Value = Int
Value = Int "-" Int

Int = NON_ZERO_DIGIT
Int = Int DIGIT

Each entry indicates that the Tor relay supports one or more versions of the protocol in question. Entries should be sorted by keyword. Values should be numerically ascending within each entry. (This implies that there should be no overlapping ranges.) Ranges should be represented as compactly as possible. _Int_s must be no larger than 63.

This field was first added in Tor 0.2.9.x.

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional.]

Extra-info document format

Extra-info documents consist of the following items:

    "extra-info" Nickname Fingerprint NL
        [At start, exactly once.]

Identifies what router this is an extra-info descriptor for. Fingerprint is encoded in hex (using upper-case letters), with no spaces.

    "identity-ed25519"
        [As in router descriptors]

    "published" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS NL

       [Exactly once.]

The time, in UTC, when this document (and its corresponding router descriptor if any) was generated. It MUST match the published time in the corresponding server descriptor.

    "read-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once.]
    "write-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once.]

Declare how much bandwidth the OR has used recently. Usage is divided into intervals of NSEC seconds. The YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS field defines the end of the most recent interval. The numbers are the number of bytes used in the most recent intervals, ordered from oldest to newest.

These fields include both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic.

    "ipv6-read-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once]
    "ipv6-write-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once]

Declare how much bandwidth the OR has used recently, on IPv6 connections. See "read-history" and "write-history" for full details.

    "geoip-db-digest" Digest NL
        [At most once.]

SHA1 digest of the IPv4 GeoIP database file that is used to resolve IPv4 addresses to country codes.

    "geoip6-db-digest" Digest NL
        [At most once.]

SHA1 digest of the IPv6 GeoIP database file that is used to resolve IPv6 addresses to country codes.

("geoip-start-time" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS NL) ("geoip-client-origins" CC=NUM,CC=NUM,... NL)

Only generated by bridge routers (see blocking.pdf), and only when they have been configured with a geoip database. Non-bridges SHOULD NOT generate these fields. Contains a list of mappings from two-letter country codes (CC) to the number of clients that have connected to that bridge from that country (approximate, and rounded up to the nearest multiple of 8 in order to hamper traffic analysis). A country is included only if it has at least one address. The time in "geoip-start-time" is the time at which we began collecting geoip statistics.

"geoip-start-time" and "geoip-client-origins" have been replaced by "bridge-stats-end" and "bridge-ips" in 0.2.2.4-alpha. The reason is that the measurement interval with "geoip-stats" as determined by subtracting "geoip-start-time" from "published" could have had a variable length, whereas the measurement interval in 0.2.2.4-alpha and later is set to be exactly 24 hours long. In order to clearly distinguish the new measurement intervals from the old ones, the new keywords have been introduced.

    "bridge-stats-end" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NL
        [At most once.]

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS defines the end of the included measurement interval of length NSEC seconds (86400 seconds by default).

A "bridge-stats-end" line, as well as any other "bridge-*" line, is only added when the relay has been running as a bridge for at least 24 hours.

    "bridge-ips" CC=NUM,CC=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from two-letter country codes to the number of unique IP addresses that have connected from that country to the bridge and which are no known relays, rounded up to the nearest multiple of 8.

    "bridge-ip-versions" FAM=NUM,FAM=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of unique IP addresses that have connected to the bridge per protocol family.

    "bridge-ip-transports" PT=NUM,PT=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from pluggable transport names to the number of unique IP addresses that have connected using that pluggable transport. Unobfuscated connections are counted using the reserved pluggable transport name "<OR>" (without quotes). If we received a connection from a transport proxy but we couldn't figure out the name of the pluggable transport, we use the reserved pluggable transport name "<??>".

("<OR>" and "<??>" are reserved because normal pluggable transport names MUST match the following regular expression: "[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*" )

The pluggable transport name list is sorted into lexically ascending order.

If no clients have connected to the bridge yet, we only write "bridge-ip-transports" to the stats file.

    "dirreq-stats-end" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NL
        [At most once.]

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS defines the end of the included measurement interval of length NSEC seconds (86400 seconds by default).

A "dirreq-stats-end" line, as well as any other "dirreq-*" line, is only added when the relay has opened its Dir port and after 24 hours of measuring directory requests.

    "dirreq-v2-ips" CC=NUM,CC=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]
    "dirreq-v3-ips" CC=NUM,CC=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from two-letter country codes to the number of unique IP addresses that have connected from that country to request a v2/v3 network status, rounded up to the nearest multiple of 8. Only those IP addresses are counted that the directory can answer with a 200 OK status code. (Note here and below: current Tor versions, as of 0.2.5.2-alpha, no longer cache or serve v2 networkstatus documents.)

    "dirreq-v2-reqs" CC=NUM,CC=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]
    "dirreq-v3-reqs" CC=NUM,CC=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from two-letter country codes to the number of requests for v2/v3 network statuses from that country, rounded up to the nearest multiple of 8. Only those requests are counted that the directory can answer with a 200 OK status code.

    "dirreq-v2-share" NUM% NL
        [At most once.]
    "dirreq-v3-share" NUM% NL
        [At most once.]

The share of v2/v3 network status requests that the directory expects to receive from clients based on its advertised bandwidth compared to the overall network bandwidth capacity. Shares are formatted in percent with two decimal places. Shares are calculated as means over the whole 24-hour interval.

    "dirreq-v2-resp" status=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]
    "dirreq-v3-resp" status=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from response statuses to the number of requests for v2/v3 network statuses that were answered with that response status, rounded up to the nearest multiple of 4. Only response statuses with at least 1 response are reported. New response statuses can be added at any time. The current list of response statuses is as follows:

        "ok": a network status request is answered; this number
           corresponds to the sum of all requests as reported in
           "dirreq-v2-reqs" or "dirreq-v3-reqs", respectively, before
           rounding up.
        "not-enough-sigs: a version 3 network status is not signed by a
           sufficient number of requested authorities.
        "unavailable": a requested network status object is unavailable.
        "not-found": a requested network status is not found.
        "not-modified": a network status has not been modified since the
           If-Modified-Since time that is included in the request.
        "busy": the directory is busy.

    "dirreq-v2-direct-dl" key=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]
    "dirreq-v3-direct-dl" key=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]
    "dirreq-v2-tunneled-dl" key=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]
    "dirreq-v3-tunneled-dl" key=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of statistics about possible failures in the download process of v2/v3 network statuses. Requests are either "direct" HTTP-encoded requests over the relay's directory port, or "tunneled" requests using a BEGIN_DIR relay message over the relay's OR port. The list of possible statistics can change, and statistics can be left out from reporting. The current list of statistics is as follows:

Successful downloads and failures:

        "complete": a client has finished the download successfully.
        "timeout": a download did not finish within 10 minutes after
           starting to send the response.
        "running": a download is still running at the end of the
           measurement period for less than 10 minutes after starting to
           send the response.

        Download times:

        "min", "max": smallest and largest measured bandwidth in B/s.
        "d[1-4,6-9]": 1st to 4th and 6th to 9th decile of measured
           bandwidth in B/s. For a given decile i, i/10 of all downloads
           had a smaller bandwidth than di, and (10-i)/10 of all downloads
           had a larger bandwidth than di.
        "q[1,3]": 1st and 3rd quartile of measured bandwidth in B/s. One
           fourth of all downloads had a smaller bandwidth than q1, one
           fourth of all downloads had a larger bandwidth than q3, and the
           remaining half of all downloads had a bandwidth between q1 and
           q3.
        "md": median of measured bandwidth in B/s. Half of the downloads
           had a smaller bandwidth than md, the other half had a larger
           bandwidth than md.

    "dirreq-read-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once]
    "dirreq-write-history" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NUM,NUM,NUM... NL
        [At most once]

Declare how much bandwidth the OR has spent on answering directory requests. Usage is divided into intervals of NSEC seconds. The YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS field defines the end of the most recent interval. The numbers are the number of bytes used in the most recent intervals, ordered from oldest to newest.

    "entry-stats-end" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NL
        [At most once.]

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS defines the end of the included measurement interval of length NSEC seconds (86400 seconds by default).

An "entry-stats-end" line, as well as any other "entry-*" line, is first added after the relay has been running for at least 24 hours.

    "entry-ips" CC=NUM,CC=NUM,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from two-letter country codes to the number of unique IP addresses that have connected from that country to the relay and which are no known other relays, rounded up to the nearest multiple of 8.

    "cell-stats-end" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NL
        [At most once.]

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS defines the end of the included measurement interval of length NSEC seconds (86400 seconds by default).

A "cell-stats-end" line, as well as any other "cell-*" line, is first added after the relay has been running for at least 24 hours.

    "cell-processed-cells" NUM,...,NUM NL
        [At most once.]

Mean number of processed cells per circuit, subdivided into deciles of circuits by the number of cells they have processed in descending order from loudest to quietest circuits.

    "cell-queued-cells" NUM,...,NUM NL
        [At most once.]

Mean number of cells contained in queues by circuit decile. These means are calculated by 1) determining the mean number of cells in a single circuit between its creation and its termination and 2) calculating the mean for all circuits in a given decile as determined in "cell-processed-cells". Numbers have a precision of two decimal places.

Note that this statistic can be inaccurate for circuits that had queued cells at the start or end of the measurement interval.

    "cell-time-in-queue" NUM,...,NUM NL
        [At most once.]

Mean time cells spend in circuit queues in milliseconds. Times are calculated by 1) determining the mean time cells spend in the queue of a single circuit and 2) calculating the mean for all circuits in a given decile as determined in "cell-processed-cells".

Note that this statistic can be inaccurate for circuits that had queued cells at the start or end of the measurement interval.

    "cell-circuits-per-decile" NUM NL
        [At most once.]

Mean number of circuits that are included in any of the deciles, rounded up to the next integer.

    "conn-bi-direct" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) BELOW,READ,WRITE,BOTH NL
        [At most once]

Number of connections, split into 10-second intervals, that are used uni-directionally or bi-directionally as observed in the NSEC seconds (usually 86400 seconds) before YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. Every 10 seconds, we determine for every connection whether we read and wrote less than a threshold of 20 KiB (BELOW), read at least 10 times more than we wrote (READ), wrote at least 10 times more than we read (WRITE), or read and wrote more than the threshold, but not 10 times more in either direction (BOTH). After classifying a connection, read and write counters are reset for the next 10-second interval.

This measurement includes both IPv4 and IPv6 connections.

    "ipv6-conn-bi-direct" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) BELOW,READ,WRITE,BOTH NL
        [At most once]

Number of IPv6 connections that are used uni-directionally or bi-directionally. See "conn-bi-direct" for more details.

    "exit-stats-end" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NL
        [At most once.]

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS defines the end of the included measurement interval of length NSEC seconds (86400 seconds by default).

An "exit-stats-end" line, as well as any other "exit-*" line, is first added after the relay has been running for at least 24 hours and only if the relay permits exiting (where exiting to a single port and IP address is sufficient).

    "exit-kibibytes-written" port=N,port=N,... NL
        [At most once.]
    "exit-kibibytes-read" port=N,port=N,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from ports to the number of kibibytes that the relay has written to or read from exit connections to that port, rounded up to the next full kibibyte. Relays may limit the number of listed ports and subsume any remaining kibibytes under port "other".

    "exit-streams-opened" port=N,port=N,... NL
        [At most once.]

List of mappings from ports to the number of opened exit streams to that port, rounded up to the nearest multiple of 4. Relays may limit the number of listed ports and subsume any remaining opened streams under port "other".

    "hidserv-stats-end" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NL
        [At most once.]
    "hidserv-v3-stats-end" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) NL
        [At most once.]

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS defines the end of the included measurement interval of length NSEC seconds (86400 seconds by default).

A "hidserv-stats-end" line, as well as any other "hidserv-*" line, is first added after the relay has been running for at least 24 hours.

(Introduced in tor-0.4.6.1-alpha)

    "hidserv-rend-relayed-cells" SP NUM SP key=val SP key=val ... NL
        [At most once.]
    "hidserv-rend-v3-relayed-cells" SP NUM SP key=val SP key=val ... NL
        [At most once.]

Approximate number of relay cells seen in either direction on a circuit after receiving and successfully processing a RENDEZVOUS1 cell.

The original measurement value is obfuscated in several steps: first, it is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 'bin_size' which is reported in the key=val part of this line; second, a (possibly negative) noise value is added to the result of the first step by randomly sampling from a Laplace distribution with mu = 0 and b = (delta_f / epsilon) with 'delta_f' and 'epsilon' being reported in the key=val part, too; third, the result of the previous obfuscation steps is truncated to the next smaller integer and included as 'NUM'. Note that the overall reported value can be negative.

(Introduced in tor-0.4.6.1-alpha)

    "hidserv-dir-onions-seen" SP NUM SP key=val SP key=val ... NL
        [At most once.]
    "hidserv-dir-v3-onions-seen" SP NUM SP key=val SP key=val ... NL
        [At most once.]

Approximate number of unique hidden-service identities seen in descriptors published to and accepted by this hidden-service directory.

The original measurement value is obfuscated in the same way as the 'NUM' value reported in "hidserv-rend-relayed-cells", but possibly with different parameters as reported in the key=val part of this line. Note that the overall reported value can be negative.

(Introduced in tor-0.4.6.1-alpha)

    "transport" transportname address:port [arglist] NL
        [Any number.]

Signals that the router supports the 'transportname' pluggable transport in IP address 'address' and TCP port 'port'. A single descriptor MUST not have more than one transport line with the same 'transportname'.

Pluggable transports are only relevant to bridges, but these entries can appear in non-bridge relays as well.

    "transport-info" [version=VersionString] [implementation=ImplementationString] NL
        [Any number.]

There will be one "transport-info" line after one or multiple "tranport" lines descriving the implmentation of those transport lines. It can optionally contain the version in the 'VersionString' and the implementation in the 'ImplementationString' or be empty if the pluggable transport doesn't inform of it's implementation.

    "padding-counts" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (NSEC s) key=NUM key=NUM ... NL
        [At most once.]

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS defines the end of the included measurement interval of length NSEC seconds (86400 seconds by default). Counts are reset to 0 at the end of this interval.

The keyword list is currently as follows:

         bin-size
           - The current rounding value for cell count fields (10000 by
             default)
         write-drop
           - The number of RELAY_DROP messages this relay sent
         write-pad
           - The number of PADDING cells this relay sent
         write-total
           - The total number of cells this relay cent
         read-drop
           - The number of RELAY_DROP messages this relay received
         read-pad
           - The number of PADDING cells this relay received
         read-total
           - The total number of cells this relay received
         enabled-read-pad
           - The number of PADDING cells this relay received on
             connections that support padding
         enabled-read-total
           - The total number of cells this relay received on connections
             that support padding
         enabled-write-pad
           - The total number of cells this relay received on connections
             that support padding
         enabled-write-total
           - The total number of cells sent by this relay on connections
             that support padding
         max-chanpad-timers
           - The maximum number of timers that this relay scheduled for
             padding in the previous NSEC interval

    "overload-ratelimits" SP version SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS
                      SP rate-limit SP burst-limit
                      SP read-overload-count SP write-overload-count NL
        [At most once.]

        Indicates that a bandwidth limit was exhausted for this relay.

The "rate-limit" and "burst-limit" are the raw values from the BandwidthRate and BandwidthBurst found in the torrc configuration file.

The "{read|write}-overload-count" are the counts of how many times the reported limits of burst/rate were exhausted and thus the maximum between the read and write count occurrences. To make the counter more meaningful and to avoid multiple connections saturating the counter when a relay is overloaded, we only increment it once a minute.

The 'version' field is set to '1' for now.

(Introduced in tor-0.4.6.1-alpha)

    "overload-fd-exhausted" SP version YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS NL
        [At most once.]

Indicates that a file descriptor exhaustion was experienced by this relay.

The timestamp indicates that the maximum was reached between the timestamp and the "published" timestamp of the document.

This overload field should remain in place for 72 hours since last triggered. If the limits are reached again in this period, the timestamp is updated, and this 72 hour period restarts.

The 'version' field is set to '1' for the initial implementation which detects fd exhaustion only when a socket open fails.

(Introduced in tor-0.4.6.1-alpha)

    "router-sig-ed25519"
        [As in router descriptors]

    "router-signature" NL Signature NL
        [At end, exactly once.]
        [No extra arguments]

A document signature as documented in section 1.3, using the initial item "extra-info" and the final item "router-signature", signed with the router's identity key.

Nonterminals in server descriptors

   nickname ::= between 1 and 19 alphanumeric characters ([A-Za-z0-9]),
      case-insensitive.
   hexdigest ::= a '$', followed by 40 hexadecimal characters
      ([A-Fa-f0-9]). [Represents a relay by the digest of its identity
      key.]

exitpattern ::= addrspec ":" portspec portspec ::= "*" | port | port "-" port port ::= an integer between 1 and 65535, inclusive.

      [Some implementations incorrectly generate ports with value 0.
       Implementations SHOULD accept this, and SHOULD NOT generate it.
       Connections to port 0 are never permitted.]

addrspec ::= "*" | ip4spec | ip6spec ipv4spec ::= ip4 | ip4 "/" num_ip4_bits | ip4 "/" ip4mask ip4 ::= an IPv4 address in dotted-quad format ip4mask ::= an IPv4 mask in dotted-quad format num_ip4_bits ::= an integer between 0 and 32 ip6spec ::= ip6 | ip6 "/" num_ip6_bits ip6 ::= an IPv6 address, surrounded by square brackets. num_ip6_bits ::= an integer between 0 and 128

bool ::= "0" | "1"

Directory authority operation and formats

Every authority has two keys used in this protocol: a signing key, and an authority identity key. (Authorities also have a router identity key used in their role as a router and by earlier versions of the directory protocol.) The identity key is used from time to time to sign new key certificates using new signing keys; it is very sensitive. The signing key is used to sign key certificates and status documents.

Creating key certificates

Key certificates consist of the following items:

"dir-key-certificate-version" version NL

[At start, exactly once.]

Determines the version of the key certificate. MUST be "3" for the protocol described in this document. Implementations MUST reject formats they don't understand.

    "dir-address" IPPort NL
        [At most once]

        An IP:Port for this authority's directory port.

    "fingerprint" fingerprint NL

        [Exactly once.]

Hexadecimal encoding without spaces based on the authority's identity key.

"dir-identity-key" NL a public key in PEM format

[Exactly once.] [No extra arguments]

The long-term authority identity key for this authority. This key SHOULD be at least 2048 bits long; it MUST NOT be shorter than 1024 bits.

"dir-key-published" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once.]

The time (in UTC) when this document and corresponding key were last generated.

Implementations SHOULD reject certificates that are published too far in the future, though they MAY tolerate some clock skew.

"dir-key-expires" YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once.]

A time (in UTC) after which this key is no longer valid.

Implementations SHOULD reject expired certificates, though they MAY tolerate some clock skew.

"dir-signing-key" NL a key in PEM format

[Exactly once.] [No extra arguments]

The directory server's public signing key. This key MUST be at least 1024 bits, and MAY be longer.

"dir-key-crosscert" NL CrossSignature NL

[Exactly once.] [No extra arguments]

CrossSignature is a signature, made using the certificate's signing key, of the digest of the PKCS1-padded hash of the certificate's identity key. For backward compatibility with broken versions of the parser, we wrap the base64-encoded signature in -----BEGIN ID SIGNATURE---- and -----END ID SIGNATURE----- tags. Implementations MUST allow the "ID " portion to be omitted, however.

Implementations MUST verify that the signature is a correct signature of the hash of the identity key using the signing key.

"dir-key-certification" NL Signature NL

[At end, exactly once.] [No extra arguments]

A document signature as documented in section 1.3, using the initial item "dir-key-certificate-version" and the final item "dir-key-certification", signed with the authority identity key.

Authorities MUST generate a new signing key and corresponding certificate before the key expires.

Accepting server descriptor and extra-info document uploads

When a router posts a signed descriptor to a directory authority, the authority first checks whether it is well-formed and correctly self-signed. If it is, the authority next verifies that the nickname in question is not already assigned to a router with a different public key. Finally, the authority MAY check that the router is not blacklisted because of its key, IP, or another reason.

An authority also keeps a record of all the Ed25519/RSA1024 identity key pairs that it has seen before. It rejects any descriptor that has a known Ed/RSA identity key that it has already seen accompanied by a different RSA/Ed identity key in an older descriptor.

At a future date, authorities will begin rejecting all descriptors whose RSA key was previously accompanied by an Ed25519 key, if the descriptor does not list an Ed25519 key.

At a future date, authorities will begin rejecting all descriptors that do not list an Ed25519 key.

If the descriptor passes these tests, and the authority does not already have a descriptor for a router with this public key, it accepts the descriptor and remembers it.

If the authority does have a descriptor with the same public key, the newly uploaded descriptor is remembered if its publication time is more recent than the most recent old descriptor for that router, and either:

      - There are non-cosmetic differences between the old descriptor and the
        new one.
      - Enough time has passed between the descriptors' publication times.
        (Currently, 2 hours.)

Differences between server descriptors are "non-cosmetic" if they would be sufficient to force an upload as described in section 2.1 above.

Note that the "cosmetic difference" test only applies to uploaded descriptors, not to descriptors that the authority downloads from other authorities.

When a router posts a signed extra-info document to a directory authority, the authority again checks it for well-formedness and correct signature, and checks that its matches the extra-info-digest in some router descriptor that it believes is currently useful. If so, it accepts it and stores it and serves it as requested. If not, it drops it.

Computing microdescriptors

Microdescriptors are a stripped-down version of server descriptors generated by the directory authorities which may additionally contain authority-generated information. Microdescriptors contain only the most relevant parts that clients care about. Microdescriptors are expected to be relatively static and only change about once per week. Microdescriptors do not contain any information that clients need to use to decide which servers to fetch information about, or which servers to fetch information from.

Microdescriptors are a straight transform from the server descriptor and the consensus method. Microdescriptors have no header or footer. Microdescriptors are identified by the hash of its concatenated elements without a signature by the router. Microdescriptors do not contain any version information, because their version is determined by the consensus method.

Starting with consensus method 8, microdescriptors contain the following elements taken from or based on the server descriptor. Order matters here, because different directory authorities must be able to transform a given server descriptor and consensus method into the exact same microdescriptor.

"onion-key" NL (Optionally, a public key in PEM format)

[Exactly once, at start] [No extra arguments]

Optionally, an obsolete TAP key. (Note that while the key is optional, the onion-key element itself is not. It is used to denote the start of a microdescriptor.)

This key is no longer used for anything. If present, it MUST be in the same format as described for relay descriptors.

All current consensus methods generate a key in this position.

"ntor-onion-key" SP base-64-encoded-key NL

[Exactly once]

The "ntor-onion-key" element as specified in section 2.1.1.

When generating microdescriptors for consensus method 30 or later, the trailing = sign must be absent. For consensus method 29 or earlier, the trailing = sign must be present.

(Only included when generating microdescriptors for consensus-method 16 or later.)

[Before Tor 0.4.5.1-alpha, this field was optional.]

"a" SP address ":" port NL

[Any number]

Additional advertised addresses for the OR.

Present currently only if the OR advertises at least one IPv6 address; currently, the first address is included and all others are omitted. Any other IPv4 or IPv6 addresses should be ignored.

Address and port are as for "or-address" as specified in section 2.1.1.

(Only included when generating microdescriptors for consensus-methods 14 to 27.)

"family" names NL

[At most once]

The "family" element as specified in section 2.1.1.

When generating microdescriptors for consensus method 29 or later, the following canonicalization algorithm is applied to improve compression:

           For all entries of the form $hexid=name or $hexid~name,
           remove the =name or ~name portion.

           Remove all entries of the form $hexid, where hexid is not
           40 hexadecimal characters long.

           If an entry is a valid nickname, put it into lower case.

           If an entry is a valid $hexid, put it into upper case.

           If there are any entries, add a single $hexid entry for
           the relay in question, so that it is a member of its own
           family.

           Sort all entries in lexical order.

           Remove duplicate entries.

(Note that if an entry is not of the form "nickname", "$hexid", "$hexid=nickname" or "$hexid~nickname", then it will be unchanged: this is what makes the algorithm forward-compatible.)

"p" SP ("accept" / "reject") SP PortList NL

[At most once.]

The exit-policy summary as specified in sections 3.4.1 and 3.8.2.

[With microdescriptors, clients don't learn exact exit policies: clients can only guess whether a relay accepts their request, try the BEGIN request, and might get end-reason-exit-policy if they guessed wrong, in which case they'll have to try elsewhere.]

[In consensus methods before 5, this line was omitted.]

"p6" SP ("accept" / "reject") SP PortList NL

[At most once]

The IPv6 exit policy summary as specified in sections 3.4.1 and 3.8.2. A missing "p6" line is equivalent to "p6 reject 1-65535".

(Only included when generating microdescriptors for consensus-method 15 or later.)

"id" SP "rsa1024" SP base64-encoded-identity-digest NL

[At most once]

The node identity digest (as described in tor-spec.txt), base64 encoded, without trailing =s. This line is included to prevent collisions between microdescriptors.

Implementations SHOULD ignore these lines: they are added to microdescriptors only to prevent collisions.

(Only included when generating microdescriptors for consensus-method 18 or later.)

"id" SP "ed25519" SP base64-encoded-ed25519-identity NL

[At most once]

The node's master Ed25519 identity key, base64 encoded, without trailing =s.

All implementations MUST ignore this key for any microdescriptor whose corresponding entry in the consensus includes the 'NoEdConsensus' flag.

(Only included when generating microdescriptors for consensus-method 21 or later.)

"id" SP keytype ... NL

[At most once per distinct keytype.]

Implementations MUST ignore "id" lines with unrecognized key-types in place of "rsa1024" or "ed25519"

(Note that with microdescriptors, clients do not learn the RSA identity of their routers: they only learn a hash of the RSA identity key. This is all they need to confirm the actual identity key when doing a TLS handshake, and all they need to put the identity key digest in their CREATE cells.)

Exchanging votes

Authorities divide time into Intervals. Authority administrators SHOULD try to all pick the same interval length, and SHOULD pick intervals that are commonly used divisions of time (e.g., 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes). Voting intervals SHOULD be chosen to divide evenly into a 24-hour day.

Authorities SHOULD act according to interval and delays in the latest consensus. Lacking a latest consensus, they SHOULD default to a 30-minute Interval, a 5 minute VotingDelay, and a 5 minute DistDelay.

Authorities MUST take pains to ensure that their clocks remain accurate within a few seconds. (Running NTP is usually sufficient.)

The first voting period of each day begins at 00:00 (midnight) UTC. If the last period of the day would be truncated by one-half or more, it is merged with the second-to-last period.

An authority SHOULD publish its vote immediately at the start of each voting period (minus VoteSeconds+DistSeconds). It does this by making it available at

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/next/authority.z

and sending it in an HTTP POST request to each other authority at the URL

http://<hostname>/tor/post/vote

If, at the start of the voting period, minus DistSeconds, an authority does not have a current statement from another authority, the first authority downloads the other's statement.

Once an authority has a vote from another authority, it makes it available at

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/next/<fp>.z

where <fp> is the fingerprint of the other authority's identity key. And at

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/next/d/<d>.z

where <d> is the digest of the vote document.

Also, once an authority receives a vote from another authority, it examines it for new descriptors and fetches them from that authority. This may be the only way for an authority to hear about relays that didn't publish their descriptor to all authorities, and, while it's too late for the authority to include relays in its current vote, it can include them in its next vote. See section 3.6 below for details.

Vote and consensus status document formats

Votes and consensuses are more strictly formatted than other documents in this specification, since different authorities must be able to generate exactly the same consensus given the same set of votes.

The procedure for deciding when to generate vote and consensus status documents are described in section 1.4 on the voting timeline.

Status documents contain a preamble, an authority section, a list of router status entries, and one or more footer signature, in that order.

Unlike other formats described above, a SP in these documents must be a single space character (hex 20).

Some items appear only in votes, and some items appear only in consensuses. Unless specified, items occur in both.

The preamble contains the following items. They SHOULD occur in the order given here:

Vote and consensus document items

(Vote and consensus document items in ad-hoc representation)

"network-status-version" SP version NL

[At start, exactly once.]

A document format version. For this specification, the version is "3".

"vote-status" SP type NL

[Exactly once.]

The status MUST be "vote" or "consensus", depending on the type of the document.

"consensus-methods" SP IntegerList NL

[At most once for votes; does not occur in consensuses.]

A space-separated list of supported methods for generating consensuses from votes. See section 3.8.1 for details. Absence of the line means that only method "1" is supported.

"consensus-method" SP Integer NL

[At most once for consensuses; does not occur in votes.] [No extra arguments]

See section 3.8.1 for details.

(Only included when the vote is generated with consensus-method 2 or later.)

"published" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once for votes; does not occur in consensuses.]

The publication time for this status document (if a vote).

"valid-after" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once.]

The start of the Interval for this vote. Before this time, the consensus document produced from this vote is not officially in use.

(Note that because of propagation delays, clients and relays may see consensus documents that are up to DistSeconds earlier than this time, and should not warn about them.)

See section 1.4 for voting timeline information.

"fresh-until" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once.]

The time at which the next consensus should be produced; before this time, there is no point in downloading another consensus, since there won't be a new one. See section 1.4 for voting timeline information.

"valid-until" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once.]

The end of the Interval for this vote. After this time, all clients should try to find a more recent consensus. See section 1.4 for voting timeline information.

In practice, clients continue to use the consensus for up to 24 hours after it is no longer valid, if no more recent consensus can be downloaded.

"voting-delay" SP VoteSeconds SP DistSeconds NL

[Exactly once.]

VoteSeconds is the number of seconds that we will allow to collect votes from all authorities; DistSeconds is the number of seconds we'll allow to collect signatures from all authorities. See section 1.4 for voting timeline information.

"client-versions" SP VersionList NL

[At most once.]

A comma-separated list of recommended Tor versions for client usage, in ascending order. The versions are given as defined by version-spec.txt. If absent, no opinion is held about client versions.

"server-versions" SP VersionList NL

[At most once.]

A comma-separated list of recommended Tor versions for relay usage, in ascending order. The versions are given as defined by version-spec.txt. If absent, no opinion is held about server versions.

"package" SP PackageName SP Version SP URL SP DIGESTS NL

[Any number of times.]

For this element:

        PACKAGENAME = NONSPACE
        VERSION = NONSPACE
        URL = NONSPACE
        DIGESTS = DIGEST | DIGESTS SP DIGEST
        DIGEST = DIGESTTYPE "=" DIGESTVAL
        NONSPACE = one or more non-space printing characters
        DIGESTVAL = DIGESTTYPE = one or more non-space printing characters
              other than "=".

Indicates that a package called "package" of version VERSION may be found at URL, and its digest as computed with DIGESTTYPE is equal to DIGESTVAL. In consensuses, these lines are sorted lexically by "PACKAGENAME VERSION" pairs, and DIGESTTYPES must appear in ascending order. A consensus must not contain the same "PACKAGENAME VERSION" more than once. If a vote contains the same "PACKAGENAME VERSION" more than once, all but the last is ignored.

Included in consensuses only for methods 19-33. Earlier methods did not include this; method 34 removed it.

"known-flags" SP FlagList NL

[Exactly once.]

A space-separated list of all of the flags that this document might contain. A flag is "known" either because the authority knows about them and might set them (if in a vote), or because enough votes were counted for the consensus for an authoritative opinion to have been formed about their status.

flag-thresholds --- Authority's performance thresholds

• flag-thresholds threshold threshold ..
• One or more threshold arguments
• At most once for votes; does not occur in consensuses.

         The metaformat is:
            threshold = ThresholdKey '=' ThresholdVal
            ThresholdKey = (KeywordChar | "_") +
            ThresholdVal = [0-9]+("."[0-9]+)? "%"?

A space-separated list of the internal performance thresholds that the directory authority had at the moment it was forming a vote.

Commonly used ThresholdKeys at this point include:

• stable-uptime -- Uptime (in seconds) required for a relay to be marked as stable.

• stable-mtbf -- MTBF (in seconds) required for a relay to be marked as stable.

• enough-mtbf -- Whether we have measured enough MTBF to look at stable-mtbf instead of stable-uptime.

• fast-speed -- Bandwidth (in bytes per second) required for a relay to be marked as fast.

• guard-wfu -- WFU (in seconds) required for a relay to be marked as guard.

• guard-tk -- Weighted Time Known (in seconds) required for a relay to be marked as guard.

• guard-bw-inc-exits -- If exits can be guards, then all guards must have a bandwidth this high.

• guard-bw-exc-exits -- If exits can't be guards, then all guards must have a bandwidth this high.

• ignoring-advertised-bws -- 1 if we have enough measured bandwidths that we'll ignore the advertised bandwidth claims of routers without measured bandwidth.

(Vote and consensus document items in ad-hoc representation, continued)

"recommended-client-protocols" SP Entries NL "recommended-relay-protocols" SP Entries NL "required-client-protocols" SP Entries NL "required-relay-protocols" SP Entries NL

[At most once for each.]

The "proto" element as specified in section 2.1.1.

To vote on these entries, a protocol/version combination is included only if it is listed by a majority of the voters.

These lines should be voted on. A majority of votes is sufficient to make a protocol un-supported. A supermajority of authorities (2/3) are needed to make a protocol required. The required protocols should not be torrc-configurable, but rather should be hardwired in the Tor code.

The tor-spec.txt section 9 details how a relay and a client should behave when they encounter these lines in the consensus.

"params" SP [Parameters] NL

[At most once]

Parameter ::= Keyword '=' Int32 Int32 ::= A decimal integer between -2147483648 and 2147483647. Parameters ::= Parameter | Parameters SP Parameter

The parameters list, if present, contains a space-separated list of case-sensitive key-value pairs, sorted in lexical order by their keyword (as ASCII byte strings). Each parameter has its own meaning.

(Only included when the vote is generated with consensus-method 7 or later.)

See param-spec.txt for a list of parameters and their meanings.

"shared-rand-previous-value" SP NumReveals SP Value NL

[At most once]

NumReveals ::= An integer greater or equal to 0. Value ::= Base64-encoded-data

The shared_random_value that was generated during the second-to-last shared randomness protocol run. For example, if this document was created on the 5th of November, this field carries the shared random value generated during the protocol run of the 3rd of November.

See section [SRCALC] of srv-spec.txt for instructions on how to compute this value, and see section [CONS] for why we include old shared random values in votes and consensus.

Value is the actual shared random value encoded in base64. It will be exactly 256 bits long. NumReveals is the number of commits used to generate this SRV.

"shared-rand-current-value" SP NumReveals SP Value NL

[At most once]

NumReveals ::= An integer greater or equal to 0. Value ::= Base64-encoded-data

The shared_random_value that was generated during the latest shared randomness protocol run. For example, if this document was created on the 5th of November, this field carries the shared random value generated during the protocol run of the 4th of November

See section [SRCALC] of srv-spec.txt for instructions on how to compute this value given the active commits.

Value is the actual shared random value encoded in base64. It will be exactly 256 bits long. NumReveals is the number of commits used to generate this SRV.

"bandwidth-file-headers" SP KeyValues NL

[At most once for votes; does not occur in consensuses.]

KeyValues ::= "" | KeyValue | KeyValues SP KeyValue KeyValue ::= Keyword '=' Value Value ::= ArgumentCharValue+ ArgumentCharValue ::= any printing ASCII character except NL and SP.

The headers from the bandwidth file used to generate this vote. The bandwidth file headers are described in bandwidth-file-spec.txt.

If an authority is not configured with a V3BandwidthsFile, this line SHOULD NOT appear in its vote.

If an authority is configured with a V3BandwidthsFile, but parsing fails, this line SHOULD appear in its vote, but without any headers.

First-appeared: Tor 0.3.5.1-alpha.

"bandwidth-file-digest" 1*(SP algorithm "=" digest) NL

[At most once for votes; does not occur in consensuses.]

A digest of the bandwidth file used to generate this vote. "algorithm" is the name of the hash algorithm producing "digest", which can be "sha256" or another algorithm. "digest" is the base64 encoding of the hash of the bandwidth file, with trailing =s omitted.

If an authority is not configured with a V3BandwidthsFile, this line SHOULD NOT appear in its vote.

If an authority is configured with a V3BandwidthsFile, but parsing fails, this line SHOULD appear in its vote, with the digest(s) of the unparseable file.

First-appeared: Tor 0.4.0.4-alpha

The authority section of a vote contains the following items, followed in turn by the authority's current key certificate:

    "dir-source" SP nickname SP identity SP address SP IP SP dirport SP
       orport NL

        [Exactly once, at start]

Describes this authority. The nickname is a convenient identifier for the authority. The identity is an uppercase hex fingerprint of the authority's current (v3 authority) identity key. The address is the server's hostname. The IP is the server's current IP address, and dirport is its current directory port. The orport is the port at that address where the authority listens for OR connections.

"contact" SP string NL

[Exactly once]

An arbitrary string describing how to contact the directory server's administrator. Administrators should include at least an email address and a PGP fingerprint.

"legacy-dir-key" SP FINGERPRINT NL

[At most once]

Lists a fingerprint for an obsolete identity key still used by this authority to keep older clients working. This option is used to keep key around for a little while in case the authorities need to migrate many identity keys at once. (Generally, this would only happen because of a security vulnerability that affected multiple authorities, like the Debian OpenSSL RNG bug of May 2008.)

"shared-rand-participate" NL

[At most once]

Denotes that the directory authority supports and can participate in the shared random protocol.

shared-rand-commit --- Shared random commitment

• shared-rand-commit Version AlgName Identity Commit [ Reveal ]
• Any number of times

Version ::= An integer greater or equal to 0.
AlgName ::= 1\*(ALPHA / DIGIT / "\_" / "-")
Identity ::= 40\* HEXDIG

Denotes a directory authority commit for the shared randomness protocol, containing the commitment value and potentially also the reveal value. See sections [COMMITREVEAL] and [VALIDATEVALUES] of srv-spec.txt on how to generate and validate these values.

Version is the current shared randomness protocol version. AlgName is the hash algorithm that is used (e.g. "sha3-256") and Identity is the authority's SHA1 v3 identity fingerprint. Commit is the encoded commitment value in base64. Reveal (optional) contains the reveal value in base64.

If a vote contains multiple commits from the same authority, the receiver MUST only consider the first commit listed.

(Vote and consensus document items in ad-hoc representation, continued)

"shared-rand-previous-value" SP NumReveals SP Value NL

[At most once]

See shared-rand-previous-value description above.

"shared-rand-current-value" SP NumReveals SP Value NL

[At most once]

See shared-rand-current-value description above.

The authority section of a consensus contains groups of the following items, in the order given, with one group for each authority that contributed to the consensus, with groups sorted by authority identity digest:

    "dir-source" SP nickname SP identity SP address SP IP SP dirport SP
       orport NL

        [Exactly once, at start]

        As in the authority section of a vote.

    "contact" SP string NL

        [Exactly once.]

        As in the authority section of a vote.

    "vote-digest" SP digest NL

        [Exactly once.]

A digest of the vote from the authority that contributed to this consensus, as signed (that is, not including the signature). (Hex, upper-case.)

For each "legacy-dir-key" in the vote, there is an additional "dir-source" line containing that legacy key's fingerprint, the authority's nickname with "-legacy" appended, and all other fields as in the main "dir-source" line for that authority. These "dir-source" lines do not have corresponding "contact" or "vote-digest" entries.

Each router status entry contains the following items. Router status entries are sorted in ascending order by identity digest.

    "r" SP nickname SP identity SP digest SP publication SP IP SP ORPort
        SP DirPort NL

        [At start, exactly once.]

"Nickname" is the OR's nickname. "Identity" is a hash of its identity key, encoded in base64, with trailing equals sign(s) removed. "Digest" is a hash of its most recent descriptor as signed (that is, not including the signature) by the RSA identity key (see section 1.3.), encoded in base64.

"Publication" was once the publication time of the router's most recent descriptor, in the form YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, in UTC. Now it is only used in votes, and may be set to a fixed value in consensus documents. Implementations SHOULD ignore this value in non-vote documents.

"IP" is its current IP address; ORPort is its current OR port, "DirPort" is its current directory port, or "0" for "none".

"a" SP address ":" port NL

[Any number]

The first advertised IPv6 address for the OR, if it is reachable.

Present only if the OR advertises at least one IPv6 address, and the authority believes that the first advertised address is reachable. Any other IPv4 or IPv6 addresses should be ignored.

Address and port are as for "or-address" as specified in section 2.1.1.

(Only included when the vote or consensus is generated with consensus-method 14 or later.)

"s" SP Flags NL

[Exactly once.]

A series of space-separated status flags, in lexical order (as ASCII byte strings). Currently documented flags are:

          "Authority" if the router is a directory authority.
          "BadExit" if the router is believed to be useless as an exit node
             (because its ISP censors it, because it is behind a restrictive
             proxy, or for some similar reason).
          "Exit" if the router is more useful for building
             general-purpose exit circuits than for relay circuits.  The
             path building algorithm uses this flag; see path-spec.txt.
          "Fast" if the router is suitable for high-bandwidth circuits.
          "Guard" if the router is suitable for use as an entry guard.
          "HSDir" if the router is considered a v2 hidden service directory.
          "MiddleOnly" if the router is considered unsuitable for
             usage other than as a middle relay. Clients do not need
             to handle this option, since when it is present, the authorities
             will automatically vote against flags that would make the router
             usable in other positions. (Since 0.4.7.2-alpha.)
          "NoEdConsensus" if any Ed25519 key in the router's descriptor or
             microdescriptor does not reflect authority consensus.
          "Stable" if the router is suitable for long-lived circuits.
          "StaleDesc" if the router should upload a new descriptor because
             the old one is too old.
          "Running" if the router is currently usable over all its published
             ORPorts. (Authorities ignore IPv6 ORPorts unless configured to
             check IPv6 reachability.) Relays without this flag are omitted
             from the consensus, and current clients (since 0.2.9.4-alpha)
             assume that every listed relay has this flag.
          "Valid" if the router has been 'validated'. Clients before
             0.2.9.4-alpha would not use routers without this flag by
             default. Currently, relays without this flag are omitted
             from the consensus, and current (post-0.2.9.4-alpha) clients
             assume that every listed relay has this flag.
          "V2Dir" if the router implements the v2 directory protocol or
             higher.

    "v" SP version NL

        [At most once.]

The version of the Tor protocol that this relay is running. If the value begins with "Tor" SP, the rest of the string is a Tor version number, and the protocol is "The Tor protocol as supported by the given version of Tor." Otherwise, if the value begins with some other string, Tor has upgraded to a more sophisticated protocol versioning system, and the protocol is "a version of the Tor protocol more recent than any we recognize."

Directory authorities SHOULD omit version strings they receive from descriptors if they would cause "v" lines to be over 128 characters long.

"pr" SP Entries NL

[At most once.]

The "proto" family element as specified in section 2.1.1.

During voting, authorities copy these lines immediately below the "v" lines. When a descriptor does not contain a "proto" entry, the authorities should reconstruct it using the approach described below in section D. They are included in the consensus using the same rules as currently used for "v" lines, if a sufficiently late consensus method is in use.

"w" SP "Bandwidth=" INT [SP "Measured=" INT] [SP "Unmeasured=1"] NL

[At most once.]

An estimate of the bandwidth of this relay, in an arbitrary unit (currently kilobytes per second). Used to weight router selection. See section 3.4.2 for details on how the value of Bandwidth is determined in a consensus.

Additionally, the Measured= keyword is present in votes by participating bandwidth measurement authorities to indicate a measured bandwidth currently produced by measuring stream capacities. It does not occur in consensuses.

'Bandwidth=' and 'Measured=' values must be between 0 and 2^32 - 1 inclusive.

The "Unmeasured=1" value is included in consensuses generated with method 17 or later when the 'Bandwidth=' value is not based on a threshold of 3 or more measurements for this relay.

Other weighting keywords may be added later. Clients MUST ignore keywords they do not recognize.

"p" SP ("accept" / "reject") SP PortList NL

[At most once.]

PortList = PortOrRange PortList = PortList "," PortOrRange PortOrRange = INT "-" INT / INT

A list of those ports that this router supports (if 'accept') or does not support (if 'reject') for exit to "most addresses".

"m" SP methods 1*(SP algorithm "=" digest) NL

[Any number, only in votes.]

Microdescriptor hashes for all consensus methods that an authority supports and that use the same microdescriptor format. "methods" is a comma-separated list of the consensus methods that the authority believes will produce "digest". "algorithm" is the name of the hash algorithm producing "digest", which can be "sha256" or something else, depending on the consensus "methods" supporting this algorithm. "digest" is the base64 encoding of the hash of the router's microdescriptor with trailing =s omitted.

     "id" SP "ed25519" SP ed25519-identity NL
     "id" SP "ed25519" SP "none" NL
        [vote only, at most once]

     "stats" SP [KeyValues] NL

        [At most once. Vote only]

KeyValue ::= Keyword '=' Number Number ::= [0-9]+("."[0-9]+)? KeyValues ::= KeyValue | KeyValues SP KeyValue

Line containing various statistics that an authority has computed for this relay. Each stats is represented as a key + value. Reported keys are:

          "wfu"  - Weighted Fractional Uptime
          "tk"   - Weighted Time Known
          "mtbf" - Mean Time Between Failure (stability)

          (As of tor-0.4.6.1-alpha)

The footer section is delineated in all votes and consensuses supporting consensus method 9 and above with the following:

"directory-footer" NL [No extra arguments]

It contains two subsections, a bandwidths-weights line and a directory-signature. (Prior to consensus method 9, footers only contained directory-signatures without a 'directory-footer' line or bandwidth-weights.)

The bandwidths-weights line appears At Most Once for a consensus. It does not appear in votes.

"bandwidth-weights" [SP Weights] NL

Weight ::= Keyword '=' Int32 Int32 ::= A decimal integer between -2147483648 and 2147483647. Weights ::= Weight | Weights SP Weight

List of optional weights to apply to router bandwidths during path selection. They are sorted in lexical order (as ASCII byte strings) and values are divided by the consensus' "bwweightscale" param. Definition of our known entries are...

         Wgg - Weight for Guard-flagged nodes in the guard position
         Wgm - Weight for non-flagged nodes in the guard Position
         Wgd - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes in the guard Position

         Wmg - Weight for Guard-flagged nodes in the middle Position
         Wmm - Weight for non-flagged nodes in the middle Position
         Wme - Weight for Exit-flagged nodes in the middle Position
         Wmd - Weight for Guard+Exit flagged nodes in the middle Position

         Weg - Weight for Guard flagged nodes in the exit Position
         Wem - Weight for non-flagged nodes in the exit Position
         Wee - Weight for Exit-flagged nodes in the exit Position
         Wed - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes in the exit Position

         Wgb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Guard-flagged nodes
         Wmb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting non-flagged nodes
         Web - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Exit-flagged nodes
         Wdb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Guard+Exit-flagged nodes

         Wbg - Weight for Guard flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests
         Wbm - Weight for non-flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests
         Wbe - Weight for Exit-flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests
         Wbd - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests

       These values are calculated as specified in section 3.8.3.

The signature contains the following item, which appears Exactly Once for a vote, and At Least Once for a consensus.

    "directory-signature" [SP Algorithm] SP identity SP signing-key-digest
        NL Signature

This is a signature of the status document, with the initial item "network-status-version", and the signature item "directory-signature", using the signing key. (In this case, we take the hash through the space after directory-signature, not the newline: this ensures that all authorities sign the same thing.) "identity" is the hex-encoded digest of the authority identity key of the signing authority, and "signing-key-digest" is the hex-encoded digest of the current authority signing key of the signing authority.

The Algorithm is one of "sha1" or "sha256" if it is present; implementations MUST ignore directory-signature entries with an unrecognized Algorithm. "sha1" is the default, if no Algorithm is given. The algorithm describes how to compute the hash of the document before signing it.

"ns"-flavored consensus documents must contain only sha1 signatures. Votes and microdescriptor documents may contain other signature types. Note that only one signature from each authority should be "counted" as meaning that the authority has signed the consensus.

(Tor clients before 0.2.3.x did not understand the 'algorithm' field.)

Assigning flags in a vote

(This section describes how directory authorities choose which status flags to apply to routers. Later directory authorities MAY do things differently, so long as clients keep working well. Clients MUST NOT depend on the exact behaviors in this section.)

In the below definitions, a router is considered "active" if it is running, valid, and not hibernating.

When we speak of a router's bandwidth in this section, we mean either its measured bandwidth, or its advertised bandwidth. If a sufficient threshold (configurable with MinMeasuredBWsForAuthToIgnoreAdvertised, 500 by default) of routers have measured bandwidth values, then the authority bases flags on measured bandwidths, and treats nodes with non-measured bandwidths as if their bandwidths were zero. Otherwise, it uses measured bandwidths for nodes that have them, and advertised bandwidths for other nodes.

When computing thresholds based on percentiles of nodes, an authority only considers nodes that are active, that have not been omitted as a sybil (see below), and whose bandwidth is at least 4 KB. Nodes that don't meet these criteria do not influence any threshold calculations (including calculation of stability and uptime and bandwidth thresholds) and also do not have their Exit status change.

"Valid" -- a router is 'Valid' if it is running a version of Tor not known to be broken, and the directory authority has not blacklisted it as suspicious.

   "Named" --
   "Unnamed" -- Directory authorities no longer assign these flags.
      They were once used to determine whether a relay's nickname was
      canonically linked to its public key.

"Running" -- A router is 'Running' if the authority managed to connect to it successfully within the last 45 minutes on all its published ORPorts. Authorities check reachability on:

     * the IPv4 ORPort in the "r" line, and
     * the IPv6 ORPort considered for the "a" line, if:
       * the router advertises at least one IPv6 ORPort, and
       * AuthDirHasIPv6Connectivity 1 is set on the authority.

A minority of voting authorities that set AuthDirHasIPv6Connectivity will drop unreachable IPv6 ORPorts from the full consensus. Consensus method 27 in 0.3.3.x puts IPv6 ORPorts in the microdesc consensus, so that authorities can drop unreachable IPv6 ORPorts from all consensus flavors. Consensus method 28 removes IPv6 ORPorts from microdescriptors.

"Stable" -- A router is 'Stable' if it is active, and either its Weighted MTBF is at least the median for known active routers or its Weighted MTBF corresponds to at least 7 days. Routers are never called Stable if they are running a version of Tor known to drop circuits stupidly. (0.1.1.10-alpha through 0.1.1.16-rc are stupid this way.)

To calculate weighted MTBF, compute the weighted mean of the lengths of all intervals when the router was observed to be up, weighting intervals by $\alpha^n$, where $n$ is the amount of time that has passed since the interval ended, and $\alpha$ is chosen so that measurements over approximately one month old no longer influence the weighted MTBF much.

[XXXX what happens when we have less than 4 days of MTBF info.]

"Exit" -- A router is called an 'Exit' iff it allows exits to at least one /8 address space on each of ports 80 and 443. (Up until Tor version 0.3.2, the flag was assigned if relays exit to at least two of the ports 80, 443, and 6667.)

"Fast" -- A router is 'Fast' if it is active, and its bandwidth is either in the top 7/8ths for known active routers or at least 100KB/s.

"Guard" -- A router is a possible Guard if all of the following apply:

       - It is Fast,
       - It is Stable,
       - Its Weighted Fractional Uptime is at least the median for "familiar"
         active routers,
       - It is "familiar",
       - Its bandwidth is at least AuthDirGuardBWGuarantee (if set, 2 MB by
         default), OR its bandwidth is among the 25% fastest relays,
       - It qualifies for the V2Dir flag as described below (this
         constraint was added in 0.3.3.x, because in 0.3.0.x clients
         started avoiding guards that didn't also have the V2Dir flag).

To calculate weighted fractional uptime, compute the fraction of time that the router is up in any given day, weighting so that downtime and uptime in the past counts less.

A node is 'familiar' if 1/8 of all active nodes have appeared more recently than it, OR it has been around for a few weeks.

"Authority" -- A router is called an 'Authority' if the authority generating the network-status document believes it is an authority.

"V2Dir" -- A router supports the v2 directory protocol or higher if it has an open directory port OR a tunnelled-dir-server line in its router descriptor, and it is running a version of the directory protocol that supports the functionality clients need. (Currently, every supported version of Tor supports the functionality that clients need, but some relays might set "DirCache 0" or set really low rate limiting, making them unqualified to be a directory mirror, i.e. they will omit the tunnelled-dir-server line from their descriptor.)

"HSDir" -- A router is a v2 hidden service directory if it stores and serves v2 hidden service descriptors, has the Stable and Fast flag, and the authority believes that it's been up for at least 96 hours (or the current value of MinUptimeHidServDirectoryV2).

"MiddleOnly" -- An authority should vote for this flag if it believes that a relay is unsuitable for use except as a middle relay. When voting for this flag, the authority should also vote against "Exit", "Guard", "HsDir", and "V2Dir". When voting for this flag, if the authority votes on the "BadExit" flag, the authority should vote in favor of "BadExit". (This flag was added in 0.4.7.2-alpha.)

"NoEdConsensus" -- authorities should not vote on this flag; it is produced as part of the consensus for consensus method 22 or later.

"StaleDesc" -- authorities should vote to assign this flag if the published time on the descriptor is over 18 hours in the past. (This flag was added in 0.4.0.1-alpha.)

"Sybil" -- authorities SHOULD NOT accept more than 2 relays on a single IP. If this happens, the authority should vote for the excess relays, but should omit the Running or Valid flags and instead should assign the "Sybil" flag. When there are more than 2 (or AuthDirMaxServersPerAddr) relays to choose from, authorities should first prefer authorities to non-authorities, then prefer Running to non-Running, and then prefer high-bandwidth to low-bandwidth relays. In this comparison, measured bandwidth is used unless it is not present for a router, in which case advertised bandwidth is used.

Thus, the network-status vote includes all non-blacklisted, non-expired, non-superseded descriptors.

The bandwidth in a "w" line should be taken as the best estimate of the router's actual capacity that the authority has. For now, this should be the lesser of the observed bandwidth and bandwidth rate limit from the server descriptor. It is given in kilobytes per second, and capped at some arbitrary value (currently 10 MB/s).

The Measured= keyword on a "w" line vote is currently computed by multiplying the previous published consensus bandwidth by the ratio of the measured average node stream capacity to the network average. If 3 or more authorities provide a Measured= keyword for a router, the authorities produce a consensus containing a "w" Bandwidth= keyword equal to the median of the Measured= votes.

As a special case, if the "w" line in a vote is about a relay with the Authority flag, it should not include a Measured= keyword. The goal is to leave such relays marked as Unmeasured, so they can reserve their attention for authority-specific activities. "w" lines for votes about authorities may include the bandwidth authority's measurement using a different keyword, e.g. MeasuredButAuthority=, so it can still be reported and recorded for posterity.

The ports listed in a "p" line should be taken as those ports for which the router's exit policy permits 'most' addresses, ignoring any accept not for all addresses, ignoring all rejects for private netblocks. "Most" addresses are permitted if no more than 2^25 IPv4 addresses (two /8 networks) were blocked. The list is encoded as described in section 3.8.2.

Serving bandwidth list files

If an authority has used a bandwidth list file to generate a vote document it SHOULD make it available at

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/next/bandwidth.z

at the start of each voting period.

It MUST NOT attempt to send its bandwidth list file in a HTTP POST to other authorities and it SHOULD NOT make bandwidth list files from other authorities available.

If an authority makes this file available, it MUST be the bandwidth file used to create the vote document available at

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/next/authority.z

To avoid inconsistent reads, authorities SHOULD only read the bandwidth file once per voting period. Further processing and serving SHOULD use a cached copy.

The bandwidth list format is described in bandwidth-file-spec.txt.

The standard URLs for bandwidth list files first-appeared in Tor 0.4.0.4-alpha.

Downloading information from other directory authorities

Downloading missing certificates from other directory authorities

XXX when to download certificates.

Downloading server descriptors from other directory authorities

Periodically (currently, every 10 seconds), directory authorities check whether there are any specific descriptors that they do not have and that they are not currently trying to download. Authorities identify them by hash in vote (if publication date is more recent than the descriptor we currently have).

[XXXX need a way to fetch descriptors ahead of the vote? v2 status docs can do that for now.]

If so, the directory authority launches requests to the authorities for these descriptors, such that each authority is only asked for descriptors listed in its most recent vote. If more than one authority lists the descriptor, we choose which to ask at random.

If one of these downloads fails, we do not try to download that descriptor from the authority that failed to serve it again unless we receive a newer network-status (consensus or vote) from that authority that lists the same descriptor.

   Directory authorities must potentially cache multiple descriptors for each
   router. Authorities must not discard any descriptor listed by any recent
   consensus.  If there is enough space to store additional descriptors,
   authorities SHOULD try to hold those which clients are likely to download the
   most.  (Currently, this is judged based on the interval for which each
   descriptor seemed newest.)
[XXXX define recent]

Authorities SHOULD NOT download descriptors for routers that they would immediately reject for reasons listed in section 3.2.

Downloading extra-info documents from other directory authorities

Periodically, an authority checks whether it is missing any extra-info documents: in other words, if it has any server descriptors with an extra-info-digest field that does not match any of the extra-info documents currently held. If so, it downloads whatever extra-info documents are missing. We follow the same splitting and back-off rules as in section 3.6.

Computing a consensus from a set of votes

Given a set of votes, authorities compute the contents of the consensus.

The consensus status, along with as many signatures as the server currently knows (see section 3.10 below), should be available at

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/next/consensus.z

The contents of the consensus document are as follows:

The "valid-after", "valid-until", and "fresh-until" times are taken as the median of the respective values from all the votes.

The times in the "voting-delay" line are taken as the median of the VoteSeconds and DistSeconds times in the votes.

Known-flags is the union of all flags known by any voter.

Entries are given on the "params" line for every keyword on which a majority of authorities (total authorities, not just those participating in this vote) voted on, or if at least three authorities voted for that parameter. The values given are the low-median of all votes on that keyword.

(In consensus methods 7 to 11 inclusive, entries were given on the "params" line for every keyword on which any authority voted, the value given being the low-median of all votes on that keyword.)

    "client-versions" and "server-versions" are sorted in ascending
     order; A version is recommended in the consensus if it is recommended
     by more than half of the voting authorities that included a
     client-versions or server-versions lines in their votes.

With consensus methods 19 through 33, a package line is generated for a given PACKAGENAME/VERSION pair if at least three authorities list such a package in their votes. (Call these lines the "input" lines for PACKAGENAME.) The consensus will contain every "package" line that is listed verbatim by more than half of the authorities listing a line for the PACKAGENAME/VERSION pair, and no others.

The authority item groups (dir-source, contact, fingerprint, vote-digest) are taken from the votes of the voting authorities. These groups are sorted by the digests of the authorities identity keys, in ascending order. If the consensus method is 3 or later, a dir-source line must be included for every vote with legacy-key entry, using the legacy-key's fingerprint, the voter's ordinary nickname with the string "-legacy" appended, and all other fields as from the original vote's dir-source line.

     A router status entry:
        * is included in the result if some router status entry with the same
          identity is included by more than half of the authorities (total
          authorities, not just those whose votes we have).
          (Consensus method earlier than 21)

        * is included according to the rules in section 3.8.0.1 and
          3.8.0.2 below. (Consensus method 22 or later)

        * For any given RSA identity digest, we include at most
          one router status entry.

        * For any given Ed25519 identity, we include at most one router
          status entry.

        * A router entry has a flag set if that is included by more than half
          of the authorities who care about that flag.

        * Two router entries are "the same" if they have the same
          (descriptor digest, published time, nickname, IP, ports> tuple.
          We choose the tuple for a given router as whichever tuple appears
          for that router in the most votes.  We break ties first in favor of
          the more recently published, then in favor of smaller server
          descriptor digest.

       [
        * The Named flag appears if it is included for this routerstatus by
          _any_ authority, and if all authorities that list it list the same
          nickname. However, if consensus-method 2 or later is in use, and
          any authority calls this identity/nickname pair Unnamed, then
          this routerstatus does not get the Named flag.

        * If consensus-method 2 or later is in use, the Unnamed flag is
          set for a routerstatus if any authorities have voted for a different
          identities to be Named with that nickname, or if any authority
          lists that nickname/ID pair as Unnamed.

          (With consensus-method 1, Unnamed is set like any other flag.)

          [But note that authorities no longer vote for the Named flag,
          and the above two bulletpoints are now irrelevant.]
       ]

        * The version is given as whichever version is listed by the most
          voters, with ties decided in favor of more recent versions.

        * If consensus-method 4 or later is in use, then routers that
          do not have the Running flag are not listed at all.

        * If consensus-method 5 or later is in use, then the "w" line
          is generated using a low-median of the bandwidth values from
          the votes that included "w" lines for this router.

        * If consensus-method 5 or later is in use, then the "p" line
          is taken from the votes that have the same policy summary
          for the descriptor we are listing.  (They should all be the
          same.  If they are not, we pick the most commonly listed
          one, breaking ties in favor of the lexicographically larger
          vote.)  The port list is encoded as specified in section 3.8.2.

        * If consensus-method 6 or later is in use and if 3 or more
          authorities provide a Measured= keyword in their votes for
          a router, the authorities produce a consensus containing a
          Bandwidth= keyword equal to the median of the Measured= votes.

        * If consensus-method 7 or later is in use, the params line is
          included in the output.

        * If the consensus method is under 11, bad exits are considered as
          possible exits when computing bandwidth weights.  Otherwise, if
          method 11 or later is in use, any router that is determined to get
          the BadExit flag doesn't count when we're calculating weights.

        * If consensus method 12 or later is used, only consensus
          parameters that more than half of the total number of
          authorities voted for are included in the consensus.

        [ As of 0.2.6.1-alpha, authorities no longer advertise or negotiate
          any consensus methods lower than 13. ]

        * If consensus method 13 or later is used, microdesc consensuses
          omit any router for which no microdesc was agreed upon.

        * If consensus method 14 or later is used, the ns consensus and
          microdescriptors may include an "a" line for each router, listing
          an IPv6 OR port.

        * If consensus method 15 or later is used, microdescriptors
          include "p6" lines including IPv6 exit policies.

        * If consensus method 16 or later is used, ntor-onion-key
          are included in microdescriptors

        * If consensus method 17 or later is used, authorities impose a
          maximum on the Bandwidth= values that they'll put on a 'w'
          line for any router that doesn't have at least 3 measured
          bandwidth values in votes. They also add an "Unmeasured=1"
          flag to such 'w' lines.

        * If consensus method 18 or later is used, authorities include
          "id" lines in microdescriptors. This method adds RSA ids.

        * If consensus method 19 or later is used, authorities may include
          "package" lines in consensuses.

        * If consensus method 20 or later is used, authorities may include
          GuardFraction information in microdescriptors.

        * If consensus method 21 or later is used, authorities may include
          an "id" line for ed25519 identities in microdescriptors.

        [ As of 0.2.8.2-alpha, authorities no longer advertise or negotiate
          consensus method 21, because it contains bugs. ]

        * If consensus method 22 or later is used, and the votes do not
          produce a majority consensus about a relay's Ed25519 key (see
          3.8.0.1 below), the consensus must include a NoEdConsensus flag on
          the "s" line for every relay whose listed Ed key does not reflect
          consensus.

        * If consensus method 23 or later is used, authorities include
          shared randomness protocol data on their votes and consensus.

        * If consensus-method 24 or later is in use, then routers that
          do not have the Valid flag are not listed at all.

        [ As of 0.3.4.1-alpha, authorities no longer advertise or negotiate
          any consensus methods lower than 25. ]

        * If consensus-method 25 or later is in use, then we vote
          on recommended-protocols and required-protocols lines in the
          consensus.  We also include protocols lines in routerstatus
          entries.

        * If consensus-method 26 or later is in use, then we initialize
          bandwidth weights to 1 in our calculations, to avoid
          division-by-zero errors on unusual networks.

        * If consensus method 27 or later is used, the microdesc consensus
          may include an "a" line for each router, listing an IPv6 OR port.

        [ As of 0.4.3.1-alpha, authorities no longer advertise or negotiate
          any consensus methods lower than 28. ]

        * If consensus method 28 or later is used, microdescriptors no longer
          include "a" lines.

        * If consensus method 29 or later is used, microdescriptor "family"
          lines are canonicalized to improve compression.

        * If consensus method 30 or later is used, the base64 encoded
          ntor-onion-key does not include the trailing = sign.

        * If consensus method 31 or later is used, authorities parse the
          "bwweightscale" and "maxunmeasuredbw" parameters correctly when
          computing votes.

        * If consensus method 32 or later is used, authorities handle the
          "MiddleOnly" flag specially when computing a consensus.  When the
          voters agree to include "MiddleOnly" in a routerstatus, they
          automatically remove "Exit", "Guard", "V2Dir", and "HSDir".  If
          the BadExit flag is included in the consensus, they automatically
          add it to the routerstatus.

        * If consensus method 33 or later is used, and the consensus
          flavor is "microdesc", then the "Publication" field in the "r"
          line is set to "2038-01-01 00:00:00".

        * If consensus method 34 or later is used, the consensus
          does not include any "package" lines.

The signatures at the end of a consensus document are sorted in ascending order by identity digest.

All ties in computing medians are broken in favor of the smaller or earlier item.

Deciding which Ids to include

This sorting algorithm is used for consensus-method 22 and later.

  First, consider each listing by tuple of <Ed,Rsa> identities, where 'Ed'
    may be "None" if the voter included "id ed25519 none" to indicate that
    the authority knows what ed25519 identities are, and thinks that the RSA
    key doesn't have one.

  For each such <Ed, RSA> tuple that is listed by more than half of the
    total authorities (not just total votes), include it.  (It is not
    possible for any other <id-Ed, id-RSA'> to have as many votes.)  If more
    than half of the authorities list a single <Ed,Rsa> pair of this type, we
    consider that Ed key to be "consensus"; see description of the
    NoEdConsensus flag.

  Log any other id-RSA values corresponding to an id-Ed we included, and any
    other id-Ed values corresponding to an id-RSA we included.

  For each <id-RSA> that is not yet included, if it is listed by more than
    half of the total authorities, and we do not already have it listed with
    some <id-Ed>, include it, but do not consider its Ed identity canonical.

Deciding which descriptors to include

Deciding which descriptors to include.

A tuple belongs to an <id-RSA, id-Ed> identity if it is a new tuple that matches both ID parts, or if it is an old tuple (one with no Ed opinion) that matches the RSA part. A tuple belongs to an <id-RSA> identity if its RSA identity matches.

A tuple matches another tuple if all the fields that are present in both tuples are the same.

For every included identity, consider the tuples belonging to that identity. Group them into sets of matching tuples. Include the tuple that matches the largest set, breaking ties in favor of the most recently published, and then in favor of the smaller server descriptor digest.

Forward compatibility

Future versions of Tor will need to include new information in the consensus documents, but it is important that all authorities (or at least half) generate and sign the same signed consensus.

To achieve this, authorities list in their votes their supported methods for generating consensuses from votes. Later methods will be assigned higher numbers. Currently specified methods:

     "1" -- The first implemented version.
     "2" -- Added support for the Unnamed flag.
     "3" -- Added legacy ID key support to aid in authority ID key rollovers
     "4" -- No longer list routers that are not running in the consensus
     "5" -- adds support for "w" and "p" lines.
     "6" -- Prefers measured bandwidth values rather than advertised
     "7" -- Provides keyword=integer pairs of consensus parameters
     "8" -- Provides microdescriptor summaries
     "9" -- Provides weights for selecting flagged routers in paths
     "10" -- Fixes edge case bugs in router flag selection weights
     "11" -- Don't consider BadExits when calculating bandwidth weights
     "12" -- Params are only included if enough auths voted for them
     "13" -- Omit router entries with missing microdescriptors.
     "14" -- Adds support for "a" lines in ns consensuses and microdescriptors.
     "15" -- Adds support for "p6" lines.
     "16" -- Adds ntor keys to microdescriptors
     "17" -- Adds "Unmeasured=1" flags to "w" lines
     "18" -- Adds 'id' to microdescriptors.
     "19" -- Adds "package" lines to consensuses
     "20" -- Adds GuardFraction information to microdescriptors.
     "21" -- Adds Ed25519 keys to microdescriptors.
     "22" -- Instantiates Ed25519 voting algorithm correctly.
     "23" -- Adds shared randomness protocol data.
     "24" -- No longer lists routers that are not Valid in the consensus.
     "25" -- Vote on recommended-protocols and required-protocols.
     "26" -- Initialize bandwidth weights to 1 to avoid division-by-zero.
     "27" -- Adds support for "a" lines in microdescriptor consensuses.
     "28" -- Removes "a" lines from microdescriptors.
     "29" -- Canonicalizes families in microdescriptors.
     "30" -- Removes padding from ntor-onion-key.
     "31" -- Uses correct parsing for bwweightscale and maxunmeasuredbw
             when computing weights
     "32" -- Adds special handling for MiddleOnly flag.
     "33" -- Sets "publication" field in microdesc consensus "r" lines
             to a meaningless value.
     "34" -- Removes "package" lines from consensus.

Before generating a consensus, an authority must decide which consensus method to use. To do this, it looks for the highest version number supported by more than 2/3 of the authorities voting. If it supports this method, then it uses it. Otherwise, it falls back to the newest consensus method that it supports (which will probably not result in a sufficiently signed consensus).

All authorities MUST support method 25; authorities SHOULD support more recent methods as well. Authorities SHOULD NOT support or advertise support for any method before 25. Clients MAY assume that they will never see a current valid signed consensus for any method before method 25.

(The consensuses generated by new methods must be parsable by implementations that only understand the old methods, and must not cause those implementations to compromise their anonymity. This is a means for making changes in the contents of consensus; not for making backward-incompatible changes in their format.)

The following methods have incorrect implementations; authorities SHOULD NOT advertise support for them:

"21" -- Did not correctly enable support for ed25519 key collation.

Encoding port lists

Whether the summary shows the list of accepted ports or the list of rejected ports depends on which list is shorter (has a shorter string representation). In case of ties we choose the list of accepted ports. As an exception to this rule an allow-all policy is represented as "accept 1-65535" instead of "reject " and a reject-all policy is similarly given as "reject 1-65535".

Summary items are compressed, that is instead of "80-88,89-100" there only is a single item of "80-100", similarly instead of "20,21" a summary will say "20-21".

Port lists are sorted in ascending order.

The maximum allowed length of a policy summary (including the "accept " or "reject ") is 1000 characters. If a summary exceeds that length we use an accept-style summary and list as much of the port list as is possible within these 1000 bytes. [XXXX be more specific.]

Computing Bandwidth Weights

Let weight_scale = 10000, or the value of the "bwweightscale" parameter. (Before consensus method 31 there was a bug in parsing bwweightscale, so that if there were any consensus parameters after it alphabetically, it would always be treated as 10000. A similar bug existed for "maxunmeasuredbw".)

Starting with consensus method 26, G, M, E, and D are initialized to 1 and T to 4. Prior consensus methods initialize them all to 0. With this change, test tor networks that are small or new are much more likely to produce bandwidth-weights in their consensus. The extra bandwidth has a negligible impact on the bandwidth weights in the public tor network.

Let G be the total bandwidth for Guard-flagged nodes. Let M be the total bandwidth for non-flagged nodes. Let E be the total bandwidth for Exit-flagged nodes. Let D be the total bandwidth for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes. Let T = G+M+E+D

Let Wgd be the weight for choosing a Guard+Exit for the guard position. Let Wmd be the weight for choosing a Guard+Exit for the middle position. Let Wed be the weight for choosing a Guard+Exit for the exit position.

Let Wme be the weight for choosing an Exit for the middle position. Let Wmg be the weight for choosing a Guard for the middle position.

Let Wgg be the weight for choosing a Guard for the guard position. Let Wee be the weight for choosing an Exit for the exit position.

Balanced network conditions then arise from solutions to the following system of equations:

WggG + WgdD == M + WmdD + WmeE + WmgG (guard bw = middle bw) WggG + WgdD == WeeE + WedD (guard bw = exit bw) WedD + WmdD + WgdD == D (aka: Wed+Wmd+Wdg = weight_scale) WmgG + WggG == G (aka: Wgg = weight_scale-Wmg) WmeE + WeeE == E (aka: Wee = weight_scale-Wme)

We are short 2 constraints with the above set. The remaining constraints come from examining different cases of network load. The following constraints are used in consensus method 10 and above. There are another incorrect and obsolete set of constraints used for these same cases in consensus method 9. For those, see dir-spec.txt in Tor 0.2.2.10-alpha to 0.2.2.16-alpha.

Case 1: E >= T/3 && G >= T/3 (Neither Exit nor Guard Scarce)

In this case, the additional two constraints are: Wmg == Wmd, Wed == 1/3.

    This leads to the solution:
        Wgd = weight_scale/3
        Wed = weight_scale/3
        Wmd = weight_scale/3
        Wee = (weight_scale*(E+G+M))/(3*E)
        Wme = weight_scale - Wee
        Wmg = (weight_scale*(2*G-E-M))/(3*G)
        Wgg = weight_scale - Wmg

  Case 2: E < T/3 && G < T/3 (Both are scarce)

Let R denote the more scarce class (Rare) between Guard vs Exit. Let S denote the less scarce class.

Subcase a: R+D < S

In this subcase, we simply devote all of D bandwidth to the scarce class.

       Wgg = Wee = weight_scale
       Wmg = Wme = Wmd = 0;
       if E < G:
         Wed = weight_scale
         Wgd = 0
       else:
         Wed = 0
         Wgd = weight_scale

    Subcase b: R+D >= S

In this case, if M <= T/3, we have enough bandwidth to try to achieve a balancing condition.

Add constraints Wgg = weight_scale, Wmd == Wgd to maximize bandwidth in the guard position while still allowing exits to be used as middle nodes:

Wee = (weight_scale*(E - G + M))/E Wed = (weight_scale*(D - 2E + 4G - 2M))/(3D) Wme = (weight_scale*(G-M))/E Wmg = 0 Wgg = weight_scale Wmd = (weight_scale - Wed)/2 Wgd = (weight_scale - Wed)/2

If this system ends up with any values out of range (ie negative, or above weight_scale), use the constraints Wgg == weight_scale and Wee == weight_scale, since both those positions are scarce:

         Wgg = weight_scale
         Wee = weight_scale
         Wed = (weight_scale*(D - 2*E + G + M))/(3*D)
         Wmd = (weight_Scale*(D - 2*M + G + E))/(3*D)
         Wme = 0
         Wmg = 0
         Wgd = weight_scale - Wed - Wmd

      If M > T/3, then the Wmd weight above will become negative. Set it to 0
      in this case:
         Wmd = 0
         Wgd = weight_scale - Wed

  Case 3: One of E < T/3 or G < T/3

    Let S be the scarce class (of E or G).

    Subcase a: (S+D) < T/3:
      if G=S:
        Wgg = Wgd = weight_scale;
        Wmd = Wed = Wmg = 0;
        // Minor subcase, if E is more scarce than M,
        // keep its bandwidth in place.
        if (E < M) Wme = 0;
        else Wme = (weight_scale*(E-M))/(2*E);
        Wee = weight_scale-Wme;
      if E=S:
        Wee = Wed = weight_scale;
        Wmd = Wgd = Wme = 0;
        // Minor subcase, if G is more scarce than M,
        // keep its bandwidth in place.
        if (G < M) Wmg = 0;
        else Wmg = (weight_scale*(G-M))/(2*G);
        Wgg = weight_scale-Wmg;

    Subcase b: (S+D) >= T/3
      if G=S:
        Add constraints Wgg = weight_scale, Wmd == Wed to maximize bandwidth
        in the guard position, while still allowing exits to be
        used as middle nodes:
          Wgg = weight_scale
          Wgd = (weight_scale*(D - 2*G + E + M))/(3*D)
          Wmg = 0
          Wee = (weight_scale*(E+M))/(2*E)
          Wme = weight_scale - Wee
          Wmd = (weight_scale - Wgd)/2
          Wed = (weight_scale - Wgd)/2
      if E=S:
        Add constraints Wee == weight_scale, Wmd == Wgd to maximize bandwidth
        in the exit position:
          Wee = weight_scale;
          Wed = (weight_scale*(D - 2*E + G + M))/(3*D);
          Wme = 0;
          Wgg = (weight_scale*(G+M))/(2*G);
          Wmg = weight_scale - Wgg;
          Wmd = (weight_scale - Wed)/2;
          Wgd = (weight_scale - Wed)/2;

To ensure consensus, all calculations are performed using integer math with a fixed precision determined by the bwweightscale consensus parameter (defaults at 10000, Min: 1, Max: INT32_MAX). (See note above about parsing bug in bwweightscale before consensus method 31.)

For future balancing improvements, Tor clients support 11 additional weights for directory requests and middle weighting. These weights are currently set at weight_scale, with the exception of the following groups of assignments:

Directory requests use middle weights:

Wbd=Wmd, Wbg=Wmg, Wbe=Wme, Wbm=Wmm

Handle bridges and strange exit policies:

Wgm=Wgg, Wem=Wee, Weg=Wed

Computing consensus flavors

Consensus flavors are variants of the consensus that clients can choose to download and use instead of the unflavored consensus. The purpose of a consensus flavor is to remove or replace information in the unflavored consensus without forcing clients to download information they would not use anyway.

Directory authorities can produce and serve an arbitrary number of flavors of the same consensus. A downside of creating too many new flavors is that clients will be distinguishable based on which flavor they download. A new flavor should not be created when adding a field instead wouldn't be too onerous.

Examples for consensus flavors include:

      - Publishing hashes of microdescriptors instead of hashes of
        full descriptors (see section 3.9.2).
      - Including different digests of descriptors, instead of the
        perhaps-soon-to-be-totally-broken SHA1.

Consensus flavors are derived from the unflavored consensus once the voting process is complete. This is to avoid consensus synchronization problems.

Every consensus flavor has a name consisting of a sequence of one or more alphanumeric characters and dashes. For compatibility, the original (unflavored) consensus type is called "ns".

The supported consensus flavors are defined as part of the authorities' consensus method.

All consensus flavors have in common that their first line is "network-status-version" where version is 3 or higher, and the flavor is a string consisting of alphanumeric characters and dashes:

"network-status-version" SP version [SP flavor] NL

ns consensus

The ns consensus flavor is equivalent to the unflavored consensus. When the flavor is omitted from the "network-status-version" line, it should be assumed to be "ns". Some implementations may explicitly state that the flavor is "ns" when generating consensuses, but should accept consensuses where the flavor is omitted.

Microdescriptor consensus

The microdescriptor consensus is a consensus flavor that contains microdescriptor hashes instead of descriptor hashes and that omits exit-policy summaries which are contained in microdescriptors. The microdescriptor consensus was designed to contain elements that are small and frequently changing. Clients use the information in the microdescriptor consensus to decide which servers to fetch information about and which servers to fetch information from.

The microdescriptor consensus is based on the unflavored consensus with the exceptions as follows:

"network-status-version" SP version SP "microdesc" NL

[At start, exactly once.]

The flavor name of a microdescriptor consensus is "microdesc".

Changes to router status entries are as follows:

    "r" SP nickname SP identity SP publication SP IP SP ORPort
        SP DirPort NL

        [At start, exactly once.]

        Similar to "r" lines in section 3.4.1, but without the digest element.

    "a" SP address ":" port NL

        [Any number]

        Identical to the "a" lines in section 3.4.1.

(Only included when the vote is generated with consensus-method 14 or later, and the consensus is generated with consensus-method 27 or later.)

"p" ... NL

[At most once]

Not currently generated.

Exit policy summaries are contained in microdescriptors and therefore omitted in the microdescriptor consensus.

"m" SP digest NL

[Exactly once.*]

"digest" is the base64 of the SHA256 hash of the router's microdescriptor with trailing =s omitted. For a given router descriptor digest and consensus method there should only be a single microdescriptor digest in the "m" lines of all votes. If different votes have different microdescriptor digests for the same descriptor digest and consensus method, at least one of the authorities is broken. If this happens, the microdesc consensus should contain whichever microdescriptor digest is most common. If there is no winner, we break ties in the favor of the lexically earliest.

[*Before consensus method 13, this field was sometimes erroneously omitted.]

Additionally, a microdescriptor consensus SHOULD use the sha256 digest algorithm for its signatures.

Exchanging detached signatures

Once an authority has computed and signed a consensus network status, it should send its detached signature to each other authority in an HTTP POST request to the URL:

http://<hostname>/tor/post/consensus-signature

[XXX Note why we support push-and-then-pull.]

All of the detached signatures it knows for consensus status should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/next/consensus-signatures.z

Assuming full connectivity, every authority should compute and sign the same consensus including any flavors in each period. Therefore, it isn't necessary to download the consensus or any flavors of it computed by each authority; instead, the authorities only push/fetch each others' signatures. A "detached signature" document contains items as follows:

"consensus-digest" SP Digest NL

[At start, at most once.]

The digest of the consensus being signed.

"valid-after" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL "fresh-until" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL "valid-until" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL

[As in the consensus]

"additional-digest" SP flavor SP algname SP digest NL

[Any number.]

For each supported consensus flavor, every directory authority adds one or more "additional-digest" lines. "flavor" is the name of the consensus flavor, "algname" is the name of the hash algorithm that is used to generate the digest, and "digest" is the hex-encoded digest.

The hash algorithm for the microdescriptor consensus flavor is defined as SHA256 with algname "sha256".

    "additional-signature" SP flavor SP algname SP identity SP
         signing-key-digest NL signature.

        [Any number.]

For each supported consensus flavor and defined digest algorithm, every directory authority adds an "additional-signature" line. "flavor" is the name of the consensus flavor. "algname" is the name of the algorithm that was used to hash the identity and signing keys, and to compute the signature. "identity" is the hex-encoded digest of the authority identity key of the signing authority, and "signing-key-digest" is the hex-encoded digest of the current authority signing key of the signing authority.

The "sha256" signature format is defined as the RSA signature of the OAEP+-padded SHA256 digest of the item to be signed. When checking signatures, the signature MUST be treated as valid if the signature material begins with SHA256(document), so that other data can get added later. [To be honest, I didn't fully understand the previous paragraph and only copied it from the proposals. Review carefully. -KL]

"directory-signature"

[As in the consensus; the signature object is the same as in the consensus document.]

Publishing the signed consensus

The voting period ends at the valid-after time. If the consensus has been signed by a majority of authorities, these documents are made available at

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/consensus.z

and

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/consensus-signatures.z

   [XXX current/consensus-signatures is not currently implemented, as it
    is not used in the voting protocol.]

   [XXX possible future features include support for downloading old
    consensuses.]

   The other vote documents are analogously made available under

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/authority.z
http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/<fp>.z
http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/d/<d>.z
http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/bandwidth.z

once the voting period ends, regardless of the number of signatures.

The authorities serve another consensus of each flavor "F" from the locations

/tor/status-vote/(current|next)/consensus-F.z. and
/tor/status-vote/(current|next)/consensus-F/<FP1>+....z.

The standard URLs for bandwidth list files first-appeared in Tor 0.3.5.

Directory cache operation

All directory caches implement this section, except as noted.

Downloading consensus status documents from directory authorities

All directory caches try to keep a recent network-status consensus document to serve to clients. A cache ALWAYS downloads a network-status consensus if any of the following are true:

• The cache has no consensus document.
• The cache's consensus document is no longer valid.

Otherwise, the cache downloads a new consensus document at a randomly chosen time in the first half-interval after its current consensus stops being fresh. (This time is chosen at random to avoid swarming the authorities at the start of each period. The interval size is inferred from the difference between the valid-after time and the fresh-until time on the consensus.)

   [For example, if a cache has a consensus that became valid at 1:00,
    and is fresh until 2:00, that cache will fetch a new consensus at
    a random time between 2:00 and 2:30.]

Directory caches also fetch consensus flavors from the authorities. Caches check the correctness of consensus flavors, but do not check anything about an unrecognized consensus document beyond its digest and length. Caches serve all consensus flavors from the same locations as the directory authorities.

Downloading server descriptors from directory authorities

Periodically (currently, every 10 seconds), directory caches check whether there are any specific descriptors that they do not have and that they are not currently trying to download. Caches identify these descriptors by hash in the recent network-status consensus documents.

If so, the directory cache launches requests to the authorities for these descriptors.

If one of these downloads fails, we do not try to download that descriptor from the authority that failed to serve it again unless we receive a newer network-status consensus that lists the same descriptor.

Directory caches must potentially cache multiple descriptors for each router. Caches must not discard any descriptor listed by any recent consensus. If there is enough space to store additional descriptors, caches SHOULD try to hold those which clients are likely to download the most. (Currently, this is judged based on the interval for which each descriptor seemed newest.)

[XXXX define recent]

Downloading microdescriptors from directory authorities

Directory mirrors should fetch, cache, and serve each microdescriptor from the authorities.

The microdescriptors with base64 hashes <D1>, <D2>, <D3> are available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/micro/d/<D1>-<D2>-<D3>[.z]

<Dn> are base64 encoded with trailing =s omitted for size and for consistency with the microdescriptor consensus format. -s are used instead of +s to separate items, since the + character is used in base64 encoding.

Directory mirrors should check to make sure that the microdescriptors they're about to serve match the right hashes (either the hashes from the fetch URL or the hashes from the consensus, respectively).

(NOTE: Due to squid proxy url limitations at most 92 microdescriptor hashes can be retrieved in a single request.)

Downloading extra-info documents from directory authorities

Any cache that chooses to cache extra-info documents should implement this section.

Periodically, the Tor instance checks whether it is missing any extra-info documents: in other words, if it has any server descriptors with an extra-info-digest field that does not match any of the extra-info documents currently held. If so, it downloads whatever extra-info documents are missing. Caches download from authorities. We follow the same splitting and back-off rules as in section 4.2.

Consensus diffs

Instead of downloading an entire consensus, clients may download a "diff" document containing an ed-style diff from a previous consensus document. Caches (and authorities) make these diffs as they learn about new consensuses. To do so, they must store a record of older consensuses.

(Support for consensus diffs was added in 0.3.1.1-alpha, and is advertised with the DirCache protocol version "2" or later.)

Consensus diff format

Consensus diffs are formatted as follows:

The first line is "network-status-diff-version 1" NL

The second line is

"hash" SP FromDigest SP ToDigest NL

where FromDigest is the hex-encoded SHA3-256 digest of the signed part of the consensus that the diff should be applied to, and ToDigest is the hex-encoded SHA3-256 digest of the entire consensus resulting from applying the diff. (See 3.4.1 for information on that part of a consensus is signed.)

The third and subsequent lines encode the diff from FromDigest to ToDigest in a limited subset of the ed diff format, as specified in appendix E.

Serving and requesting diffs

When downloading the current consensus, a client may include an HTTP header of the form

X-Or-Diff-From-Consensus: HASH1, HASH2, ...

where the HASH values are hex-encoded SHA3-256 digests of the signed part of one or more consensuses that the client knows about.

If a cache knows a consensus diff from one of those consensuses to the most recent consensus of the requested flavor, it may send that diff instead of the specified consensus.

Caches also serve diffs from the URIs:

/tor/status-vote/current/consensus/diff/<HASH>/<FPRLIST>.z
/tor/status-vote/current/consensus-<FLAVOR>/diff/<HASH>/<FPRLIST>.z

where FLAVOR is the consensus flavor, defaulting to "ns", and FPRLIST is +-separated list of recognized authority identity fingerprints as in appendix B.

Retrying failed downloads

See section 5.5 below; it applies to caches as well as clients.

Client operation

Every Tor that is not a directory server (that is, those that do not have a DirPort set) implements this section.

Downloading network-status documents

Each client maintains a list of directory authorities. Insofar as possible, clients SHOULD all use the same list.

  [Newer versions of Tor (0.2.8.1-alpha and later):
   Each client also maintains a list of default fallback directory mirrors
   (fallbacks). Each released version of Tor MAY have a different list,
   depending on the mirrors that satisfy the fallback directory criteria at
   release time.]

Clients try to have a live consensus network-status document at all times. A network-status document is "live" if the time in its valid-after field has passed, and the time in its valid-until field has not passed.

When a client has no consensus network-status document, it downloads it from a randomly chosen fallback directory mirror or authority. Clients prefer fallbacks to authorities, trying them earlier and more frequently. In all other cases, the client downloads from caches randomly chosen from among those believed to be V3 directory servers. (This information comes from the network-status documents.)

After receiving any response client MUST discard any network-status documents that it did not request.

On failure, the client waits briefly, then tries that network-status document again from another cache. The client does not build circuits until it has a live network-status consensus document, and it has descriptors for a significant proportion of the routers that it believes are running (this is configurable using torrc options and consensus parameters).

  [Newer versions of Tor (0.2.6.2-alpha and later):
   If the consensus contains Exits (the typical case), Tor will build both
   exit and internal circuits. When bootstrap completes, Tor will be ready
   to handle an application requesting an exit circuit to services like the
   World Wide Web.

If the consensus does not contain Exits, Tor will only build internal circuits. In this case, earlier statuses will have included "internal" as indicated above. When bootstrap completes, Tor will be ready to handle an application requesting an internal circuit to hidden services at ".onion" addresses.

If a future consensus contains Exits, exit circuits may become available.]

(Note: clients can and should pick caches based on the network-status information they have: once they have first fetched network-status info from an authority or fallback, they should not need to go to the authority directly again, and should only choose the fallback at random, based on its consensus weight in the current consensus.)

To avoid swarming the caches whenever a consensus expires, the clients download new consensuses at a randomly chosen time after the caches are expected to have a fresh consensus, but before their consensus will expire. (This time is chosen uniformly at random from the interval between the time 3/4 into the first interval after the consensus is no longer fresh, and 7/8 of the time remaining after that before the consensus is invalid.)

   [For example, if a client has a consensus that became valid at 1:00,
    and is fresh until 2:00, and expires at 4:00, that client will fetch
    a new consensus at a random time between 2:45 and 3:50, since 3/4
    of the one-hour interval is 45 minutes, and 7/8 of the remaining 75
    minutes is 65 minutes.]

Clients may choose to download the microdescriptor consensus instead of the general network status consensus. In that case they should use the same update strategy as for the normal consensus. They should not download more than one consensus flavor.

When a client does not have a live consensus, it will generally use the most recent consensus it has if that consensus is "reasonably live". A "reasonably live" consensus is one that expired less than 24 hours ago.

Downloading server descriptors or microdescriptors

Clients try to have the best descriptor for each router. A descriptor is "best" if:

• It is listed in the consensus network-status document.

Periodically (currently every 10 seconds) clients check whether there are any "downloadable" descriptors. A descriptor is downloadable if:

      - It is the "best" descriptor for some router.
      - The descriptor was published at least 10 minutes in the past.
        (This prevents clients from trying to fetch descriptors that the
        mirrors have probably not yet retrieved and cached.)
      - The client does not currently have it.
      - The client is not currently trying to download it.
      - The client would not discard it immediately upon receiving it.
      - The client thinks it is running and valid (see section 5.4.1 below).

If at least 16 known routers have downloadable descriptors, or if enough time (currently 10 minutes) has passed since the last time the client tried to download descriptors, it launches requests for all downloadable descriptors.

When downloading multiple server descriptors, the client chooses multiple mirrors so that:

     - At least 3 different mirrors are used, except when this would result
       in more than one request for under 4 descriptors.
     - No more than 128 descriptors are requested from a single mirror.
     - Otherwise, as few mirrors as possible are used.
   After choosing mirrors, the client divides the descriptors among them
   randomly.

After receiving any response the client MUST discard any descriptors that it did not request.

When a descriptor download fails, the client notes it, and does not consider the descriptor downloadable again until a certain amount of time has passed. (Currently 0 seconds for the first failure, 60 seconds for the second, 5 minutes for the third, 10 minutes for the fourth, and 1 day thereafter.) Periodically (currently once an hour) clients reset the failure count.

Clients retain the most recent descriptor they have downloaded for each router so long as it is listed in the consensus. If it is not listed, they keep it so long as it is not too old (currently, ROUTER_MAX_AGE=48 hours) and no better router descriptor has been downloaded for the same relay. Caches retain descriptors until they are at least OLD_ROUTER_DESC_MAX_AGE=5 days old.

Clients which chose to download the microdescriptor consensus instead of the general consensus must download the referenced microdescriptors instead of server descriptors. Clients fetch and cache microdescriptors preemptively from dir mirrors when starting up, like they currently fetch descriptors. After bootstrapping, clients only need to fetch the microdescriptors that have changed.

When a client gets a new microdescriptor consensus, it looks to see if there are any microdescriptors it needs to learn, and launches a request for them.

Clients maintain a cache of microdescriptors along with metadata like when it was last referenced by a consensus, and which identity key it corresponds to. They keep a microdescriptor until it hasn't been mentioned in any consensus for a week. Future clients might cache them for longer or shorter times.

Downloading extra-info documents

Any client that uses extra-info documents should implement this section.

Note that generally, clients don't need extra-info documents.

Periodically, the Tor instance checks whether it is missing any extra-info documents: in other words, if it has any server descriptors with an extra-info-digest field that does not match any of the extra-info documents currently held. If so, it downloads whatever extra-info documents are missing. Clients try to download from caches. We follow the same splitting and back-off rules as in section 5.2.

Retrying failed downloads

This section applies to caches as well as to clients.

When a client fails to download a resource (a consensus, a router descriptor, a microdescriptor, etc) it waits for a certain amount of time before retrying the download. To determine the amount of time to wait, clients use a randomized exponential backoff algorithm. (Specifically, they use a variation of the "decorrelated jitter" algorithm from https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/architecture/exponential-backoff-and-jitter/ .)

The specific formula used to compute the 'i+1'th delay is:

        Delay_{i+1} = MIN(cap, random_between(lower_bound, upper_bound)))
          where upper_bound = MAX(lower_bound+1, Delay_i * 3)
                lower_bound = MAX(1, base_delay).

The value of 'cap' is set to INT_MAX; the value of 'base_delay' depends on what is being downloaded, whether the client is fully bootstrapped, how the client is configured, and where it is downloading from. Current base_delay values are:

   Consensus objects, as a non-bridge cache:
         0 (TestingServerConsensusDownloadInitialDelay)

   Consensus objects, as a client or bridge that has bootstrapped:
         0 (TestingClientConsensusDownloadInitialDelay)

   Consensus objects, as a client or bridge that is bootstrapping,
   when connecting to an authority because no "fallback" caches are
   known:
         0 (ClientBootstrapConsensusAuthorityOnlyDownloadInitialDelay)

   Consensus objects, as a client or bridge that is bootstrapping,
   when "fallback" caches are known but connecting to an authority
   anyway:
         6 (ClientBootstrapConsensusAuthorityDownloadInitialDelay)

   Consensus objects, as a client or bridge that is bootstrapping,
   when downloading from a "fallback" cache.
         0 (ClientBootstrapConsensusFallbackDownloadInitialDelay)

   Bridge descriptors, as a bridge-using client when at least one bridge
   is usable:
         10800 (TestingBridgeDownloadInitialDelay)

   Bridge descriptors, otherwise:
         0 (TestingBridgeBootstrapDownloadInitialDelay)

   Other objects, as cache or authority:
         0 (TestingServerDownloadInitialDelay)

   Other objects, as client:
         0 (TestingClientDownloadInitialDelay)

Standards compliance

All clients and servers MUST support HTTP 1.0. Clients and servers MAY support later versions of HTTP as well.

HTTP headers

Servers SHOULD set Content-Encoding to the algorithm used to compress the document(s) being served. Recognized algorithms are:

     - "identity"     -- RFC2616 section 3.5
     - "deflate"      -- RFC2616 section 3.5
     - "gzip"         -- RFC2616 section 3.5
     - "x-zstd"       -- The zstandard compression algorithm (www.zstd.net)
     - "x-tor-lzma"   -- The lzma compression algorithm, with a "preset"
                         value no higher than 6.

Clients SHOULD use Accept-Encoding on most directory requests to indicate which of the above compression algorithms they support. If they omit it (as Tor clients did before 0.3.1.1-alpha), then the server should serve only "deflate" or "identity" encoded documents, based on the presence or absence of the ".z" suffix on the requested URL.

Note that for anonymous directory requests (that is, requests made over multi-hop circuits, like those for onion service lookups) implementations SHOULD NOT advertise any Accept-Encoding values other than deflate. To do so would be to create a fingerprinting opportunity.

When receiving multiple documents, clients MUST accept compressed concatenated documents and concatenated compressed documents as equivalent.

Servers MAY set the Content-Length: header. When they do, it should match the number of compressed bytes that they are sending.

Servers MAY include an X-Your-Address-Is: header, whose value is the apparent IP address of the client connecting to them (as a dotted quad). For directory connections tunneled over a BEGIN_DIR stream, servers SHOULD report the IP from which the circuit carrying the BEGIN_DIR stream reached them.

Servers SHOULD disable caching of multiple network statuses or multiple server descriptors. Servers MAY enable caching of single descriptors, single network statuses, the list of all server descriptors, a v1 directory, or a v1 running routers document. XXX mention times.

HTTP status codes

Tor delivers the following status codes. Some were chosen without much thought; other code SHOULD NOT rely on specific status codes yet.

  200 -- the operation completed successfully
      -- the user requested statuses or serverdescs, and none of the ones we
         requested were found (0.2.0.4-alpha and earlier).

  304 -- the client specified an if-modified-since time, and none of the
         requested resources have changed since that time.

  400 -- the request is malformed, or
      -- the URL is for a malformed variation of one of the URLs we support,
          or
      -- the client tried to post to a non-authority, or
      -- the authority rejected a malformed posted document, or

  404 -- the requested document was not found.
      -- the user requested statuses or serverdescs, and none of the ones
         requested were found (0.2.0.5-alpha and later).

  503 -- we are declining the request in order to save bandwidth
      -- user requested some items that we ordinarily generate or store,
         but we do not have any available.

Consensus-negotiation timeline

   Period begins: this is the Published time.
     Everybody sends votes
   Reconciliation: everybody tries to fetch missing votes.
     consensus may exist at this point.
   End of voting period:
     everyone swaps signatures.
   Now it's okay for caches to download
     Now it's okay for clients to download.

   Valid-after/valid-until switchover

General-use HTTP URLs

"Fingerprints" in these URLs are base16-encoded SHA1 hashes.

The most recent v3 consensus should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/consensus.z

Similarly, the v3 microdescriptor consensus should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/consensus-microdesc.z

Starting with Tor version 0.2.1.1-alpha is also available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/status-vote/current/consensus/<F1>+<F2>+<F3>.z

(NOTE: Due to squid proxy url limitations at most 96 fingerprints can be retrieved in a single request.)

Where F1, F2, etc. are authority identity fingerprints the client trusts. Servers will only return a consensus if more than half of the requested authorities have signed the document, otherwise a 404 error will be sent back. The fingerprints can be shortened to a length of any multiple of two, using only the leftmost part of the encoded fingerprint. Tor uses 3 bytes (6 hex characters) of the fingerprint.

Clients SHOULD sort the fingerprints in ascending order. Server MUST accept any order.

Clients SHOULD use this format when requesting consensus documents from directory authority servers and from caches running a version of Tor that is known to support this URL format.

A concatenated set of all the current key certificates should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/keys/all.z

The key certificate for this server should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/keys/authority.z

The key certificate for an authority whose authority identity fingerprint is <F> should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/keys/fp/<F>.z

The key certificate whose signing key fingerprint is <F> should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/keys/sk/<F>.z

The key certificate whose identity key fingerprint is <F> and whose signing key fingerprint is <S> should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/keys/fp-sk/<F>-<S>.z

(As usual, clients may request multiple certificates using:

http://<hostname>/tor/keys/fp-sk/<F1>-<S1>+<F2>-<S2>.z )

[The above fp-sk format was not supported before Tor 0.2.1.9-alpha.]

The most recent descriptor for a server whose identity key has a fingerprint of <F> should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/server/fp/<F>.z

The most recent descriptors for servers with identity fingerprints <F1>, <F2>,<F3> should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/server/fp/<F1>+<F2>+<F3>.z

(NOTE: Due to squid proxy url limitations at most 96 fingerprints can be retrieved in a single request.

Implementations SHOULD NOT download descriptors by identity key fingerprint. This allows a corrupted server (in collusion with a cache) to provide a unique descriptor to a client, and thereby partition that client from the rest of the network.)

The server descriptor with (descriptor) digest <D> (in hex) should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/server/d/<D>.z

The most recent descriptors with digests <D1>, <D2>, <D3> should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/server/d/<D1>+<D2>+<D3>.z

The most recent descriptor for this server should be at:

http://<hostname>/tor/server/authority.z

This is used for authorities, and also if a server is configured as a bridge. The official Tor implementations (starting at 0.1.1.x) use this resource to test whether a server's own DirPort is reachable. It is also useful for debugging purposes.

A concatenated set of the most recent descriptors for all known servers should be available at:

http://<hostname>/tor/server/all.z

Extra-info documents are available at the URLS:

      http://<hostname>/tor/extra/d/...
      http://<hostname>/tor/extra/fp/...
      http://<hostname>/tor/extra/all[.z]
      http://<hostname>/tor/extra/authority[.z]

(These work like the /tor/server/ URLs: they support fetching extra-info documents by their digest, by the fingerprint of their servers, or all at once. When serving by fingerprint, we serve the extra-info that corresponds to the descriptor we would serve by that fingerprint. Only directory authorities of version 0.2.0.1-alpha or later are guaranteed to support the first three classes of URLs. Caches may support them, and MUST support them if they have advertised "caches-extra-info".)

For debugging, directories SHOULD expose non-compressed objects at URLs like the above, but without the final ".z". If the client uses Accept-Encodings header, it should override the presence or absence of the ".z" (see section 6.1).

Clients SHOULD use upper case letters (A-F) when base16-encoding fingerprints. Servers MUST accept both upper and lower case fingerprints in requests.

Converting a curve25519 public key to an ed25519 public key

Given an X25519 key, that is, an affine point (u,v) on the Montgomery curve defined by

bv^2 = u(u^2 + au +1)

where

         a = 486662
         b = 1

and comprised of the compressed form (i.e. consisting of only the u-coordinate), we can retrieve the y-coordinate of the affine point (x,y) on the twisted Edwards form of the curve defined by

-x^2 + y^2 = 1 + d x^2 y^2

where

d = - 121665/121666

by computing

y = (u-1)/(u+1).

and then we can apply the usual curve25519 twisted Edwards point decompression algorithm to find an x-coordinate of an affine twisted Edwards point to check signatures with. Signing keys for ed25519 are compressed curve points in twisted Edwards form (so a y-coordinate and the sign of the x-coordinate), and X25519 keys are compressed curve points in Montgomery form (i.e. a u-coordinate).

However, note that compressed point in Montgomery form neglects to encode what the sign of the corresponding twisted Edwards x-coordinate would be. Thus, we need the sign of the x-coordinate to do this operation; otherwise, we'll have two possible x-coordinates that might have correspond to the ed25519 public key.

To get the sign, the easiest way is to take the corresponding private key, feed it to the ed25519 public key generation algorithm, and see what the sign is.

[Recomputing the sign bit from the private key every time sounds rather strange and inefficient to me… —isis]

Note that in addition to its coordinates, an expanded Ed25519 private key also has a 32-byte random value, "prefix", used to compute internal r values in the signature. For security, this prefix value should be derived deterministically from the curve25519 key. The Tor implementation derives it as SHA512(private_key | STR)[0..32], where STR is the nul-terminated string:

"Derive high part of ed25519 key from curve25519 key\0"

On the client side, where there is no access to the curve25519 private keys, one may use the curve25519 public key's Montgomery u-coordinate to recover the Montgomery v-coordinate by computing the right-hand side of the Montgomery curve equation:

bv^2 = u(u^2 + au +1)

where

         a = 486662
         b = 1

Then, knowing the intended sign of the Edwards x-coordinate, one may recover said x-coordinate by computing:

x = (u/v) * sqrt(-a - 2)

Inferring missing proto lines

The directory authorities no longer allow versions of Tor before 0.2.4.18-rc. But right now, there is no version of Tor in the consensus before 0.2.4.19. Therefore, we should disallow versions of Tor earlier than 0.2.4.19, so that we can have the protocol list for all current Tor versions include:

Cons=1-2 Desc=1-2 DirCache=1 HSDir=1 HSIntro=3 HSRend=1-2 Link=1-4 LinkAuth=1 Microdesc=1-2 Relay=1-2

For Desc, Microdesc and Cons, Tor versions before 0.2.7.stable should be taken to only support version 1.

Limited ed diff format

We support the following format for consensus diffs. It's a subset of the ed diff format, but clients MUST NOT accept other ed commands.

We support the following ed commands, each on a line by itself:

    - "<n1>d"          Delete line n1
    - "<n1>,<n2>d"     Delete lines n1 through n2, inclusive
    - "<n1>,$d"        Delete line n1 through the end of the file, inclusive.
    - "<n1>c"          Replace line n1 with the following block
    - "<n1>,<n2>c"     Replace lines n1 through n2, inclusive, with the
                       following block.
    - "<n1>a"          Append the following block after line n1.

Note that line numbers always apply to the file after all previous commands have already been applied. Note also that line numbers are 1-indexed.

The commands MUST apply to the file from back to front, such that lines are only ever referred to by their position in the original file.

If there are any directory signatures on the original document, the first command MUST be a "<n1>,$d" form to remove all of the directory signatures. Using this format ensures that the client will successfully apply the diff even if they have an unusual encoding for the signatures.

The replace and append command take blocks. These blocks are simply appended to the diff after the line with the command. A line with just a period (".") ends the block (and is not part of the lines to add). Note that it is impossible to insert a line with just a single dot.

Tor Shared Random Subsystem Specification

This document specifies how the commit-and-reveal shared random subsystem of Tor works. This text used to be proposal 250-commit-reveal-consensus.txt.

Introduction

Motivation

For the next generation hidden services project, we need the Tor network to produce a fresh random value every day in such a way that it cannot be predicted in advance or influenced by an attacker.

Currently we need this random value to make the HSDir hash ring unpredictable (#8244), which should resolve a wide class of hidden service DoS attacks and should make it harder for people to gauge the popularity and activity of target hidden services. Furthermore this random value can be used by other systems in need of fresh global randomness like Tor-related protocols (e.g. OnioNS) or even non-Tor-related (e.g. warrant canaries).

Previous work

Proposal 225 specifies a commit-and-reveal protocol that can be run as an external script and have the results be fed to the directory authorities. However, directory authority operators feel unsafe running a third-party script that opens TCP ports and accepts connections from the Internet. Hence, this proposal aims to embed the commit-and-reveal idea in the Tor voting process which should make it smoother to deploy and maintain.

Overview

This proposal alters the Tor consensus protocol such that a random number is generated every midnight by the directory authorities during the regular voting process. The distributed random generator scheme is based on the commit-and-reveal technique.

The proposal also specifies how the final shared random value is embedded in consensus documents so that clients who need it can get it.

Introduction to our commit-and-reveal protocol

Every day, before voting for the consensus at 00:00UTC each authority generates a new random value and keeps it for the whole day. The authority cryptographically hashes the random value and calls the output its "commitment" value. The original random value is called the "reveal" value.

The idea is that given a reveal value you can cryptographically confirm that it corresponds to a given commitment value (by hashing it). However given a commitment value you should not be able to derive the underlying reveal value. The construction of these values is specified in section [COMMITREVEAL].

Ten thousand feet view of the protocol

Our commit-and-reveal protocol aims to produce a fresh shared random value (denoted shared_random_value here and elsewhere) every day at 00:00UTC. The final fresh random value is embedded in the consensus document at that time.

Our protocol has two phases and uses the hourly voting procedure of Tor. Each phase lasts 12 hours, which means that 12 voting rounds happen in between. In short, the protocol works as follows:

Commit phase:

        Starting at 00:00UTC and for a period of 12 hours, authorities every
        hour include their commitment in their votes. They also include any
        received commitments from other authorities, if available.

      Reveal phase:

        At 12:00UTC, the reveal phase starts and lasts till the end of the
        protocol at 00:00UTC. In this stage, authorities must reveal the value
        they committed to in the previous phase. The commitment and revealed
        values from other authorities, when available, are also added to the
        vote.

      Shared Randomness Calculation:

        At 00:00UTC, the shared random value is computed from the agreed
        revealed values and added to the consensus.

   This concludes the commit-and-reveal protocol every day at 00:00UTC.

How we use the consensus

The produced shared random values need to be readily available to clients. For this reason we include them in the consensus documents.

Every hour the consensus documents need to include the shared random value of the day, as well as the shared random value of the previous day. That's because either of these values might be needed at a given time for a Tor client to access a hidden service according to section [TIME-OVERLAP] of proposal 224. This means that both of these two values need to be included in votes as well.

Hence, consensuses need to include:

      (a) The shared random value of the current time period.
      (b) The shared random value of the previous time period.

For this, a new SR consensus method will be needed to indicate which authorities support this new protocol.

Inserting Shared Random Values in the consensus

After voting happens, we need to be careful on how we pick which shared random values (SRV) to put in the consensus, to avoid breaking the consensus because of authorities having different views of the commit-and-reveal protocol (because maybe they missed some rounds of the protocol).

For this reason, authorities look at the received votes before creating a consensus and employ the following logic:

   - First of all, they make sure that the agreed upon consensus method is
     above the SR consensus method.

   - Authorities include an SRV in the consensus if and only if the SRV has
     been voted by at least the majority of authorities.

   - For the consensus at 00:00UTC, authorities include an SRV in the consensus
     if and only if the SRV has been voted by at least AuthDirNumAgreements
     authorities (where AuthDirNumAgreements is a newly introduced consensus
     parameter).

Authorities include in the consensus the most popular SRV that also satisfies the above constraints. Otherwise, no SRV should be included.

The above logic is used to make it harder to break the consensus by natural partioning causes.

We use the AuthDirNumAgreements consensus parameter to enforce that a supermajority of dirauths supports the SR protocol during SRV creation, so that even if a few of those dirauths drop offline in the middle of the run the SR protocol does not get disturbed. We go to extra lengths to ensure this because changing SRVs in the middle of the day has terrible reachability consequences for hidden service clients.

Persistent State of the Protocol

A directory authority needs to keep a persistent state on disk of the on going protocol run. This allows an authority to join the protocol seamlessly in the case of a reboot.

During the commitment phase, it is populated with the commitments of all authorities. Then during the reveal phase, the reveal values are also stored in the state.

As discussed previously, the shared random values from the current and previous time period must also be present in the state at all times if they are available.

Protocol Illustration

An illustration for better understanding the protocol can be found here:

https://people.torproject.org/~asn/hs_notes/shared_rand.jpg

It reads left-to-right.

The illustration displays what the authorities (A_1, A_2, A_3) put in their votes. A chain 'A_1 -> c_1 -> r_1' denotes that authority A_1 committed to the value c_1 which corresponds to the reveal value r_1.

The illustration depicts only a few rounds of the whole protocol. It starts with the first three rounds of the commit phase, then it jumps to the last round of the commit phase. It continues with the first two rounds of the reveal phase and then it jumps to the final round of the protocol run. It finally shows the first round of the commit phase of the next protocol run (00:00UTC) where the final Shared Random Value is computed. In our fictional example, the SRV was computed with 3 authority contributions and its value is "a56fg39h".

We advice you to revisit this after you have read the whole document.

Protocol

In this section we give a detailed specification of the protocol. We describe the protocol participants' logic and the messages they send. The encoding of the messages is specified in the next section ([SPEC]).

Now we go through the phases of the protocol:

Commitment Phase

The commit phase lasts from 00:00UTC to 12:00UTC.

During this phase, an authority commits a value in its vote and saves it to the permanent state as well.

Authorities also save any received authoritative commits by other authorities in their permanent state. We call a commit by Alice "authoritative" if it was included in Alice's vote.

Voting During Commitment Phase

During the commit phase, each authority includes in its votes:

    - The commitment value for this protocol run.
    - Any authoritative commitments received from other authorities.
    - The two previous shared random values produced by the protocol (if any).

The commit phase lasts for 12 hours, so authorities have multiple chances to commit their values. An authority MUST NOT commit a second value during a subsequent round of the commit phase.

If an authority publishes a second commitment value in the same commit phase, only the first commitment should be taken in account by other authorities. Any subsequent commitments MUST be ignored.

Persistent State During Commitment Phase

During the commitment phase, authorities save in their persistent state the authoritative commits they have received from each authority. Only one commit per authority must be considered trusted and active at a given time.

Reveal Phase

The reveal phase lasts from 12:00UTC to 00:00UTC.

Now that the commitments have been agreed on, it's time for authorities to reveal their random values.

Voting During Reveal Phase

During the reveal phase, each authority includes in its votes:

    - Its reveal value that was previously committed in the commit phase.
    - All the commitments and reveals received from other authorities.
    - The two previous shared random values produced by the protocol (if any).

The set of commitments have been decided during the commitment phase and must remain the same. If an authority tries to change its commitment during the reveal phase or introduce a new commitment, the new commitment MUST be ignored.

Persistent State During Reveal Phase

During the reveal phase, authorities keep the authoritative commits from the commit phase in their persistent state. They also save any received reveals that correspond to authoritative commits and are valid (as specified in [VALIDATEVALUES]).

An authority that just received a reveal value from another authority's vote, MUST wait till the next voting round before including that reveal value in its votes.

Shared Random Value Calculation At 00:00UTC

Finally, at 00:00UTC every day, authorities compute a fresh shared random value and this value must be added to the consensus so clients can use it.

Authorities calculate the shared random value using the reveal values in their state as specified in subsection [SRCALC].

Authorities at 00:00UTC start including this new shared random value in their votes, replacing the one from two protocol runs ago. Authorities also start including this new shared random value in the consensus as well.

Apart from that, authorities at 00:00UTC proceed voting normally as they would in the first round of the commitment phase (section [COMMITMENTPHASE]).

Shared Randomness Calculation

An authority that wants to derive the shared random value SRV, should use the appropriate reveal values for that time period and calculate SRV as follows.

HASHED_REVEALS = H(ID_a | R_a | ID_b | R_b | ..)

      SRV = SHA3-256("shared-random" | INT_8(REVEAL_NUM) | INT_4(VERSION) |
                     HASHED_REVEALS | PREVIOUS_SRV)

where the ID_a value is the identity key fingerprint of authority 'a' and R_a is the corresponding reveal value of that authority for the current period.

Also, REVEAL_NUM is the number of revealed values in this construction, VERSION is the protocol version number and PREVIOUS_SRV is the previous shared random value. If no previous shared random value is known, then PREVIOUS_SRV is set to 32 NUL (\x00) bytes.

To maintain consistent ordering in HASHED_REVEALS, all the ID_a | R_a pairs are ordered based on the R_a value in ascending order.

Bootstrapping Procedure

As described in [CONS], two shared random values are required for the HSDir overlay periods to work properly as specified in proposal 224. Hence clients MUST NOT use the randomness of this system till it has bootstrapped completely; that is, until two shared random values are included in a consensus. This should happen after three 00:00UTC consensuses have been produced, which takes 48 hours.

Rebooting Directory Authorities

The shared randomness protocol must be able to support directory authorities who leave or join in the middle of the protocol execution.

An authority that commits in the Commitment Phase and then leaves MUST have stored its reveal value on disk so that it continues participating in the protocol if it returns before or during the Reveal Phase. The reveal value MUST be stored timestamped to avoid sending it on wrong protocol runs.

An authority that misses the Commitment Phase cannot commit anymore, so it's unable to participate in the protocol for that run. Same goes for an authority that misses the Reveal phase. Authorities who do not participate in the protocol SHOULD still carry commits and reveals of others in their vote.

Finally, authorities MUST implement their persistent state in such a way that they will never commit two different values in the same protocol run, even if they have to reboot in the middle (assuming that their persistent state file is kept). A suggested way to structure the persistent state is found at [STATEFORMAT].

Specification

Voting

This section describes how commitments, reveals and SR values are encoded in votes. We describe how to encode both the authority's own commitments/reveals and also the commitments/reveals received from the other authorities. Commitments and reveals share the same line, but reveals are optional.

Participating authorities need to include the line:

"shared-rand-participate"

in their votes to announce that they take part in the protocol.

Computing commitments and reveals

A directory authority that wants to participate in this protocol needs to create a new pair of commitment/reveal values for every protocol run. Authorities SHOULD generate a fresh pair of such values right before the first commitment phase of the day (at 00:00UTC).

The value REVEAL is computed as follows:

REVEAL = base64-encode( TIMESTAMP || H(RN) )

      where RN is the SHA3 hashed value of a 256-bit random value. We hash the
      random value to avoid exposing raw bytes from our PRNG to the network (see
      [RANDOM-REFS]).

      TIMESTAMP is an 8-bytes network-endian time_t value. Authorities SHOULD
      set TIMESTAMP to the valid-after time of the vote document they first plan
      to publish their commit into (so usually at 00:00UTC, except if they start
      up in a later commit round).

   The value COMMIT is computed as follows:

      COMMIT = base64-encode( TIMESTAMP || H(REVEAL) )

Validating commitments and reveals

Given a COMMIT message and a REVEAL message it should be possible to verify that they indeed correspond. To do so, the client extracts the random value H(RN) from the REVEAL message, hashes it, and compares it with the H(H(RN)) from the COMMIT message. We say that the COMMIT and REVEAL messages correspond, if the comparison was successful.

Participants MUST also check that corresponding COMMIT and REVEAL values have the same timestamp value.

Authorities should ignore reveal values during the Reveal Phase that don't correspond to commit values published during the Commitment Phase.

Encoding commit/reveal values in votes

An authority puts in its vote the commitments and reveals it has produced and seen from the other authorities. To do so, it includes the following in its votes:

"shared-rand-commit" SP VERSION SP ALGNAME SP IDENTITY SP COMMIT [SP REVEAL] NL

where VERSION is the version of the protocol the commit was created with. IDENTITY is the authority's SHA1 identity fingerprint and COMMIT is the encoded commit [COMMITREVEAL]. Authorities during the reveal phase can also optionally include an encoded reveal value REVEAL. There MUST be only one line per authority else the vote is considered invalid. Finally, the ALGNAME is the hash algorithm that should be used to compute COMMIT and REVEAL which is "sha3-256" for version 1.

Shared Random Value

Authorities include a shared random value (SRV) in their votes using the following encoding for the previous and current value respectively:

     "shared-rand-previous-value" SP NUM_REVEALS SP VALUE NL
     "shared-rand-current-value" SP NUM_REVEALS SP VALUE NL

where VALUE is the actual shared random value encoded in hex (computed as specified in section [SRCALC]. NUM_REVEALS is the number of reveal values used to generate this SRV.

To maintain consistent ordering, the shared random values of the previous period should be listed before the values of the current period.

Encoding Shared Random Values in the consensus

Authorities insert the two active shared random values in the consensus following the same encoding format as in [SRVOTE].

Persistent state format

As a way to keep ground truth state in this protocol, an authority MUST keep a persistent state of the protocol. The next sub-section suggest a format for this state which is the same as the current state file format.

It contains a preamble, a commitment and reveal section and a list of shared random values.

The preamble (or header) contains the following items. They MUST occur in the order given here:

"Version" SP version NL

[At start, exactly once.]

A document format version. For this specification, version is "1".

"ValidUntil" SP YYYY-MM-DD SP HH:MM:SS NL

[Exactly once]

        After this time, this state is expired and shouldn't be used nor
        trusted. The validity time period is till the end of the current
        protocol run (the upcoming noon).

The following details the commitment and reveal section. They are encoded the same as in the vote. This makes it easier for implementation purposes.

"Commit" SP version SP algname SP identity SP commit [SP reveal] NL

[Exactly once per authority]

The values are the same as detailed in section [COMMITVOTE].

This line is also used by an authority to store its own value.

Finally is the shared random value section.

"SharedRandPreviousValue" SP num_reveals SP value NL

[At most once]

        This is the previous shared random value agreed on at the previous
        period. The fields are the same as in section [SRVOTE].

     "SharedRandCurrentValue" SP num_reveals SP value NL

        [At most once]

        This is the latest shared random value. The fields are the same as in
        section [SRVOTE].

Security Analysis

Security of commit-and-reveal and future directions

The security of commit-and-reveal protocols is well understood, and has certain flaws. Basically, the protocol is insecure to the extent that an adversary who controls b of the authorities gets to choose among 2^b outcomes for the result of the protocol. However, an attacker who is not a dirauth should not be able to influence the outcome at all.

We believe that this system offers sufficient security especially compared to the current situation. More secure solutions require much more advanced crypto and more complex protocols so this seems like an acceptable solution for now.

Here are some examples of possible future directions:

• Schemes based on threshold signatures (e.g. see [HOPPER])
• Unicorn scheme by Lenstra et al. [UNICORN]
• Schemes based on Verifiable Delay Functions [VDFS]

For more alternative approaches on collaborative random number generation also see the discussion at [RNGMESSAGING].

Predicting the shared random value during reveal phase

The reveal phase lasts 12 hours, and most authorities will send their reveal value on the first round of the reveal phase. This means that an attacker can predict the final shared random value about 12 hours before it's generated.

This does not pose a problem for the HSDir hash ring, since we impose an higher uptime restriction on HSDir nodes, so 12 hours predictability is not an issue.

Any other protocols using the shared random value from this system should be aware of this property.

Partition attacks

This design is not immune to certain partition attacks. We believe they don't offer much gain to an attacker as they are very easy to detect and difficult to pull off since an attacker would need to compromise a directory authority at the very least. Also, because of the byzantine general problem, it's very hard (even impossible in some cases) to protect against all such attacks. Nevertheless, this section describes all possible partition attack and how to detect them.

Partition attacks during commit phase

A malicious directory authority could send only its commit to one single authority which results in that authority having an extra commit value for the shared random calculation that the others don't have. Since the consensus needs majority, this won't affect the final SRV value. However, the attacker, using this attack, could remove a single directory authority from the consensus decision at 24:00 when the SRV is computed.

An attacker could also partition the authorities by sending two different commitment values to different authorities during the commit phase.

All of the above is fairly easy to detect. Commitment values in the vote coming from an authority should NEVER be different between authorities. If so, this means an attack is ongoing or very bad bug (highly unlikely).

Partition attacks during reveal phase

Let's consider Alice, a malicious directory authority. Alice could wait until the last reveal round, and reveal its value to half of the authorities. That would partition the authorities into two sets: the ones who think that the shared random value should contain this new reveal, and the rest who don't know about it. This would result in a tie and two different shared random value.

A similar attack is possible. For example, two rounds before the end of the reveal phase, Alice could advertise her reveal value to only half of the dirauths. This way, in the last reveal phase round, half of the dirauths will include that reveal value in their votes and the others will not. In the end of the reveal phase, half of the dirauths will calculate a different shared randomness value than the others.

We claim that this attack is not particularly fruitful: Alice ends up having two shared random values to choose from which is a fundamental problem of commit-and-reveal protocols as well (since the last person can always abort or reveal). The attacker can also sabotage the consensus, but there are other ways this can be done with the current voting system.

Furthermore, we claim that such an attack is very noisy and detectable. First of all, it requires the authority to sabotage two consensuses which will cause quite some noise. Furthermore, the authority needs to send different votes to different auths which is detectable. Like the commit phase attack, the detection here is to make sure that the commitment values in a vote coming from an authority are always the same for each authority.

Discussion

Why the added complexity from proposal 225?

The complexity difference between this proposal and prop225 is in part because prop225 doesn't specify how the shared random value gets to the clients. This proposal spends lots of effort specifying how the two shared random values can always be readily accessible to clients.

Why do you do a commit-and-reveal protocol in 24 rounds?

The reader might be wondering why we span the protocol over the course of a whole day (24 hours), when only 3 rounds would be sufficient to generate a shared random value.

We decided to do it this way, because we piggyback on the Tor voting protocol which also happens every hour.

We could instead only do the shared randomness protocol from 21:00 to 00:00 every day. Or to do it multiple times a day.

However, we decided that since the shared random value needs to be in every consensus anyway, carrying the commitments/reveals as well will not be a big problem. Also, this way we give more chances for a failing dirauth to recover and rejoin the protocol.

Why can't we recover if the 00:00UTC consensus fails?

If the 00:00UTC consensus fails, there will be no shared random value for the whole day. In theory, we could recover by calculating the shared randomness of the day at 01:00UTC instead. However, the engineering issues with adding such recovery logic are too great. For example, it's not easy for an authority who just booted to learn whether a specific consensus failed to be created.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this design with feedback and discussion.

Thanks go to arma, ioerror, kernelcorn, nickm, s7r, Sebastian, teor, weasel and everyone else!

References:

[RANDOM-REFS]:
   http://projectbullrun.org/dual-ec/ext-rand.html
   https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2015-November/009954.html

[RNGMESSAGING]:
   https://moderncrypto.org/mail-archive/messaging/2015/002032.html

[HOPPER]:
   https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2014-January/006053.html

[UNICORN]:
   https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/366.pdf

[VDFS]:
   https://eprint.iacr.org/2018/601.pdf

Tor Path Specification

                              Roger Dingledine
                               Nick Mathewson

Note: This is an attempt to specify Tor as currently implemented. Future versions of Tor will implement improved algorithms.

This document tries to cover how Tor chooses to build circuits and assign streams to circuits. Other implementations MAY take other approaches, but implementors should be aware of the anonymity and load-balancing implications of their choices.

THIS SPEC ISN'T DONE YET.

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

General operation

Tor begins building circuits as soon as it has enough directory information to do so. Some circuits are built preemptively because we expect to need them later (for user traffic), and some are built because of immediate need (for user traffic that no current circuit can handle, for testing the network or our reachability, and so on).

  [Newer versions of Tor (0.2.6.2-alpha and later):
   If the consensus contains Exits (the typical case), Tor will build both
   exit and internal circuits. When bootstrap completes, Tor will be ready
   to handle an application requesting an exit circuit to services like the
   World Wide Web.

If the consensus does not contain Exits, Tor will only build internal circuits. In this case, earlier statuses will have included "internal" as indicated above. When bootstrap completes, Tor will be ready to handle an application requesting an internal circuit to hidden services at ".onion" addresses.

If a future consensus contains Exits, exit circuits may become available.]

When a client application creates a new stream (by opening a SOCKS connection or launching a resolve request), we attach it to an appropriate open circuit if one exists, or wait if an appropriate circuit is in-progress. We launch a new circuit only if no current circuit can handle the request. We rotate circuits over time to avoid some profiling attacks.

To build a circuit, we choose all the nodes we want to use, and then construct the circuit. Sometimes, when we want a circuit that ends at a given hop, and we have an appropriate unused circuit, we "cannibalize" the existing circuit and extend it to the new terminus.

These processes are described in more detail below.

This document describes Tor's automatic path selection logic only; path selection can be overridden by a controller (with the EXTENDCIRCUIT and ATTACHSTREAM commands). Paths constructed through these means may violate some constraints given below.

Terminology

A "path" is an ordered sequence of nodes, not yet built as a circuit.

A "clean" circuit is one that has not yet been used for any traffic.

A "fast" or "stable" or "valid" node is one that has the 'Fast' or 'Stable' or 'Valid' flag set respectively, based on our current directory information. A "fast" or "stable" circuit is one consisting only of "fast" or "stable" nodes.

In an "exit" circuit, the final node is chosen based on waiting stream requests if any, and in any case it avoids nodes with exit policy of "reject :". An "internal" circuit, on the other hand, is one where the final node is chosen just like a middle node (ignoring its exit policy).

A "request" is a client-side stream or DNS resolve that needs to be served by a circuit.

A "pending" circuit is one that we have started to build, but which has not yet completed.

A circuit or path "supports" a request if it is okay to use the circuit/path to fulfill the request, according to the rules given below. A circuit or path "might support" a request if some aspect of the request is unknown (usually its target IP), but we believe the path probably supports the request according to the rules given below.

A relay's bandwidth

Old versions of Tor did not report bandwidths in network status documents, so clients had to learn them from the routers' advertised relay descriptors.

For versions of Tor prior to 0.2.1.17-rc, everywhere below where we refer to a relay's "bandwidth", we mean its clipped advertised bandwidth, computed by taking the smaller of the 'rate' and 'observed' arguments to the "bandwidth" element in the relay's descriptor. If a router's advertised bandwidth is greater than MAX_BELIEVABLE_BANDWIDTH (currently 10 MB/s), we clipped to that value.

For more recent versions of Tor, we take the bandwidth value declared in the consensus, and fall back to the clipped advertised bandwidth only if the consensus does not have bandwidths listed.

Building circuits

Here we describe a number of rules for building circuits: under what circumstances we do so, how we choose the paths for them, when we give up on an in-progress circuits, and what we do when circuit construction fails.

When we build

We don't build circuits until we have enough directory info

There's a class of possible attacks where our directory servers only give us information about the relays that they would like us to use. To prevent this attack, we don't build multi-hop circuits (including preemptive circuits, [on-demand circuits(#on-demand), onion-service circuits] or self-testing testing circuits) for real traffic until we have enough directory information to be reasonably confident this attack isn't being done to us.

Here, "enough" directory information is defined as:

      * Having a consensus that's been valid at some point in the
        last REASONABLY_LIVE_TIME interval (24 hours).

      * Having enough descriptors that we could build at least some
        fraction F of all bandwidth-weighted paths, without taking
        ExitNodes/EntryNodes/etc into account.

        (F is set by the PathsNeededToBuildCircuits option,
        defaulting to the 'min_paths_for_circs_pct' consensus
        parameter, with a final default value of 60%.)

      * Having enough descriptors that we could build at least some
        fraction F of all bandwidth-weighted paths, _while_ taking
        ExitNodes/EntryNodes/etc into account.

        (F is as above.)

      * Having a descriptor for every one of the first
        NUM_USABLE_PRIMARY_GUARDS guards among our primary guards. (see
        guard-spec.txt)

We define the "fraction of bandwidth-weighted paths" as the product of these three fractions.

      * The fraction of descriptors that we have for nodes with the Guard
        flag, weighted by their bandwidth for the guard position.
      * The fraction of descriptors that we have for all nodes,
        weighted by their bandwidth for the middle position.
      * The fraction of descriptors that we have for nodes with the Exit
        flag, weighted by their bandwidth for the exit position.

If the consensus has zero weighted bandwidth for a given kind of relay (Guard, Middle, or Exit), Tor instead uses the fraction of relays for which it has the descriptor (not weighted by bandwidth at all).

If the consensus lists zero exit-flagged relays, Tor instead uses the fraction of middle relays.

Clients build circuits preemptively

When running as a client, Tor tries to maintain at least a certain number of clean circuits, so that new streams can be handled quickly. To increase the likelihood of success, Tor tries to predict what circuits will be useful by choosing from among nodes that support the ports we have used in the recent past (by default one hour). Specifically, on startup Tor tries to maintain one clean fast exit circuit that allows connections to port 80, and at least two fast clean stable internal circuits in case we get a resolve request or hidden service request (at least three if we run a hidden service).

After that, Tor will adapt the circuits that it preemptively builds based on the requests it sees from the user: it tries to have two fast clean exit circuits available for every port seen within the past hour (each circuit can be adequate for many predicted ports -- it doesn't need two separate circuits for each port), and it tries to have the above internal circuits available if we've seen resolves or hidden service activity within the past hour. If there are 12 or more clean circuits open, it doesn't open more even if it has more predictions.

Only stable circuits can "cover" a port that is listed in the LongLivedPorts config option. Similarly, hidden service requests to ports listed in LongLivedPorts make us create stable internal circuits.

Note that if there are no requests from the user for an hour, Tor will predict no use and build no preemptive circuits.

The Tor client SHOULD NOT store its list of predicted requests to a persistent medium.

Clients build circuits on demand

Additionally, when a client request exists that no circuit (built or pending) might support, we create a new circuit to support the request. For exit connections, we pick an exit node that will handle the most pending requests (choosing arbitrarily among ties), launch a circuit to end there, and repeat until every unattached request might be supported by a pending or built circuit. For internal circuits, we pick an arbitrary acceptable path, repeating as needed.

Clients consider a circuit to become "dirty" as soon as a stream is attached to it, or some other request is performed over the circuit. If a circuit has been "dirty" for at least MaxCircuitDirtiness seconds, new circuits may not be attached to it.

In some cases we can reuse an already established circuit if it's clean; see "cannibalizing circuits"

for details.

Relays build circuits for testing reachability and bandwidth

Tor relays test reachability of their ORPort once they have successfully built a circuit (on startup and whenever their IP address changes). They build an ordinary fast internal circuit with themselves as the last hop. As soon as any testing circuit succeeds, the Tor relay decides it's reachable and is willing to publish a descriptor.

We launch multiple testing circuits (one at a time), until we have NUM_PARALLEL_TESTING_CIRC (4) such circuits open. Then we do a "bandwidth test" by sending a certain number of relay drop cells down each circuit: BandwidthRate * 10 / CELL_NETWORK_SIZE total cells divided across the four circuits, but never more than CIRCWINDOW_START (1000) cells total. This exercises both outgoing and incoming bandwidth, and helps to jumpstart the observed bandwidth (see dir-spec.txt).

Tor relays also test reachability of their DirPort once they have established a circuit, but they use an ordinary exit circuit for this purpose.

Hidden-service circuits

See section 4 below.

Rate limiting of failed circuits

If we fail to build a circuit N times in a X second period (see "Handling failure" for how this works), we stop building circuits until the X seconds have elapsed. XXXX

When to tear down circuits

Clients should tear down circuits (in general) only when those circuits have no streams on them. Additionally, clients should tear-down stream-less circuits only under one of the following conditions:

     - The circuit has never had a stream attached, and it was created too
       long in the past (based on CircuitsAvailableTimeout or
       cbtlearntimeout, depending on timeout estimate status).

     - The circuit is dirty (has had a stream attached), and it has been
       dirty for at least MaxCircuitDirtiness.

Path selection and constraints

We choose the path for each new circuit before we build it, based on our current directory information. (Clients and relays use the latest directory information they have; directory authorities use their own opinions.)

We choose the exit node first, followed by the other nodes in the circuit, front to back. (In other words, for a 3-hop circuit, we first pick hop 3, then hop 1, then hop 2.)

Universal constraints

All paths we generate obey the following constraints:

• We do not choose relays without the Fast flag for any non-testing circuit.
• We do not choose the same router twice for the same path.
• We do not choose any router in the same family as another in the same path. (Two routers are in the same family if each one lists the other in the "family" entries of its descriptor.)
• We do not choose more than one router in a given network range, which defaults to /16 for IPv4 and /32 for IPv6. (C Tor overrides this with EnforceDistinctSubnets; Arti overrides this with ipv[46]_subnet_family_prefix.)
• The first node must be a Guard (see discussion below and in the guard specification).
• XXXX Choosing the length

Special-purpose constraints

Additionally, we may be building circuits with one or more requests in mind. Each kind of request puts certain constraints on paths.

Similarly, some circuits need to be "Stable". For these, we only choose nodes with the Stable flag.

• All service-side introduction circuits and all rendezvous paths should be Stable.
• All connection requests for connections that we think will need to stay open a long time require Stable circuits. Currently, Tor decides this by examining the request's target port, and comparing it to a list of "long-lived" ports. (Default: 21, 22, 706, 1863, 5050, 5190, 5222, 5223, 6667, 6697, 8300.)

Weighting node selection

For all circuits, we weight node selection according to router bandwidth.

We also weight the bandwidth of Exit and Guard flagged nodes depending on the fraction of total bandwidth that they make up and depending upon the position they are being selected for.

These weights are published in the consensus, and are computed as described in "Computing Bandwidth Weights" in the directory specification. They are:

      Wgg - Weight for Guard-flagged nodes in the guard position
      Wgm - Weight for non-flagged nodes in the guard Position
      Wgd - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes in the guard Position

      Wmg - Weight for Guard-flagged nodes in the middle Position
      Wmm - Weight for non-flagged nodes in the middle Position
      Wme - Weight for Exit-flagged nodes in the middle Position
      Wmd - Weight for Guard+Exit flagged nodes in the middle Position

      Weg - Weight for Guard flagged nodes in the exit Position
      Wem - Weight for non-flagged nodes in the exit Position
      Wee - Weight for Exit-flagged nodes in the exit Position
      Wed - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes in the exit Position

      Wgb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Guard-flagged nodes
      Wmb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting non-flagged nodes
      Web - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Exit-flagged nodes
      Wdb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Guard+Exit-flagged nodes

      Wbg - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests
      Wbm - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests
      Wbe - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests
      Wbd - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes for BEGIN_DIR requests

If any of those weights is malformed or not present in a consensus, clients proceed with the regular path selection algorithm setting the weights to the default value of 10000.

Choosing an exit

If we know what IP address we want to connect to, we can trivially tell whether a given router will support it by simulating its declared exit policy.

(DNS resolve requests are only sent to relays whose exit policy is not equivalent to "reject :".)

Because we often connect to addresses of the form hostname:port, we do not always know the target IP address when we select an exit node. In these cases, we need to pick an exit node that "might support" connections to a given address port with an unknown address. An exit node "might support" such a connection if any clause that accepts any connections to that port precedes all clauses (if any) that reject all connections to that port.

Unless requested to do so by the user, we never choose an exit node flagged as "BadExit" by more than half of the authorities who advertise themselves as listing bad exits.

User configuration

Users can alter the default behavior for path selection with configuration options.

   - If "ExitNodes" is provided, then every request requires an exit node on
     the ExitNodes list.  (If a request is supported by no nodes on that list,
     and StrictExitNodes is false, then Tor treats that request as if
     ExitNodes were not provided.)

   - "EntryNodes" and "StrictEntryNodes" behave analogously.

   - If a user tries to connect to or resolve a hostname of the form
     <target>.<servername>.exit, the request is rewritten to a request for
     <target>, and the request is only supported by the exit whose nickname
     or fingerprint is <servername>.

   - When set, "HSLayer2Nodes" and "HSLayer3Nodes" relax Tor's path
     restrictions to allow nodes in the same /16 and node family to reappear
     in the path. They also allow the guard node to be chosen as the RP, IP,
     and HSDIR, and as the hop before those positions.

Cannibalizing circuits

If we need a circuit and have a clean one already established, in some cases we can adapt the clean circuit for our new purpose. Specifically,

For hidden service interactions, we can "cannibalize" a clean internal circuit if one is available, so we don't need to build those circuits from scratch on demand.

We can also cannibalize clean circuits when the client asks to exit at a given node -- either via the ".exit" notation or because the destination is running at the same location as an exit node.

Learning when to give up ("timeout") on circuit construction

Since version 0.2.2.8-alpha, Tor clients attempt to learn when to give up on circuits based on network conditions.

Distribution choice

Based on studies of build times, we found that the distribution of circuit build times appears to be a Frechet distribution (and a multi-modal Frechet distribution, if more than one guard or bridge is used). However, estimators and quantile functions of the Frechet distribution are difficult to work with and slow to converge. So instead, since we are only interested in the accuracy of the tail, clients approximate the tail of the multi-modal distribution with a single Pareto curve.

How much data to record

From our observations, the minimum number of circuit build times for a reasonable fit appears to be on the order of 100. However, to keep a good fit over the long term, clients store 1000 most recent circuit build times in a circular array.

These build times only include the times required to build three-hop circuits, and the times required to build the first three hops of circuits with more than three hops. Circuits of fewer than three hops are not recorded, and hops past the third are not recorded.

The Tor client should build test circuits at a rate of one every 'cbttestfreq' (10 seconds) until 'cbtmincircs' (100 circuits) are built, with a maximum of 'cbtmaxopencircs' (default: 10) circuits open at once. This allows a fresh Tor to have a CircuitBuildTimeout estimated within 30 minutes after install or network change (see Detecting Changing Network Conditions below.)

Timeouts are stored on disk in a histogram of 10ms bin width, the same width used to calculate the Xm value above. The timeouts recorded in the histogram must be shuffled after being read from disk, to preserve a proper expiration of old values after restart.

Thus, some build time resolution is lost during restart. Implementations may choose a different persistence mechanism than this histogram, but be aware that build time binning is still needed for parameter estimation.

Parameter estimation

Once 'cbtmincircs' build times are recorded, Tor clients update the distribution parameters and recompute the timeout every circuit completion (though see below for when to pause and reset timeout due to too many circuits timing out).

Tor clients calculate the parameters for a Pareto distribution fitting the data using the maximum likelihood estimator. For derivation, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_distribution#Estimation_of_parameters

Because build times are not a true Pareto distribution, we alter how Xm is computed. In a max likelihood estimator, the mode of the distribution is used directly as Xm.

Instead of using the mode of discrete build times directly, Tor clients compute the Xm parameter using the weighted average of the midpoints of the 'cbtnummodes' (10) most frequently occurring 10ms histogram bins. Ties are broken in favor of earlier bins (that is, in favor of bins corresponding to shorter build times).

(The use of 10 modes was found to minimize error from the selected cbtquantile, with 10ms bins for quantiles 60-80, compared to many other heuristics).

To avoid ln(1.0+epsilon) precision issues, use log laws to rewrite the estimator for 'alpha' as the sum of logs followed by subtraction, rather than multiplication and division:

alpha = n/(Sum_n{ln(MAX(Xm, x_i))} - n\*ln(Xm))

In this, n is the total number of build times that have completed, x_i is the ith recorded build time, and Xm is the modes of x_i as above.

All times below Xm are counted as having the Xm value via the MAX(), because in Pareto estimators, Xm is supposed to be the lowest value. However, since clients use mode averaging to estimate Xm, there can be values below our Xm. Effectively, the Pareto estimator then treats that everything smaller than Xm happened at Xm. One can also see that if clients did not do this, alpha could underflow to become negative, which results in an exponential curve, not a Pareto probability distribution.

The timeout itself is calculated by using the Pareto Quantile function (the inverted CDF) to give us the value on the CDF such that 80% of the mass of the distribution is below the timeout value (parameter 'cbtquantile').

The Pareto Quantile Function (inverse CDF) is:

F(q) = Xm/((1.0-q)^(1.0/alpha))

Thus, clients obtain the circuit build timeout for 3-hop circuits by computing:

timeout_ms = F(0.8) # 'cbtquantile' == 0.8

With this, we expect that the Tor client will accept the fastest 80% of the total number of paths on the network.

Clients obtain the circuit close time to completely abandon circuits as:

close_ms = F(0.99) # 'cbtclosequantile' == 0.99

To avoid waiting an unreasonably long period of time for circuits that simply have relays that are down, Tor clients cap timeout_ms at the max build time actually observed so far, and cap close_ms at twice this max, but at least 60 seconds:

     timeout_ms = MIN(timeout_ms, max_observed_timeout)
     close_ms = MAX(MIN(close_ms, 2*max_observed_timeout), 'cbtinitialtimeout')

Calculating timeouts thresholds for circuits of different lengths

The timeout_ms and close_ms estimates above are good only for 3-hop circuits, since only 3-hop circuits are recorded in the list of build times.

To calculate the appropriate timeouts and close timeouts for circuits of other lengths, the client multiples the timeout_ms and close_ms values by a scaling factor determined by the number of communication hops needed to build their circuits:

timeout_ms\[hops=n\] = timeout_ms * Actions(N) / Actions(3)

close_ms\[hops=n\] = close_ms * Actions(N) / Actions(3)

where Actions(N) = N * (N + 1) / 2.

To calculate timeouts for operations other than circuit building, the client should add X to Actions(N) for every round-trip communication required with the Xth hop.

How to record timeouts

Pareto estimators begin to lose their accuracy if the tail is omitted. Hence, Tor clients actually calculate two timeouts: a usage timeout, and a close timeout.

Circuits that pass the usage timeout are marked as measurement circuits, and are allowed to continue to build until the close timeout corresponding to the point 'cbtclosequantile' (default 99) on the Pareto curve, or 60 seconds, whichever is greater.

The actual completion times for these measurement circuits should be recorded.

Implementations should completely abandon a circuit and ignore the circuit if the total build time exceeds the close threshold. Such closed circuits should be ignored, as this typically means one of the relays in the path is offline.

Detecting Changing Network Conditions

Tor clients attempt to detect both network connectivity loss and drastic changes in the timeout characteristics.

To detect changing network conditions, clients keep a history of the timeout or non-timeout status of the past 'cbtrecentcount' circuits (20 circuits) that successfully completed at least one hop. If more than 90% of these circuits timeout, the client discards all buildtimes history, resets the timeout to 'cbtinitialtimeout' (60 seconds), and then begins recomputing the timeout.

If the timeout was already at least cbtinitialtimeout, the client doubles the timeout.

The records here (of how many circuits succeeded or failed among the most recent 'cbrrecentcount') are not stored as persistent state. On reload, we start with a new, empty state.

Consensus parameters governing behavior

Clients that implement circuit build timeout learning should obey the following consensus parameters that govern behavior, in order to allow us to handle bugs or other emergent behaviors due to client circuit construction. If these parameters are not present in the consensus, the listed default values should be used instead.

      cbtdisabled
        Default: 0
        Min: 0
        Max: 1
        Effect: If 1, all CircuitBuildTime learning code should be
                disabled and history should be discarded. For use in
                emergency situations only.

      cbtnummodes
        Default: 10
        Min: 1
        Max: 20
        Effect: This value governs how many modes to use in the weighted
        average calculation of Pareto parameter Xm. Selecting Xm as the
        average of multiple modes improves accuracy of the Pareto tail
        for quantile cutoffs from 60-80% (see cbtquantile).

      cbtrecentcount
        Default: 20
        Min: 3
        Max: 1000
        Effect: This is the number of circuit build outcomes (success vs
                timeout) to keep track of for the following option.

      cbtmaxtimeouts
        Default: 18
        Min: 3
        Max: 10000
        Effect: When this many timeouts happen in the last 'cbtrecentcount'
                circuit attempts, the client should discard all of its
                history and begin learning a fresh timeout value.

                Note that if this parameter's value is greater than the value
                of 'cbtrecentcount', then the history will never be
                discarded because of this feature.

      cbtmincircs
        Default: 100
        Min: 1
        Max: 10000
        Effect: This is the minimum number of circuits to build before
                computing a timeout.

                Note that if this parameter's value is higher than 1000 (the
                number of time observations that a client keeps in its
                circular buffer), circuit build timeout calculation is
                effectively disabled, and the default timeouts are used
                indefinitely.

      cbtquantile
        Default: 80
        Min: 10
        Max: 99
        Effect: This is the position on the quantile curve to use to set the
                timeout value. It is a percent (10-99).

      cbtclosequantile
        Default: 99
        Min: Value of cbtquantile parameter
        Max: 99
        Effect: This is the position on the quantile curve to use to set the
                timeout value to use to actually close circuits. It is a
                percent (0-99).

      cbttestfreq
        Default: 10
        Min: 1
        Max: 2147483647 (INT32_MAX)
        Effect: Describes how often in seconds to build a test circuit to
                gather timeout values. Only applies if less than 'cbtmincircs'
                have been recorded.

      cbtmintimeout
        Default: 10
        Min: 10
        Max: 2147483647 (INT32_MAX)
        Effect: This is the minimum allowed timeout value in milliseconds.

      cbtinitialtimeout
        Default: 60000
        Min: Value of cbtmintimeout
        Max: 2147483647 (INT32_MAX)
        Effect: This is the timeout value to use before we have enough data
                to compute a timeout, in milliseconds.  If we do not have
                enough data to compute a timeout estimate (see cbtmincircs),
                then we use this interval both for the close timeout and the
                abandon timeout.

      cbtlearntimeout
        Default: 180
        Min: 10
        Max: 60000
        Effect: This is how long idle circuits will be kept open while cbt is
                learning a new timeout value.

      cbtmaxopencircs
        Default: 10
        Min: 0
        Max: 14
        Effect: This is the maximum number of circuits that can be open at
                at the same time during the circuit build time learning phase.

Handling failure

If an attempt to extend a circuit fails (either because the first create failed or a subsequent extend failed) then the circuit is torn down and is no longer pending. (XXXX really?) Requests that might have been supported by the pending circuit thus become unsupported, and a new circuit needs to be constructed.

If a stream "begin" attempt fails with an EXITPOLICY error, we decide that the exit node's exit policy is not correctly advertised, so we treat the exit node as if it were a non-exit until we retrieve a fresh descriptor for it.

Excessive amounts of either type of failure can indicate an attack on anonymity. See discussion of path bias detection for how excessive failure is handled.

Attaching streams to circuits

When a circuit that might support a request is built, Tor tries to attach the request's stream to the circuit and sends a BEGIN, BEGIN_DIR, or RESOLVE relay cell as appropriate. If the request completes unsuccessfully, Tor considers the reason given in the CLOSE relay cell. [XXX yes, and?]

After a request has remained unattached for SocksTimeout (2 minutes by default), Tor abandons the attempt and signals an error to the client as appropriate (e.g., by closing the SOCKS connection).

XXX Timeouts and when Tor auto-retries.

• What stream-end-reasons are appropriate for retrying.

If no reply to BEGIN/RESOLVE, then the stream will timeout and fail.

Hidden-service related circuits

XXX Tracking expected hidden service use (client-side and hidserv-side)

Guard nodes

We use Guard nodes (also called "helper nodes" in the research literature) to prevent certain profiling attacks. For an overview of our Guard selection algorithm -- which has grown rather complex -- see guard-spec.txt.

How consensus bandwidth weights factor into entry guard selection

When weighting a list of routers for choosing an entry guard, the following consensus parameters (from the "bandwidth-weights" line) apply:

      Wgg - Weight for Guard-flagged nodes in the guard position
      Wgm - Weight for non-flagged nodes in the guard Position
      Wgd - Weight for Guard+Exit-flagged nodes in the guard Position
      Wgb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Guard-flagged nodes
      Wmb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting non-flagged nodes
      Web - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Exit-flagged nodes
      Wdb - Weight for BEGIN_DIR-supporting Guard+Exit-flagged nodes

Please see "bandwidth-weights" in §3.4.1 of dir-spec.txt for more in depth descriptions of these parameters.

If a router has been marked as both an entry guard and an exit, then we prefer to use it more, with our preference for doing so (roughly) linearly increasing w.r.t. the router's non-guard bandwidth and bandwidth weight (calculated without taking the guard flag into account). From proposal 236:

where F is the weight as calculated using the above parameters.

Server descriptor purposes

There are currently three "purposes" supported for server descriptors: general, controller, and bridge. Most descriptors are of type general -- these are the ones listed in the consensus, and the ones fetched and used in normal cases.

Controller-purpose descriptors are those delivered by the controller and labelled as such: they will be kept around (and expire like normal descriptors), and they can be used by the controller in its CIRCUITEXTEND commands. Otherwise they are ignored by Tor when it chooses paths.

Bridge-purpose descriptors are for routers that are used as bridges. See doc/design-paper/blocking.pdf for more design explanation, or proposal 125 for specific details. Currently bridge descriptors are used in place of normal entry guards, for Tor clients that have UseBridges enabled.

Detecting route manipulation by Guard nodes (Path Bias)

The Path Bias defense is designed to defend against a type of route capture where malicious Guard nodes deliberately fail or choke circuits that extend to non-colluding Exit nodes to maximize their network utilization in favor of carrying only compromised traffic.

In the extreme, the attack allows an adversary that carries c/n of the network capacity to deanonymize c/n of the network connections, breaking the O((c/n)^2) property of Tor's original threat model. It also allows targeted attacks aimed at monitoring the activity of specific users, bridges, or Guard nodes.

There are two points where path selection can be manipulated: during construction, and during usage. Circuit construction can be manipulated by inducing circuit failures during circuit extend steps, which causes the Tor client to transparently retry the circuit construction with a new path. Circuit usage can be manipulated by abusing the stream retry features of Tor (for example by withholding stream attempt responses from the client until the stream timeout has expired), at which point the tor client will also transparently retry the stream on a new path.

The defense as deployed therefore makes two independent sets of measurements of successful path use: one during circuit construction, and one during circuit usage.

The intended behavior is for clients to ultimately disable the use of Guards responsible for excessive circuit failure of either type (for the parameters to do this, see "Parameterization" below); however known issues with the Tor network currently restrict the defense to being informational only at this stage (see "Known barriers to enforcement").

Measuring path construction success rates

Clients maintain two counts for each of their guards: a count of the number of times a circuit was extended to at least two hops through that guard, and a count of the number of circuits that successfully complete through that guard. The ratio of these two numbers is used to determine a circuit success rate for that Guard.

Circuit build timeouts are counted as construction failures if the circuit fails to complete before the 95% "right-censored" timeout interval, not the 80% timeout condition.

If a circuit closes prematurely after construction but before being requested to close by the client, this is counted as a failure.

Measuring path usage success rates

Clients maintain two usage counts for each of their guards: a count of the number of usage attempts, and a count of the number of successful usages.

A usage attempt means any attempt to attach a stream to a circuit.

Usage success status is temporarily recorded by state flags on circuits. Guard usage success counts are not incremented until circuit close. A circuit is marked as successfully used if we receive a properly recognized RELAY cell on that circuit that was expected for the current circuit purpose.

If subsequent stream attachments fail or time out, the successfully used state of the circuit is cleared, causing it once again to be regarded as a usage attempt only.

Upon close by the client, all circuits that are still marked as usage attempts are probed using a RELAY_BEGIN cell constructed with a destination of the form 0.a.b.c:25, where a.b.c is a 24 bit random nonce. If we get a RELAY_COMMAND_END in response matching our nonce, the circuit is counted as successfully used.

If any unrecognized RELAY cells arrive after the probe has been sent, the circuit is counted as a usage failure.

If the stream failure reason codes DESTROY, TORPROTOCOL, or INTERNAL are received in response to any stream attempt, such circuits are not probed and are declared usage failures.

Prematurely closed circuits are not probed, and are counted as usage failures.

Scaling success counts

To provide a moving average of recent Guard activity while still preserving the ability to verify correctness, we periodically "scale" the success counts by multiplying them by a scale factor between 0 and 1.0.

Scaling is performed when either usage or construction attempt counts exceed a parametrized value.

To avoid error due to scaling during circuit construction and use, currently open circuits are subtracted from the usage counts before scaling, and added back after scaling.

Parametrization

The following consensus parameters tune various aspects of the defense.

     pb_mincircs
       Default: 150
       Min: 5
       Effect: This is the minimum number of circuits that must complete
               at least 2 hops before we begin evaluating construction rates.

     pb_noticepct
       Default: 70
       Min: 0
       Max: 100
       Effect: If the circuit success rate falls below this percentage,
               we emit a notice log message.

     pb_warnpct
       Default: 50
       Min: 0
       Max: 100
       Effect: If the circuit success rate falls below this percentage,
               we emit a warn log message.

     pb_extremepct
       Default: 30
       Min: 0
       Max: 100
       Effect: If the circuit success rate falls below this percentage,
               we emit a more alarmist warning log message. If
               pb_dropguard is set to 1, we also disable the use of the
               guard.

     pb_dropguards
       Default: 0
       Min: 0
       Max: 1
       Effect: If the circuit success rate falls below pb_extremepct,
               when pb_dropguard is set to 1, we disable use of that
               guard.

     pb_scalecircs
       Default: 300
       Min: 10
       Effect: After this many circuits have completed at least two hops,
               Tor performs the scaling described in
	       ["Scaling success counts"](#scaling).

     pb_multfactor and pb_scalefactor
       Default: 1/2
       Min: 0.0
       Max: 1.0
       Effect: The double-precision result obtained from
               pb_multfactor/pb_scalefactor is multiplied by our current
               counts to scale them.

     pb_minuse
       Default: 20
       Min: 3
       Effect: This is the minimum number of circuits that we must attempt to
               use before we begin evaluating construction rates.

     pb_noticeusepct
       Default: 80
       Min: 3
       Effect: If the circuit usage success rate falls below this percentage,
               we emit a notice log message.

     pb_extremeusepct
       Default: 60
       Min: 3
       Effect: If the circuit usage success rate falls below this percentage,
               we emit a warning log message. We also disable the use of the
               guard if pb_dropguards is set.

     pb_scaleuse
       Default: 100
       Min: 10
       Effect: After we have attempted to use this many circuits,
               Tor performs the scaling described in
      	       ["Scaling success counts"](#scaling).

Known barriers to enforcement

Due to intermittent CPU overload at relays, the normal rate of successful circuit completion is highly variable. The Guard-dropping version of the defense is unlikely to be deployed until the ntor circuit handshake is enabled, or the nature of CPU overload induced failure is better understood.

Tor Guard Specification

Introduction and motivation

Tor uses entry guards to prevent an attacker who controls some fraction of the network from observing a fraction of every user's traffic. If users chose their entries and exits uniformly at random from the list of servers every time they build a circuit, then an adversary who had (k/N) of the network would deanonymize F=(k/N)^2 of all circuits... and after a given user had built C circuits, the attacker would see them at least once with probability 1-(1-F)^C. With large C, the attacker would get a sample of every user's traffic with probability 1.

To prevent this from happening, Tor clients choose a small number of guard nodes (e.g. 3). These guard nodes are the only nodes that the client will connect to directly. If they are not compromised, the user's paths are not compromised.

This specification outlines Tor's guard housekeeping algorithm, which tries to meet the following goals:

• Heuristics and algorithms for determining how and which guards are chosen should be kept as simple and easy to understand as possible.
• Clients in censored regions or who are behind a fascist firewall who connect to the Tor network should not experience any significant disadvantage in terms of reachability or usability.
• Tor should make a best attempt at discovering the most appropriate behavior, with as little user input and configuration as possible.
• Tor clients should discover usable guards without too much delay.
• Tor clients should resist (to the extent possible) attacks that try to force them onto compromised guards.
• Should maintain the load-balancing offered by the path selection algorithm.

State instances

In the algorithm below, we describe a set of persistent and non-persistent state variables. These variables should be treated as an object, of which multiple instances can exist.

In particular, we specify the use of three particular instances:

A. UseBridges

      If UseBridges is set, then we replace the {GUARDS} set in
      [Sec:GUARDS] below with the list of configured
      bridges.  We maintain a separate persistent instance of
      {SAMPLED_GUARDS} and {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} and other derived
      values for the UseBridges case.

      In this case, we impose no upper limit on the sample size.

    B. EntryNodes / ExcludeNodes / Reachable*Addresses /
        FascistFirewall / ClientUseIPv4=0

      If one of the above options is set, and UseBridges is not,
      then we compare the fraction of usable guards in the consensus
      to the total number of guards in the consensus.

      If this fraction is less than {MEANINGFUL_RESTRICTION_FRAC},
      we use a separate instance of the state.

      (While Tor is running, we do not change back and forth between
      the separate instance of the state and the default instance
      unless the fraction of usable guards is 5% higher than, or 5%
      lower than, {MEANINGFUL_RESTRICTION_FRAC}.  This prevents us
      from flapping back and forth between instances if we happen to
      hit {MEANINGFUL_RESTRICTION_FRAC} exactly.

      If this fraction is less than {EXTREME_RESTRICTION_FRAC}, we use a
      separate instance of the state, and warn the user.

      [TODO: should we have a different instance for each set of heavily
      restricted options?]

   C. Default

      If neither of the above variant-state instances is used,
      we use a default instance.

Circuit Creation, Entry Guard Selection (1000 foot view)

A circuit in Tor is a path through the network connecting a client to its destination. At a high-level, a three-hop exit circuit will look like this:

Client <-> Entry Guard <-> Middle Node <-> Exit Node <-> Destination

Entry guards are the only nodes which a client will connect to directly. Exit relays are the nodes by which traffic exits the Tor network in order to connect to an external destination.

Path selection

For any multi-hop circuit, at least one entry guard and middle node(s) are required. An exit node is required if traffic will exit the Tor network. Depending on its configuration, a relay listed in a consensus could be used for any of these roles. However, this specification defines how entry guards specifically should be selected and managed, as opposed to middle or exit nodes.

Managing entry guards

At a high level, a relay listed in a consensus will move through the following states in the process from initial selection to eventual usage as an entry guard:

      relays listed in consensus
                 |
               sampled
               |     |
         confirmed   filtered
               |     |      |
               primary      usable_filtered

Relays listed in the latest consensus can be sampled for guard usage if they have the "Guard" flag. Sampling is random but weighted by a measured bandwidth multiplied by bandwidth-weights (Wgg if guard only, Wgd if guard+exit flagged).

Once a path is built and a circuit established using this guard, it is marked as confirmed. Until this point, guards are first sampled and then filtered based on information such as our current configuration (see SAMPLED and FILTERED sections) and later marked as usable_filtered if the guard is not primary but can be reached.

It is always preferable to use a primary guard when building a new circuit in order to reduce guard churn; only on failure to connect to existing primary guards will new guards be used.

Middle and exit node selection

Middle nodes are selected at random from relays listed in the latest consensus, weighted by bandwidth and bandwidth-weights. Exit nodes are chosen similarly but restricted to relays with a sufficiently permissive exit policy.

Circuit Building

Once a path is chosen, Tor will use this path to build a new circuit.

If the circuit is built successfully, Tor will either use it immediately, or Tor will wait for a circuit with a more preferred guard if there's a good chance that it will be able to make one.

If the circuit fails in a way that makes us conclude that a guard is not reachable, the guard is marked as unreachable, the circuit is closed, and waiting circuits are updated.

The algorithm

The guards listed in the current consensus.

By {set:GUARDS} we mean the set of all guards in the current consensus that are usable for all circuits and directory requests. (They must have the flags: Stable, Fast, V2Dir, Guard.)

Rationale

We require all guards to have the flags that we potentially need from any guard, so that all guards are usable for all circuits.

The Sampled Guard Set.

We maintain a set, {set:SAMPLED_GUARDS}, that persists across invocations of Tor. It is a subset of the nodes ordered by a sample idx that we have seen listed as a guard in the consensus at some point. For each such guard, we record persistently:

      - {pvar:ADDED_ON_DATE}: The date on which it was added to
        sampled_guards.

        We set this value to a point in the past, using
        RAND(now, {GUARD_LIFETIME}/10). See
        Appendix [RANDOM] below.

      - {pvar:ADDED_BY_VERSION}: The version of Tor that added it to
        sampled_guards.

      - {pvar:IS_LISTED}: Whether it was listed as a usable Guard in
        the _most recent_ consensus we have seen.

      - {pvar:FIRST_UNLISTED_AT}: If IS_LISTED is false, the publication date
        of the earliest consensus in which this guard was listed such that we
        have not seen it listed in any later consensus.  Otherwise "None."
        We randomize this to a point in the past, based on
          RAND(added_at_time, {REMOVE_UNLISTED_GUARDS_AFTER} / 5)

For each guard in {SAMPLED_GUARDS}, we also record this data, non-persistently:

      - {tvar:last_tried_connect}: A 'last tried to connect at'
        time.  Default 'never'.

      - {tvar:is_reachable}: an "is reachable" tristate, with
        possible values { <state:yes>, <state:no>, <state:maybe> }.
        Default '<maybe>.'

               [Note: "yes" is not strictly necessary, but I'm
                making it distinct from "maybe" anyway, to make our
                logic clearer.  A guard is "maybe" reachable if it's
                worth trying. A guard is "yes" reachable if we tried
                it and succeeded.]

               [Note 2: This variable is, in fact, a combination
               of different context-sensitive variables depending
               on the _purpose_ for which we are selecting a guard.
               When we are selecing a guard for an ordinary
               circuit, we look at the regular {is_reachable}.
               But when we are selecting the guard for a one-hop
               directory circuit, we also look at an instance
	       of {is_reachable} that tracks whether
	       downloads of the types we are making have failed
	       recently.]

      - {tvar:failing_since}: The first time when we failed to
        connect to this guard. Defaults to "never".  Reset to
        "never" when we successfully connect to this guard.

      - {tvar:is_pending} A "pending" flag.  This indicates that we
        are trying to build an exploratory circuit through the
        guard, and we don't know whether it will succeed.

      - {tvar:pending_since}: A timestamp.  Set whenever we set
        {tvar:is_pending} to true; cleared whenever we set
        {tvar:is_pending} to false. NOTE

We require that {SAMPLED_GUARDS} contain at least {MIN_FILTERED_SAMPLE} guards from the consensus (if possible), but not more than {MAX_SAMPLE_THRESHOLD} of the number of guards in the consensus, and not more than {MAX_SAMPLE_SIZE} in total. (But if the maximum would be smaller than {MIN_FILTERED_SAMPLE}, we set the maximum at {MIN_FILTERED_SAMPLE}.)

To add a new guard to {SAMPLED_GUARDS}, pick an entry at random from ({GUARDS} - {SAMPLED_GUARDS}), according to the path selection rules.

We remove an entry from {SAMPLED_GUARDS} if:

      * We have a live consensus, and {IS_LISTED} is false, and
        {FIRST_UNLISTED_AT} is over {REMOVE_UNLISTED_GUARDS_AFTER}
        days in the past.

     OR

      * We have a live consensus, and {ADDED_ON_DATE} is over
        {GUARD_LIFETIME} ago, *and* {CONFIRMED_ON_DATE} is either
        "never", or over {GUARD_CONFIRMED_MIN_LIFETIME} ago.

Note that {SAMPLED_GUARDS} does not depend on our configuration. It is possible that we can't actually connect to any of these guards.

Rationale

The {SAMPLED_GUARDS} set is meant to limit the total number of guards that a client will connect to in a given period. The upper limit on its size prevents us from considering too many guards.

The first expiration mechanism is there so that our {SAMPLED_GUARDS} list does not accumulate so many dead guards that we cannot add new ones.

The second expiration mechanism makes us rotate our guards slowly over time.

Ordering the {SAMPLED_GUARDS} set in the order in which we sampled those guards and picking guards from that set according to this ordering improves load-balancing. It is closer to offer the expected usage of the guard nodes as per the path selection rules.

The ordering also improves on another objective of this proposal: trying to resist an adversary pushing clients over compromised guards, since the adversary would need the clients to exhaust all their initial {SAMPLED_GUARDS} set before having a chance to use a newly deployed adversary node.

The Usable Sample

We maintain another set, {set:FILTERED_GUARDS}, that does not persist. It is derived from:

       - {SAMPLED_GUARDS}
       - our current configuration,
       - the path bias information.

A guard is a member of {set:FILTERED_GUARDS} if and only if all of the following are true:

       - It is a member of {SAMPLED_GUARDS}, with {IS_LISTED} set to
         true.
       - It is not disabled because of path bias issues.
       - It is not disabled because of ReachableAddresses policy,
         the ClientUseIPv4 setting, the ClientUseIPv6 setting,
         the FascistFirewall setting, or some other
         option that prevents using some addresses.
       - It is not disabled because of ExcludeNodes.
       - It is a bridge if UseBridges is true; or it is not a
         bridge if UseBridges is false.
       - Is included in EntryNodes if EntryNodes is set and
         UseBridges is not. (But see 2.B above).

We have an additional subset, {set:USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS}, which is defined to be the subset of {FILTERED_GUARDS} where {is_reachable} is <yes> or <maybe>.

We try to maintain a requirement that {USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS} contain at least {MIN_FILTERED_SAMPLE} elements:

     Whenever we are going to sample from {USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS},
     and it contains fewer than {MIN_FILTERED_SAMPLE} elements, we
     add new elements to {SAMPLED_GUARDS} until one of the following
     is true:

       * {USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS} is large enough,
     OR
       * {SAMPLED_GUARDS} is at its maximum size.

     ** Rationale **

These filters are applied after sampling: if we applied them before the sampling, then our sample would reflect the set of filtering restrictions that we had in the past.

The confirmed-guard list.

[formerly USED_GUARDS]

We maintain a persistent ordered list, {list:CONFIRMED_GUARDS}. It contains guards that we have used before, in our preference order of using them. It is a subset of {SAMPLED_GUARDS}. For each guard in this list, we store persistently:

• {pvar:IDENTITY} Its fingerprint.

      - {pvar:CONFIRMED_ON_DATE} When we added this guard to
        {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}.

        Randomized to a point in the past as RAND(now, {GUARD_LIFETIME}/10).

We append new members to {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} when we mark a circuit built through a guard as "for user traffic."

Whenever we remove a member from {SAMPLED_GUARDS}, we also remove it from {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}.

      [Note: You can also regard the {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} list as a
      total ordering defined over a subset of {SAMPLED_GUARDS}.]

Definition: we call Guard A "higher priority" than another Guard B if, when A and B are both reachable, we would rather use A. We define priority as follows:

     * Every guard in {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} has a higher priority
       than every guard not in {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}.

     * Among guards in {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}, the one appearing earlier
       on the {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} list has a higher priority.

     * Among guards that do not appear in {CONFIRMED_GUARDS},
       {is_pending}==true guards have higher priority.

     * Among those, the guard with earlier {last_tried_connect} time
       has higher priority.

     * Finally, among guards that do not appear in
       {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} with {is_pending==false}, all have equal
       priority.

   ** Rationale **

We add elements to this ordering when we have actually used them for building a usable circuit. We could mark them at some other time (such as when we attempt to connect to them, or when we actually connect to them), but this approach keeps us from committing to a guard before we actually use it for sensitive traffic.

The Primary guards

We keep a run-time non-persistent ordered list of {list:PRIMARY_GUARDS}. It is a subset of {FILTERED_GUARDS}. It contains {N_PRIMARY_GUARDS} elements.

To compute primary guards, take the ordered intersection of {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} and {FILTERED_GUARDS}, and take the first {N_PRIMARY_GUARDS} elements. If there are fewer than {N_PRIMARY_GUARDS} elements, append additional elements to PRIMARY_GUARDS chosen from ({FILTERED_GUARDS} - {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}), ordered in "sample order" (that is, by {ADDED_ON_DATE}).

Once an element has been added to {PRIMARY_GUARDS}, we do not remove it until it is replaced by some element from {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}. That is: if a non-primary guard becomes confirmed and not every primary guard is confirmed, then the list of primary guards list is regenerated, first from the confirmed guards (as before), and then from any non-confirmed primary guards.

Note that {PRIMARY_GUARDS} do not have to be in {USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS}: they might be unreachable.

Rationale

These guards are treated differently from other guards. If one of them is usable, then we use it right away. For other guards {FILTERED_GUARDS}, if it's usable, then before using it we might first double-check whether perhaps one of the primary guards is usable after all.

Retrying guards.

(We run this process as frequently as needed. It can be done once a second, or just-in-time.)

If a primary sampled guard's {is_reachable} status is <no>, then we decide whether to update its {is_reachable} status to <maybe> based on its {last_tried_connect} time, its {failing_since} time, and the {PRIMARY_GUARDS_RETRY_SCHED} schedule.

If a non-primary sampled guard's {is_reachable} status is <no>, then we decide whether to update its {is_reachable} status to <maybe> based on its {last_tried_connect} time, its {failing_since} time, and the {GUARDS_RETRY_SCHED} schedule.

Rationale

An observation that a guard has been 'unreachable' only lasts for a given amount of time, since we can't infer that it's unreachable now from the fact that it was unreachable a few minutes ago.

Circuit status

Sometimes the guard selection algorithm will return a guard that we would always be happy to use; but in other cases, the guard selection algorithm can return a guard that we shouldn't use without gathering additional information.

From the point of view of guard selection, every circuit we build is considered to be in one of these states:

• <state:usable_on_completion>
• <state:usable_if_no_better_guard>
• <state:waiting_for_better_guard>
• <state:complete>

You may only attach streams to <complete> circuits. (Additionally, you may only send RENDEZVOUS messages, ESTABLISH_INTRO messages, and INTRODUCE messages on <complete> circuits.)

The per-circuit state machine is:

• New circuits are <usable_on_completion> or <usable_if_no_better_guard>.

• A <usable_on_completion> circuit may become <complete>, or may fail.

• A <usable_if_no_better_guard> circuit may become <usable_on_completion>; may become <waiting_for_better_guard>; or may fail.

• A <waiting_for_better_guard> circuit will become <complete>, or will be closed, or will fail.

• A <complete> circuit remains <complete> until it fails or is closed.

Each of these transitions is described in sections below.

Selecting guards for circuits. [Section:SELECTING]

Now that we have described the various lists of guards, we can explain how guards are chosen for each circuit.

We keep, as global transient state:

• {tvar:last_time_on_internet} -- the last time at which we successfully used a circuit or connected to a guard. At startup we set this to "infinitely far in the past."

As an input to the algorithm, we take a list of restrictions. These may include specific relays or families that we need to avoid.

Here is the algorithm. It is given as a series of sub-algorithms, in decreasing order of preference from best case to worst case. When we want to build a circuit, and we need to pick a guard:

• In the base case, if any entry in PRIMARY_GUARDS has {is_reachable} status of <maybe> or <yes>, consider only such guards. Call them the "reachable primary guards".

  Start by considering the the first {NUM_USABLE_PRIMARY_GUARDS} (or {NUM_USABLE_PRIMARY_DIRECTORY_GUARDS}) reachable primary guards. Remove any guards that do not follow our path selection restrictions, to build a temporary list. If that temporary list contains at least one guard, choose a guard from that list uniformly at random.

  If the temporary list contains no guards, return the first guard from our reachable primary guard that does obey the path restriction.

  When selecting a guard according to this approach, its circuit is <usable_on_completion>.

  [Note: We do not use {is_pending} on primary guards, since we are willing to try to build multiple circuits through them before we know for sure whether they work, and since we will not use any non-primary guards until we are sure that the primary guards are all down. (XX is this good?)]

• Otherwise, if the ordered intersection of {CONFIRMED_GUARDS} and {USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS} is nonempty, return the first entry in that intersection that has {is_pending} set to false. Set its value of {is_pending} to true, and set its {pending_since} to the current time. The circuit is now <usable_if_no_better_guard>. (If all entries have {is_pending} true, pick the first one.)

• Otherwise, if there is no such entry, select a member from {USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS} in sample order. Set its {is_pending} field to true, and set its {pending_since} to the current time. The circuit is <usable_if_no_better_guard>.

• Otherwise, in the worst case, if USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS is empty, we have exhausted all the sampled guards. In this case we proceed by marking all guards as <maybe> reachable so that we can keep on trying circuits.

Whenever we select a guard for a new circuit attempt, we update the {last_tried_connect} time for the guard to 'now.'

In some cases (for example, when we need a certain directory feature, or when we need to avoid using a certain exit as a guard), we need to restrict the guards that we use for a single circuit. When this happens, we remember the restrictions that applied when choosing the guard for that circuit, since we will need them later (see [UPDATE_WAITING].).

Rationale

We're getting to the core of the algorithm here. Our main goals are to make sure that

1. If it's possible to use a primary guard, we do.
2. We probably use the first primary guard.

So we only try non-primary guards if we're pretty sure that all the primary guards are down, and we only try a given primary guard if the earlier primary guards seem down.

When we do try non-primary guards, however, we only build one circuit through each, to give it a chance to succeed or fail. If ever such a circuit succeeds, we don't use it until we're pretty sure that it's the best guard we're getting. (see below).

[XXX timeout.]

When a circuit fails.

When a circuit fails in a way that makes us conclude that a guard is not reachable, we take the following steps:

      * Set the guard's {is_reachable} status to <no>.  If it had
        {is_pending} set to true, we make it non-pending and clear
        {pending_since}.

      * Close the circuit, of course.  (This removes it from
        consideration by the algorithm in [UPDATE_WAITING].)

      * Update the list of waiting circuits.  (See [UPDATE_WAITING]
        below.)

[Note: the existing Tor logic will cause us to create more circuits in response to some of these steps; and also see [ON_CONSENSUS].]

[Note 2: In the case of a one-hop circuit made for a directory request, it is possible for the request to fail after the circuit is built: for example, if we ask for the latest consensus and we are told "404". In this case, we mark the appropriate directory-specific {is_reachable} instance for that guard to <no>.]

C tor implements the above "note 2" by treating requests for directory guards for as if they had an extra type of restriction, rather than a separate instance of {is_reachable}. (For more on restrictions, see "Selecting Guards" above.) This requires the C tor impementation to special-case this restriction type, so that it is treated the same way as an {is_reachable} variable.

Rationale

See [SELECTING] above for rationale.

When a circuit succeeds

When a circuit succeeds in a way that makes us conclude that a guard was reachable, we take these steps:

      * We set its {is_reachable} status to <yes>.
      * We set its {failing_since} to "never".
      * If the guard was {is_pending}, we clear the {is_pending} flag
        and set {pending_since} to false.
      * If the guard was not a member of {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}, we add
        it to the end of {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}.

      * If this circuit was <usable_on_completion>, this circuit is
        now <complete>. You may attach streams to this circuit,
        and use it for hidden services.

      * If this circuit was <usable_if_no_better_guard>, it is now
        <waiting_for_better_guard>.  You may not yet attach streams to it.
        Then check whether the {last_time_on_internet} is more than
        {INTERNET_LIKELY_DOWN_INTERVAL} seconds ago:

           * If it is, then mark all {PRIMARY_GUARDS} as "maybe"
             reachable.

           * If it is not, update the list of waiting circuits. (See
             [UPDATE_WAITING] below)

[Note: the existing Tor logic will cause us to create more circuits in response to some of these steps; and see [ON_CONSENSUS].]

Rationale

See [SELECTING] above for rationale.

Updating the list of waiting circuits

We run this procedure whenever it's possible that a <waiting_for_better_guard> circuit might be ready to be called <complete>.

   * If any circuit C1 is <waiting_for_better_guard>, AND:
       * All primary guards have reachable status of <no>.
       * There is no circuit C2 that "blocks" C1.
     Then, upgrade C1 to <complete>.

   Definition: In the algorithm above, C2 "blocks" C1 if:
       * C2 obeys all the restrictions that C1 had to obey, AND
       * C2 has higher priority than C1, AND
       * Either C2 is <complete>, or C2 is <waiting_for_better_guard>,
         or C2 has been <usable_if_no_better_guard> for no more than
         {NONPRIMARY_GUARD_CONNECT_TIMEOUT} seconds.

   We run this procedure periodically:

   * If any circuit stays in <waiting_for_better_guard>
     for more than {NONPRIMARY_GUARD_IDLE_TIMEOUT} seconds,
     time it out.

      **Rationale**

If we open a connection to a guard, we might want to use it immediately (if we're sure that it's the best we can do), or we might want to wait a little while to see if some other circuit which we like better will finish.

When we mark a circuit <complete>, we don't close the lower-priority circuits immediately: we might decide to use them after all if the <complete> circuit goes down before {NONPRIMARY_GUARD_IDLE_TIMEOUT} seconds.

Without a list of waiting circuits

As an alternative to the section [SECTION:UPDATE_WAITING] above, this section presents a new way to maintain guard status independently of tracking individual circuit status. This formulation gives a result equivalent or similar to the approach above, but simplifies the necessary communications between the guard and circuit subsystems.

As before, when all primary guards are Unreachable, we need to try non-primary guards. We select the first such guard (in preference order) that is neither Unreachable nor Pending. Whenever we give out such a guard, if the guard's status is Unknown, then we call that guard "Pending" with its {is_pending} flag, until the attempt to use it succeeds or fails. We remember when the guard became Pending with the {pending_since variable}.

After completing a circuit, the implementation must check whether its guard is usable. A guard's usability status may be "usable", "unusable", or "unknown". A guard is usable according to these rules:

1. Primary guards are always usable.

2. Non-primary guards are usable for a given circuit if every guard earlier in the preference list is either unsuitable for that circuit (e.g. because of family restrictions), or marked as Unreachable, or has been pending for at least {NONPRIMARY_GUARD_CONNECT_TIMEOUT}.

   Non-primary guards are not usable for a given circuit if some guard earlier in the preference list is suitable for the circuit and Reachable.

   Non-primary guards are unusable if they have not become usable after {NONPRIMARY_GUARD_IDLE_TIMEOUT} seconds.

3. If a circuit's guard is not usable or unusable immediately, the circuit is not discarded; instead, it is kept (but not used) until the guard becomes usable or unusable.

Whenever we get a new consensus.

We update {GUARDS}.

For every guard in {SAMPLED_GUARDS}, we update {IS_LISTED} and {FIRST_UNLISTED_AT}.

[**] We remove entries from {SAMPLED_GUARDS} if appropriate, according to the sampled-guards expiration rules. If they were in {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}, we also remove them from {CONFIRMED_GUARDS}.

We recompute {FILTERED_GUARDS}, and everything that derives from it, including {USABLE_FILTERED_GUARDS}, and {PRIMARY_GUARDS}.

(Whenever one of the configuration options that affects the filter is updated, we repeat the process above, starting at the [**] line.)

4.11. Deciding whether to generate a new circuit.
  [Section:NEW_CIRCUIT_NEEDED]

We generate a new circuit when we don't have enough circuits either built or in-progress to handle a given stream, or an expected stream.

For the purpose of this rule, we say that <waiting_for_better_guard> circuits are neither built nor in-progress; that <complete> circuits are built; and that the other states are in-progress.

4.12. When we are missing descriptors.
   [Section:MISSING_DESCRIPTORS]

We need either a router descriptor or a microdescriptor in order to build a circuit through a guard. If we do not have such a descriptor for a guard, we can still use the guard for one-hop directory fetches, but not for longer circuits.

(Also, when we are missing descriptors for our first {NUM_USABLE_PRIMARY_GUARDS} primary guards, we don't build circuits at all until we have fetched them.)

Appendices

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by NSF grants CNS-1111539, CNS-1314637, CNS-1526306, CNS-1619454, and CNS-1640548.

Parameters with suggested values.

(All suggested values chosen arbitrarily)

{param:MAX_SAMPLE_THRESHOLD} -- 20%

{param:MAX_SAMPLE_SIZE} -- 60

{param:GUARD_LIFETIME} -- 120 days

   {param:REMOVE_UNLISTED_GUARDS_AFTER} -- 20 days
     [previously ENTRY_GUARD_REMOVE_AFTER]

   {param:MIN_FILTERED_SAMPLE} -- 20

   {param:N_PRIMARY_GUARDS} -- 3

   {param:PRIMARY_GUARDS_RETRY_SCHED}

      We recommend the following schedule, which is the one
      used in Arti:

      -- Use the "decorrelated-jitter" algorithm from "dir-spec.txt"
         section 5.5 where `base_delay` is 30 seconds and `cap`
         is 6 hours.

      This legacy schedule is the one used in C tor:

      -- every 10 minutes for the first six hours,
      -- every 90 minutes for the next 90 hours,
      -- every 4 hours for the next 3 days,
      -- every 9 hours thereafter.

   {param:GUARDS_RETRY_SCHED} --

      We recommend the following schedule, which is the one
      used in Arti:

      -- Use the "decorrelated-jitter" algorithm from "dir-spec.txt"
         section 5.5 where `base_delay` is 10 minutes and `cap`
         is 36 hours.

      This legacy schedule is the one used in C tor:

      -- every hour for the first six hours,
      -- every 4 hours for the 90 hours,
      -- every 18 hours for the next 3 days,
      -- every 36 hours thereafter.

   {param:INTERNET_LIKELY_DOWN_INTERVAL} -- 10 minutes

   {param:NONPRIMARY_GUARD_CONNECT_TIMEOUT} -- 15 seconds

   {param:NONPRIMARY_GUARD_IDLE_TIMEOUT} -- 10 minutes

   {param:MEANINGFUL_RESTRICTION_FRAC} -- .2

   {param:EXTREME_RESTRICTION_FRAC} -- .01

   {param:GUARD_CONFIRMED_MIN_LIFETIME} -- 60 days

   {param:NUM_USABLE_PRIMARY_GUARDS} -- 1

   {param:NUM_USABLE_PRIMARY_DIRECTORY_GUARDS} -- 3

Random values

Frequently, we want to randomize the expiration time of something so that it's not easy for an observer to match it to its start time. We do this by randomizing its start date a little, so that we only need to remember a fixed expiration interval.

By RAND(now, INTERVAL) we mean a time between now and INTERVAL in the past, chosen uniformly at random.

Persistent state format

The persistent state format doesn't need to be part of this specification, since different implementations can do it differently. Nonetheless, here's the one Tor uses:

The "state" file contains one Guard entry for each sampled guard in each instance of the guard state (see section 2). The value of this Guard entry is a set of space-separated K=V entries, where K contains any nonspace character except =, and V contains any nonspace characters.

Implementations must retain any unrecognized K=V entries for a sampled guard when they regenerate the state file.

The order of K=V entries is not allowed to matter.

Recognized fields (values of K) are:

        "in" -- the name of the guard state instance that this
        sampled guard is in.  If a sampled guard is in two guard
        states instances, it appears twice, with a different "in"
        field each time. Required.

        "rsa_id" -- the RSA id digest for this guard, encoded in
        hex. Required.

        "bridge_addr" -- If the guard is a bridge, its configured address and
        port (this can be the ORPort or a pluggable transport port). Optional.

        "nickname" -- the guard's nickname, if any. Optional.

        "sampled_on" -- the date when the guard was sampled. Required.

        "sampled_by" -- the Tor version that sampled this guard.
        Optional.

        "unlisted_since" -- the date since which the guard has been
        unlisted. Optional.

        "listed" -- 0 if the guard is not listed; 1 if it is. Required.

        "confirmed_on" -- date when the guard was
        confirmed. Optional.

        "confirmed_idx" -- position of the guard in the confirmed
        list. Optional.

        "pb_use_attempts", "pb_use_successes", "pb_circ_attempts",
        "pb_circ_successes", "pb_successful_circuits_closed",
        "pb_collapsed_circuits", "pb_unusable_circuits",
        "pb_timeouts" -- state for the circuit path bias algorithm,
        given in decimal fractions. Optional.

All dates here are given as a (spaceless) ISO8601 combined date and time in UTC (e.g., 2016-11-29T19:39:31).

Tor Vanguards Specification

Introduction and motivation

A guard discovery attack allows attackers to determine the guard relay of a Tor client. The hidden service protocol provides an attack vector for a guard discovery attack since anyone can force an HS to construct a 3-hop circuit to a relay, and repeat this process until one of the adversary's middle relays eventually ends up chosen in a circuit. These attacks are also possible to perform against clients, by causing an application to make repeated connections to multiple unique onion services.

The adversary must use a protocol side channel to confirm that their relay was chosen in this position (see Proposal #344), and then learns the guard relay of a client, or service.

When a successful guard discovery attack is followed with compromise or coercion of the guard relay, the onion service or onion client can be deanonymized. Alternatively, Netflow analytics data purchase can be (and has been) used for this deanonymization, without interacting with the Guard relay directly (see again Proposal #344).

This specification assumes that Tor protocol side channels have 100% accuracy and are undetectable, for simplicity in reasoning about expected attack times. Presently, such 100% accurate side channels exist in silent form, in the Tor Protocol itself.

As work on addressing Tor's protocol side channels progresses, these attacks will require application-layer activity that can be monitored and managed by service operators, as opposed to silent and unobservable side channel activity via the Tor Protocol itself. Application-layer side channels are also expected to have less accuracy than native Tor protocol side channels, due to the possibility of false positives caused by similar application activity elsewhere on the Tor network. Despite this, we will preserve the original assumption of 100% accuracy, for simplicity of explanation.

Overview

In this specification, we specify two forms of a multi-layered Guard system: one for long-lived services, called Full Vanguards, and one for onion clients and short-lived services, called Vanguards-Lite.

Both approaches use a mesh topology, where circuits can be created from any relay in a preceding layer to any relay in a subsequent layer.

The core difference between these two mechanisms is that Full Vanguards has two additional layers of fixed vanguard relays, which results in longer path lengths and higher latency. In contrast, Vanguards-Lite has only one additional layer of fixed vanguard relays, and preserves the original path lengths in use by onion services. Thus, Full Vanguards comes with a performance cost, where as Vanguards-Lite does not. The rotation periods of the two approaches also differ.

Vanguards-Lite MUST be the default for all onion service and onion client activity; Full Vanguards SHOULD be available as an optional configuration option for services.

Neither system applies to Exit activity.

Terminology

Tor's original guards are called First Layer Guards.

The first layer of vanguards is at the second hop, and is called the Second Layer Guards.

The second layer of vanguards is at the third hop, and is called the Third Layer Guards.

A circuit stem is the beginning portion of a hidden service circuit that is common to all hidden service circuit types, under a given vanguards behavior option (none, lite, or full). Abstracting this common portion is useful for circuit prebuilding, to maintain a pool of circuit prefixes (stems) that can be used for any hidden service circuit.

Note: In Arti, this circuit stem prefix is further abstracted, to handle the fact that some hidden circuit types require an additional random middle node, where as others do not (see diagrams below). Other than easing circuit pre-building, this distinction has no consequence on paths. The below diagrams are canonical behavior for each given circuit type.

Visualizing Full Vanguards

Full Vanguards pins these two middle positions into a mesh topology, where any relay in a layer can be used in that position in a circuit, as follows:

                       -> vanguard_2A
                                      -> vanguard_3A
          -> guard_1A  -> vanguard_2B -> vanguard_3B
       HS                             -> vanguard_3C
          -> guard_1B  -> vanguard_2C -> vanguard_3D
                                      -> vanguard_3E
                       -> vanguard_2D -> vanguard_3F

Additionally, to avoid trivial discovery of the third layer, and to minimize linkability, we insert an extra middle relay after the third layer guard for client side intro and hsdir circuits, and service-side rendezvous circuits. This means that the set of paths for Client (C) and Service (S) side look like this:

     Client hsdir:  C - G - L2 - L3 - M - HSDIR
     Client intro:  C - G - L2 - L3 - M - I
     Client rend:   C - G - L2 - L3 - R
     Service hsdir: S - G - L2 - L3 - HSDIR
     Service intro: S - G - L2 - L3 - I
     Service rend:  S - G - L2 - L3 - M - R

Visualizing Vanguards-Lite

Vanguards-Lite uses only one layer of vanguards:

                       -> vanguard_2A

          -> guard_1A  -> vanguard_2B
       HS
          -> guard_1B  -> vanguard_2C

                       -> vanguard_2D

This yields shorter path lengths, of the following form:

     Client hsdir:  C -> G -> L2 -> M -> HSDir
     Client intro:  C -> G -> L2 -> M -> Intro
     Client rend:   C -> G -> L2 -> Rend
     Service hsdir: C -> G -> L2 -> M -> HSDir
     Service intro: C -> G -> L2 -> M -> Intro
     Service rend:  C -> G -> L2 -> M -> Rend

Alternatives

An alternative to vanguards for client activity is to restrict the number of onion services that a Tor client is allowed to connect to, in a certain period of time. This defense was explored in Onion Not Found.

We have opted not to deploy this defense, for three reasons:

1. It does not generalize to the service-side of onion services
2. Setting appropriate rate limits on the number of onion service content elements on a page for Tor Browser is difficult. Sites like Facebook use multiple onion domains for various content elements on a single page.
3. It is even more difficult to limit the number of service connections for arbitrary applications, such as cryptocurrency wallets, mining, and other distributed apps deployed on top of onion services that connect to multiple services (such as Ricochet).

Full Vanguards

Full Vanguards is intended for use by long-lived onion services, which intend to remain in operation for longer than one month.

Full Vanguards achieves this longer expected duration by having two layers of additional fixed relays, of different rotation periods.

The rotation period of the first vanguard layer (layer 2 guards) is chosen such that it requires an extremely long and persistent Sybil attack, or a coercion/compromise attack.

The rotation period of the second vanguard layer (layer 3 guards) is chosen to be small enough to force the adversary to perform a Sybil attack against this layer, rather than attempting to coerce these relays.

Threat model, Assumptions, and Goals

Consider an adversary with the following powers:

     - Can launch a Sybil guard discovery attack against any position of a
       rendezvous circuit. The slower the rotation period of their target
       position, the longer the attack takes. Similarly, the higher the
       percentage of the network is controlled by them, the faster the
       attack runs.

     - Can compromise additional relays on the network, but this compromise
       takes time and potentially even coercive action, and also carries risk
       of discovery.

We also make the following assumptions about the types of attacks:

1. A Sybil attack is observable by both people monitoring the network for large numbers of new relays, as well as vigilant hidden service operators. It will require large amounts of traffic sent towards the hidden service over many many test circuits.

2. A Sybil attack requires either a protocol side channel or an application-layer timing side channel in order to determine successful placement next to the relay that the adversary is attempting to discover. When Tor's internal protocol side channels are dealt with, this will be both observable and controllable at the Application Layer, by operators.

3. The adversary is strongly disincentivized from compromising additional relays that may prove useless, as active compromise attempts are even more risky for the adversary than a Sybil attack in terms of being noticed. In other words, the adversary is unlikely to attempt to compromise or coerce additional relays that are in use for only a short period of time.

Given this threat model, our security parameters were selected so that the first two layers of guards should take a very long period of time to attack using a Sybil guard discovery attack and hence require a relay compromise attack.

On the other hand, the outermost layer of guards (the third layer) should rotate fast enough to require a Sybil attack. If the adversary were to attempt to compromise or coerce these relays after they are discovered, their rotation times should be fast enough that the adversary has a very high probability of them no longer being in use.

Design

When a hidden service picks its guard relays, it also picks an additional NUM_LAYER2_GUARDS-sized set of middle relays for its second_guard_set, as well as a NUM_LAYER3_GUARDS-sized set of middle relays for its third_guard_set.

When a hidden service needs to establish a circuit to an HSDir, introduction point or a rendezvous point, it uses relays from second_guard_set as the second hop of the circuit and relays from third_guard_set as third hop of the circuit.

A hidden service rotates relays from the 'second_guard_set' at a uniformly random time between MIN_SECOND_GUARD_LIFETIME hours and MAX_SECOND_GUARD_LIFETIME hours, chosen for each layer 2 relay. Implementations MAY expose this layer as an explicit configuration option to pin specific relays, similar to how a user is allowed to pin specific Guards.

A hidden service rotates relays from the 'third_guard_set' at a random time between MIN_THIRD_GUARD_LIFETIME and MAX_THIRD_GUARD_LIFETIME hours, as weighted by the max(X,X) distribution, chosen for each relay. This skewed distribution was chosen so that there is some probability of a very short rotation period, to deter compromise/coercion, but biased towards the longer periods, in favor of a somewhat lengthy Sybil attack. For this reason, users SHOULD NOT be encouraged to pin this layer.

Note that in practice, our implementation uses the MAX(X,X) distribution in both cases (for both the second_guard_set and the 'third_guard_set') for the sake of simplicity.

Each relay's rotation time is tracked independently, to avoid disclosing the rotation times of the primary and second-level guards.

The selected vanguards and their rotation timestamp MUST be persisted to disk.

Parameterization

We set NUM_LAYER2_GUARDS to 4 relays and NUM_LAYER3_GUARDS to 6 relays.

We set MIN_SECOND_GUARD_LIFETIME to 30 days, and MAX_SECOND_GUARD_LIFETIME to 60 days inclusive, for an average rotation rate of 45 days, using a uniform distribution. This range was chosen to average out to half of the Guard rotation period; there is no strong motivation for it otherwise, other than to be long. In fact, it could be set as long as the Guard rotation, and longer periods MAY be provided as a configuration parameter.

From the Sybil rotation table in statistical analysis, with NUM_LAYER2_GUARDS=4, it can be seen that this means that the Sybil attack on layer3 will complete with 50% chance in 18*45 days (2.2 years) for the 1% adversary, 180 days for the 5% adversary, and 90 days for the 10% adversary, with a 45 day average rotation period.

If this range is set equal to the Guard rotation period (90 days), the 50% probability of Sybil success requires 18*90 days (4.4 years) for the 1% adversary, 4*90 days (1 year) for the 5% adversary, and 2*90 days (6 months) for the 10% adversary.

We set MIN_THIRD_GUARD_LIFETIME to 1 hour, and MAX_THIRD_GUARD_LIFETIME to 48 hours inclusive, for an average rotation rate of 31.5 hours, using the max(X,X) distribution. (Again, this wide range and bias is used to discourage the adversary from exclusively performing coercive attacks, as opposed to mounting the Sybil attack, so increasing it substantially is not recommended).

From the Sybil rotation table in statistical analysis, with NUM_LAYER3_GUARDS=6, it can be seen that this means that the Sybil attack on layer3 will complete with 50% chance in 9*31.5 hours (15.75 days) for the 1% adversary, ~4 days for the 5% adversary, and 2.62 days for the 10% adversary.

See the statistical analysis for more analysis on these constants.

Vanguards-Lite

Vanguards-Lite is meant for short-lived onion services such as OnionShare, as well as for onion client activity.

It is designed for clients and services that expect to have an uptime of no longer than 1 month.

Design

Because it is for short-lived activity, its rotation times are chosen with the Sybil adversary in mind, using the max(X,X) skewed distribution.

We let NUM_LAYER2_GUARDS=4. We also introduce a consensus parameter guard-hs-l2-number that controls the number of layer2 guards (with a maximum of 19 layer2 guards).

No third layer of guards is used.

We don't write guards on disk. This means that the guard topology resets when tor restarts.

Rotation Period

The Layer2 lifetime uses the max(x,x) distribution with a minimum of one day and maximum of 22 days. This makes the average lifetime of approximately two weeks. Significant extensions of this lifetime are not recommended, as they will shift the balance in favor of coercive attacks.

From the Sybil Rotation Table, with NUM_LAYER2_GUARDS=4 it can be seen that this means that the Sybil attack on Layer2 will complete with 50% chance in 18*14 days (252 days) for the 1% adversary, 4*14 days (two months) for the 5% adversary, and 2*14 days (one month) for the 10% adversary.

Path Construction

Both vanguards systems use a mesh topology: this means that circuits select a hop from each layer independently, allowing paths from any relay in a layer to any relay in the next layer.

Selecting Relays

Vanguards relays are selected from relays with the Stable and Fast flags.

Tor replaces a vanguard whenever it is no longer listed in the most recent consensus, with the goal that we will always have the right number of vanguards ready to be used.

For implementation reasons, we also replace a vanguard if it loses the Fast or Stable flag, because the path selection logic wants middle nodes to have those flags when it's building preemptive vanguard-using circuits.

The design doesn't have to be this way: we might instead have chosen to keep vanguards in our list as long as possible, and continue to use them even if they have lost some flags. This tradeoff is similar to the one in Bug #17773, about whether to continue using Entry Guards if they lose the Guard flag -- and Tor's current choice is "no, rotate" for that case too.

Path Restriction Changes

Path restrictions, as well as the ordering of their application, are currently extremely problematic, resulting in information leaks with this topology. Until they are reworked, we disable many of them for onion service circuits.

In particular, we allow the following:

1. Nodes from the same /16 and same family for any/all hops in a circuit
2. Guard nodes can be chosen for RP/IP/HSDIR
3. Guard nodes can be chosen for hop before RP/IP/HSDIR.

The first change prevents the situation where paths cannot be built if two layers all share the same subnet and/or node family, or if a layer consists of only one family and that family is the same as the RP/IP/HSDIR. It also prevents the the use of a different entry guard based on the family or subnet of the IP, HSDIR, or RP. (Alternatives of this permissive behavior are possible: For example, each layer could ensure that it does not consist solely of the same family or /16, but this property cannot easily apply to conflux circuits).

The second change prevents an adversary from forcing the use of a different entry guard by enumerating all guard-flagged nodes as the RP. This change is important once onion services support conflux.

The third change prevents an adversary from learning the guard node by way of noticing which nodes were not chosen for the hop before it. This change is important once onion services support conflux.

Vanguard Rotation Statistics

Sybil rotation counts for a given number of Guards

The probability of Sybil success for Guard discovery can be modeled as the probability of choosing 1 or more malicious middle nodes for a sensitive circuit over some period of time.

  P(At least 1 bad middle) = 1 - P(All Good Middles)
                           = 1 - P(One Good middle)^(num_middles)
                           = 1 - (1 - c/n)^(num_middles)

c/n is the adversary compromise percentage

In the case of Vanguards, num_middles is the number of Guards you rotate through in a given time period. This is a function of the number of vanguards in that position (v), as well as the number of rotations (r).

  P(At least one bad middle) = 1 - (1 - c/n)^(v*r)

Here's detailed tables in terms of the number of rotations required for a given Sybil success rate for certain number of guards.

  1.0% Network Compromise:
   Sybil Success   One   Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Eight  Nine  Ten  Twelve  Sixteen
    10%            11     6     4     3     3     2     2     2     2     1       1
    15%            17     9     6     5     4     3     3     2     2     2       2
    25%            29    15    10     8     6     5     4     4     3     3       2
    50%            69    35    23    18    14    12     9     8     7     6       5
    60%            92    46    31    23    19    16    12    11    10     8       6
    75%           138    69    46    35    28    23    18    16    14    12       9
    85%           189    95    63    48    38    32    24    21    19    16      12
    90%           230   115    77    58    46    39    29    26    23    20      15
    95%           299   150   100    75    60    50    38    34    30    25      19
    99%           459   230   153   115    92    77    58    51    46    39      29

  5.0% Network Compromise:
   Sybil Success   One   Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Eight  Nine  Ten  Twelve  Sixteen
    10%             3     2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1       1
    15%             4     2     2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1       1
    25%             6     3     2     2     2     1     1     1     1     1       1
    50%            14     7     5     4     3     3     2     2     2     2       1
    60%            18     9     6     5     4     3     3     2     2     2       2
    75%            28    14    10     7     6     5     4     4     3     3       2
    85%            37    19    13    10     8     7     5     5     4     4       3
    90%            45    23    15    12     9     8     6     5     5     4       3
    95%            59    30    20    15    12    10     8     7     6     5       4
    99%            90    45    30    23    18    15    12    10     9     8       6

  10.0% Network Compromise:
   Sybil Success   One   Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Eight  Nine  Ten  Twelve  Sixteen
    10%             2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1       1
    15%             2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1       1
    25%             3     2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1       1
    50%             7     4     3     2     2     2     1     1     1     1       1
    60%             9     5     3     3     2     2     2     1     1     1       1
    75%            14     7     5     4     3     3     2     2     2     2       1
    85%            19    10     7     5     4     4     3     3     2     2       2
    90%            22    11     8     6     5     4     3     3     3     2       2
    95%            29    15    10     8     6     5     4     4     3     3       2
    99%            44    22    15    11     9     8     6     5     5     4       3

The rotation counts in these tables were generated with:

Skewed Rotation Distribution

In order to skew the distribution of the third layer guard towards higher values, we use max(X,X) for the distribution, where X is a random variable that takes on values from the uniform distribution.

Here's a table of expectation (arithmetic means) for relevant ranges of X (sampled from 0..N-1). The table was generated with the following python functions:

  def ProbMinXX(N, i): return (2.0*(N-i)-1)/(N*N)
  def ProbMaxXX(N, i): return (2.0*i+1)/(N*N)

  def ExpFn(N, ProbFunc):
    exp = 0.0
    for i in range(N): exp += i*ProbFunc(N, i)
    return exp

The current choice for second-layer Vanguards-Lite guards is noted with **, and the current choice for third-layer Full Vanguards is noted with ***.

   Range  Min(X,X)   Max(X,X)
   22      6.84        14.16**
   23      7.17        14.83
   24      7.51        15.49
   25      7.84        16.16
   26      8.17        16.83
   27      8.51        17.49
   28      8.84        18.16
   29      9.17        18.83
   30      9.51        19.49
   31      9.84        20.16
   32      10.17       20.83
   33      10.51       21.49
   34      10.84       22.16
   35      11.17       22.83
   36      11.50       23.50
   37      11.84       24.16
   38      12.17       24.83
   39      12.50       25.50
   40      12.84       26.16
   40      12.84       26.16
   41      13.17       26.83
   42      13.50       27.50
   43      13.84       28.16
   44      14.17       28.83
   45      14.50       29.50
   46      14.84       30.16
   47      15.17       30.83
   48      15.50       31.50***

The Cumulative Density Function (CDF) tells us the probability that a guard will no longer be in use after a given number of time units have passed.

Because the Sybil attack on the third node is expected to complete at any point in the second node's rotation period with uniform probability, if we want to know the probability that a second-level Guard node will still be in use after t days, we first need to compute the probability distribution of the rotation duration of the second-level guard at a uniformly random point in time. Let's call this P(R=r).

For P(R=r), the probability of the rotation duration depends on the selection probability of a rotation duration, and the fraction of total time that rotation is likely to be in use. This can be written as:

  P(R=r) = ProbMaxXX(X=r)*r / \sum_{i=1}^N ProbMaxXX(X=i)*i

or in Python:

  def ProbR(N, r, ProbFunc=ProbMaxXX):
     return ProbFunc(N, r)*r/ExpFn(N, ProbFunc)

For the full CDF, we simply sum up the fractional probability density for all rotation durations. For rotation durations less than t days, we add the entire probability mass for that period to the density function. For durations d greater than t days, we take the fraction of that rotation period's selection probability and multiply it by t/d and add it to the density. In other words:

  def FullCDF(N, t, ProbFunc=ProbR):
    density = 0.0
    for d in range(N):
      if t >= d: density += ProbFunc(N, d)
      # The +1's below compensate for 0-indexed arrays:
      else: density += ProbFunc(N, d)*(float(t+1))/(d+1)
    return density

Computing this yields the following distribution for our current parameters:

   t          P(SECOND_ROTATION <= t)
   1               0.03247
   2               0.06494
   3               0.09738
   4               0.12977
   5               0.16207
  10               0.32111
  15               0.47298
  20               0.61353
  25               0.73856
  30               0.84391
  35               0.92539
  40               0.97882
  45               1.00000

This CDF tells us that for the second-level Guard rotation, the adversary can expect that 3.3% of the time, their third-level Sybil attack will provide them with a second-level guard node that has only 1 day remaining before it rotates. 6.5% of the time, there will be only 2 day or less remaining, and 9.7% of the time, 3 days or less.

Note that this distribution is still a day-resolution approximation.

Tor Padding Specification

Mike Perry, George Kadianakis

Note: This is an attempt to specify Tor as currently implemented. Future versions of Tor will implement improved algorithms.

This document tries to cover how Tor chooses to use cover traffic to obscure various traffic patterns from external and internal observers. Other implementations MAY take other approaches, but implementors should be aware of the anonymity and load-balancing implications of their choices.

Overview

Tor supports two classes of cover traffic: connection-level padding, and circuit-level padding.

Connection-level padding uses the PADDING cell command for cover traffic, where as circuit-level padding uses the DROP relay command. PADDING cells are single-hop only and can be differentiated from normal traffic by Tor relays ("internal" observers), but not by entities monitoring Tor OR connections ("external" observers).

DROP relay messages are multi-hop, and is not visible to intermediate Tor relays, because the relay command field is covered by circuit layer encryption. Moreover, Tor's 'recognized' field allows DROP messages to be sent to any intermediate node in a circuit (as per Section 6.1 of tor-spec.txt).

Tor uses both connection level and circuit level padding. Connection level padding is described in section 2. Circuit level padding is described in section 3.

The circuit-level padding system is completely orthogonal to the connection-level padding. The connection-level padding system regards circuit-level padding as normal data traffic, and hence the connection-level padding system will not add any additional overhead while the circuit-level padding system is actively padding.

Connection-level padding

Background

Tor clients and relays make use of PADDING to reduce the resolution of connection-level metadata retention by ISPs and surveillance infrastructure.

Such metadata retention is implemented by Internet routers in the form of Netflow, jFlow, Netstream, or IPFIX records. These records are emitted by gateway routers in a raw form and then exported (often over plaintext) to a "collector" that either records them verbatim, or reduces their granularity further[1].

Netflow records and the associated data collection and retention tools are very configurable, and have many modes of operation, especially when configured to handle high throughput. However, at ISP scale, per-flow records are very likely to be employed, since they are the default, and also provide very high resolution in terms of endpoint activity, second only to full packet and/or header capture.

Per-flow records record the endpoint connection 5-tuple, as well as the total number of bytes sent and received by that 5-tuple during a particular time period. They can store additional fields as well, but it is primarily timing and bytecount information that concern us.

When configured to provide per-flow data, routers emit these raw flow records periodically for all active connections passing through them based on two parameters: the "active flow timeout" and the "inactive flow timeout".

The "active flow timeout" causes the router to emit a new record periodically for every active TCP session that continuously sends data. The default active flow timeout for most routers is 30 minutes, meaning that a new record is created for every TCP session at least every 30 minutes, no matter what. This value can be configured from 1 minute to 60 minutes on major routers.

The "inactive flow timeout" is used by routers to create a new record if a TCP session is inactive for some number of seconds. It allows routers to avoid the need to track a large number of idle connections in memory, and instead emit a separate record only when there is activity. This value ranges from 10 seconds to 600 seconds on common routers. It appears as though no routers support a value lower than 10 seconds.

For reference, here are default values and ranges (in parenthesis when known) for common routers, along with citations to their manuals.

Some routers speak other collection protocols than Netflow, and in the case of Juniper, use different timeouts for these protocols. Where this is known to happen, it has been noted.

                            Inactive Timeout              Active Timeout
    Cisco IOS[3]              15s (10-600s)               30min (1-60min)
    Cisco Catalyst[4]         5min                        32min
    Juniper (jFlow)[5]        15s (10-600s)               30min (1-60min)
    Juniper (Netflow)[6,7]    60s (10-600s)               30min (1-30min)
    H3C (Netstream)[8]        60s (60-600s)               30min (1-60min)
    Fortinet[9]               15s                         30min
    MicroTik[10]              15s                         30min
    nProbe[14]                30s                         120s
    Alcatel-Lucent[2]         15s (10-600s)               30min (1-600min)

The combination of the active and inactive netflow record timeouts allow us to devise a low-cost padding defense that causes what would otherwise be split records to "collapse" at the router even before they are exported to the collector for storage. So long as a connection transmits data before the "inactive flow timeout" expires, then the router will continue to count the total bytes on that flow before finally emitting a record at the "active flow timeout".

This means that for a minimal amount of padding that prevents the "inactive flow timeout" from expiring, it is possible to reduce the resolution of raw per-flow netflow data to the total amount of bytes send and received in a 30 minute window. This is a vast reduction in resolution for HTTP, IRC, XMPP, SSH, and other intermittent interactive traffic, especially when all user traffic in that time period is multiplexed over a single connection (as it is with Tor).

Though flow measurement in principle can be bidirectional (counting cells sent in both directions between a pair of IPs) or unidirectional (counting only cells sent from one IP to another), we assume for safety that all measurement is unidirectional, and so traffic must be sent by both parties in order to prevent record splitting.

Implementation

Tor clients currently maintain one TLS connection to their Guard node to carry actual application traffic, and make up to 3 additional connections to other nodes to retrieve directory information.

We pad only the client's connection to the Guard node, and not any other connection. We treat Bridge node connections to the Tor network as client connections, and pad them, but otherwise not pad between normal relays.

Both clients and Guards will maintain a timer for all application (ie: non-directory) TLS connections. Every time a padding packet sent by an endpoint, that endpoint will sample a timeout value from the max(X,X) distribution described in Section 2.3. The default range is from 1.5 seconds to 9.5 seconds time range, subject to consensus parameters as specified in Section 2.6.

(The timing is randomized to avoid making it obvious which cells are padding.)

If another cell is sent for any reason before this timer expires, the timer is reset to a new random value.

If the connection remains inactive until the timer expires, a single PADDING cell will be sent on that connection (which will also start a new timer).

In this way, the connection will only be padded in a given direction in the event that it is idle in that direction, and will always transmit a packet before the minimum 10 second inactive timeout.

(In practice, an implementation may not be able to determine when, exactly, a cell is sent on a given channel. For example, even though the cell has been given to the kernel via a call to send(2), the kernel may still be buffering that cell. In cases such as these, implementations should use a reasonable proxy for the time at which a cell is sent: for example, when the cell is queued. If this strategy is used, implementations should try to observe the innermost (closest to the wire) queue that they practically can, and if this queue is already nonempty, padding should not be scheduled until after the queue does become empty.)

Padding Cell Timeout Distribution Statistics

To limit the amount of padding sent, instead of sampling each endpoint timeout uniformly, we instead sample it from max(X,X), where X is uniformly distributed.

If X is a random variable uniform from 0..R-1 (where R=high-low), then the random variable Y = max(X,X) has Prob(Y == i) = (2.0i + 1)/(RR).

Then, when both sides apply timeouts sampled from Y, the resulting bidirectional padding packet rate is now a third random variable: Z = min(Y,Y).

The distribution of Z is slightly bell-shaped, but mostly flat around the mean. It also turns out that Exp[Z] ~= Exp[X]. Here's a table of average values for each random variable:

     R       Exp[X]    Exp[Z]    Exp[min(X,X)]   Exp[Y=max(X,X)]
     2000     999.5    1066        666.2           1332.8
     3000    1499.5    1599.5      999.5           1999.5
     5000    2499.5    2666       1666.2           3332.8
     6000    2999.5    3199.5     1999.5           3999.5
     7000    3499.5    3732.8     2332.8           4666.2
     8000    3999.5    4266.2     2666.2           5332.8
     10000   4999.5    5328       3332.8           6666.2
     15000   7499.5    7995       4999.5           9999.5
     20000   9900.5    10661      6666.2           13332.8

Maximum overhead bounds

With the default parameters and the above distribution, we expect a padded connection to send one padding cell every 5.5 seconds. This averages to 103 bytes per second full duplex (~52 bytes/sec in each direction), assuming a 512 byte cell and 55 bytes of TLS+TCP+IP headers. For a client connection that remains otherwise idle for its expected ~50 minute lifespan (governed by the circuit available timeout plus a small additional connection timeout), this is about 154.5KB of overhead in each direction (309KB total).

With 2.5M completely idle clients connected simultaneously, 52 bytes per second amounts to 130MB/second in each direction network-wide, which is roughly the current amount of Tor directory traffic[11]. Of course, our 2.5M daily users will neither be connected simultaneously, nor entirely idle, so we expect the actual overhead to be much lower than this.

Reducing or Disabling Padding via Negotiation

To allow mobile clients to either disable or reduce their padding overhead, the PADDING_NEGOTIATE cell (tor-spec.txt section 7.2) may be sent from clients to relays. This cell is used to instruct relays to cease sending padding.

If the client has opted to use reduced padding, it continues to send padding cells sampled from the range [9000,14000] milliseconds (subject to consensus parameter alteration as per Section 2.6), still using the Y=max(X,X) distribution. Since the padding is now unidirectional, the expected frequency of padding cells is now governed by the Y distribution above as opposed to Z. For a range of 5000ms, we can see that we expect to send a padding packet every 9000+3332.8 = 12332.8ms. We also half the circuit available timeout from ~50min down to ~25min, which causes the client's OR connections to be closed shortly there after when it is idle, thus reducing overhead.

These two changes cause the padding overhead to go from 309KB per one-time-use Tor connection down to 69KB per one-time-use Tor connection. For continual usage, the maximum overhead goes from 103 bytes/sec down to 46 bytes/sec.

If a client opts to completely disable padding, it sends a PADDING_NEGOTIATE to instruct the relay not to pad, and then does not send any further padding itself.

Currently, clients negotiate padding only when a channel is created, immediately after sending their NETINFO cell. Recipients SHOULD, however, accept padding negotiation messages at any time.

If a client which previously negotiated reduced, or disabled, padding, and wishes to re-enable default padding (ie padding according to the consensus parameters), it SHOULD send PADDING_NEGOTIATE START with zero in the ito_low_ms and ito_high_ms fields. (It therefore SHOULD NOT copy the values from its own established consensus into the PADDING_NEGOTIATE cell.) This avoids the client needing to send updated padding negotiations if the consensus parameters should change. The recipient's clamping of the timing parameters will cause the recipient to use its notion of the consensus parameters.

Clients and bridges MUST reject padding negotiation messages from relays, and close the channel if they receive one.

Consensus Parameters Governing Behavior

Connection-level padding is controlled by the following consensus parameters:

    * nf_ito_low
      - The low end of the range to send padding when inactive, in ms.
      - Default: 1500

    * nf_ito_high
      - The high end of the range to send padding, in ms.
      - Default: 9500
      - If nf_ito_low == nf_ito_high == 0, padding will be disabled.

    * nf_ito_low_reduced
      - For reduced padding clients: the low end of the range to send padding
        when inactive, in ms.
      - Default: 9000

    * nf_ito_high_reduced
      - For reduced padding clients: the high end of the range to send padding,
        in ms.
      - Default: 14000

    * nf_conntimeout_clients
      - The number of seconds to keep never-used circuits opened and
        available for clients to use. Note that the actual client timeout is
        randomized uniformly from this value to twice this value.
      - The number of seconds to keep idle (not currently used) canonical
        channels are open and available. (We do this to ensure a sufficient
        time duration of padding, which is the ultimate goal.)
      - This value is also used to determine how long, after a port has been
        used, we should attempt to keep building predicted circuits for that
        port. (See path-spec.txt section 2.1.1.)  This behavior was
        originally added to work around implementation limitations, but it
        serves as a reasonable default regardless of implementation.
      - For all use cases, reduced padding clients use half the consensus
        value.
      - Implementations MAY mark circuits held open past the reduced padding
        quantity (half the consensus value) as "not to be used for streams",
        to prevent their use from becoming a distinguisher.
      - Default: 1800

    * nf_pad_before_usage
      - If set to 1, OR connections are padded before the client uses them
        for any application traffic. If 0, OR connections are not padded
        until application data begins.
      - Default: 1

    * nf_pad_relays
      - If set to 1, we also pad inactive relay-to-relay connections
      - Default: 0

    * nf_conntimeout_relays
      - The number of seconds that idle relay-to-relay connections are kept
        open.
      - Default: 3600

Circuit-level padding

The circuit padding system in Tor is an extension of the WTF-PAD event-driven state machine design[15]. At a high level, this design places one or more padding state machines at the client, and one or more padding state machines at a relay, on each circuit.

State transition and histogram generation has been generalized to be fully programmable, and probability distribution support was added to support more compact representations like APE[16]. Additionally, packet count limits, rate limiting, and circuit application conditions have been added.

At present, Tor uses this system to deploy two pairs of circuit padding machines, to obscure differences between the setup phase of client-side onion service circuits, up to the first 10 relay cells.

This specification covers only the resulting behavior of these padding machines, and thus does not cover the state machine implementation details or operation. For full details on using the circuit padding system to develop future padding defenses, see the research developer documentation[17].

Circuit Padding Negotiation

Circuit padding machines are advertised as "Padding" subprotocol versions (see tor-spec.txt Section 9). The onion service circuit padding machines are advertised as "Padding=2".

Because circuit padding machines only become active at certain points in circuit lifetime, and because more than one padding machine may be active at any given point in circuit lifetime, there is also a PADDING_NEGOTIATE message and a PADDING_NEGOTIATED message. These are relay commands 41 and 42 respectively, with relay headers as per section 6.1 of tor-spec.txt.

The fields in the body of a PADDING_NEGOTIATE message are as follows:

     const CIRCPAD_COMMAND_STOP = 1;
     const CIRCPAD_COMMAND_START = 2;

     const CIRCPAD_RESPONSE_OK = 1;
     const CIRCPAD_RESPONSE_ERR = 2;

     const CIRCPAD_MACHINE_CIRC_SETUP = 1;

     struct circpad_negotiate {
       u8 version IN [0];
       u8 command IN [CIRCPAD_COMMAND_START, CIRCPAD_COMMAND_STOP];

       u8 machine_type IN [CIRCPAD_MACHINE_CIRC_SETUP];

       u8 unused; // Formerly echo_request

       u32 machine_ctr;
     };

When a client wants to start a circuit padding machine, it first checks that the desired destination hop advertises the appropriate subprotocol version for that machine. It then sends a PADDING_NEGOTIATE message to that hop with command=CIRCPAD_COMMAND_START, and machine_type=CIRCPAD_MACHINE_CIRC_SETUP (for the circ setup machine, the destination hop is the second hop in the circuit). The machine_ctr is the count of which machine instance this is on the circuit. It is used to disambiguate shutdown requests.

When a relay receives a PADDING_NEGOTIATE message, it checks that it supports the requested machine, and sends a PADDING_NEGOTIATED message, which is formatted in the body of a relay message with command number 42 (see tor-spec.txt section 6.1), as follows:

     struct circpad_negotiated {
       u8 version IN [0];
       u8 command IN [CIRCPAD_COMMAND_START, CIRCPAD_COMMAND_STOP];
       u8 response IN [CIRCPAD_RESPONSE_OK, CIRCPAD_RESPONSE_ERR];

       u8 machine_type IN [CIRCPAD_MACHINE_CIRC_SETUP];

       u32 machine_ctr;
     };

If the machine is supported, the response field will contain CIRCPAD_RESPONSE_OK. If it is not, it will contain CIRCPAD_RESPONSE_ERR.

Either side may send a CIRCPAD_COMMAND_STOP to shut down the padding machines (clients MUST only send circpad_negotiate, and relays MUST only send circpad_negotiated for this purpose).

If the machine_ctr does not match the current machine instance count on the circuit, the command is ignored.

Circuit Padding Machine Message Management

Clients MAY send padding cells towards the relay before receiving the circpad_negotiated response, to allow for outbound cover traffic before negotiation completes.

Clients MAY send another PADDING_NEGOTIATE message before receiving the circpad_negotiated response, to allow for rapid machine changes.

Relays MUST NOT send padding cells or PADDING_NEGOTIATE messages unless a padding machine is active. Any padding cells or padding-related messages that arrive at the client from unexpected relay sources are protocol violations, and clients MAY immediately tear down such circuits to avoid side channel risk.

Obfuscating client-side onion service circuit setup

The circuit padding currently deployed in Tor attempts to hide client-side onion service circuit setup. Service-side setup is not covered, because doing so would involve significantly more overhead, and/or require interaction with the application layer.

The approach taken aims to make client-side introduction and rendezvous circuits match the cell direction sequence and cell count of 3 hop general circuits used for normal web traffic, for the first 10 cells only. The lifespan of introduction circuits is also made to match the lifespan of general circuits.

Note that inter-arrival timing is not obfuscated by this defense.

Common general circuit construction sequences

Most general Tor circuits used to surf the web or download directory information start with the following 6-cell relay cell sequence (cells surrounded in [brackets] are outgoing, the others are incoming):

[EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [BEGIN] -> CONNECTED

When this is done, the client has established a 3-hop circuit and also opened a stream to the other end. Usually after this comes a series of DATA message that either fetches pages, establishes an SSL connection or fetches directory information:

[DATA] -> [DATA] -> DATA -> DATA...(inbound cells continue)

The above stream of 10 relay cells defines the grand majority of general circuits that come out of Tor browser during our testing, and it's what we use to make introduction and rendezvous circuits blend in.

Please note that in this section we only investigate relay cells and not connection-level cells like CREATE/CREATED or AUTHENTICATE/etc. that are used during the link-layer handshake. The rationale is that connection-level cells depend on the type of guard used and are not an effective fingerprint for a network/guard-level adversary.

Client-side onion service introduction circuit obfuscation

Two circuit padding machines work to hide client-side introduction circuits: one machine at the origin, and one machine at the second hop of the circuit. Each machine sends padding towards the other. The padding from the origin-side machine terminates at the second hop and does not get forwarded to the actual introduction point.

From Section 3.3.1 above, most general circuits have the following initial relay cell sequence (outgoing cells marked in [brackets]):

  [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [BEGIN] -> CONNECTED
    -> [DATA] -> [DATA] -> DATA -> DATA...(inbound data cells continue)

  Whereas normal introduction circuits usually look like:

  [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2
    -> [INTRO1] -> INTRODUCE_ACK

This means that up to the sixth cell (first line of each sequence above), both general and intro circuits have identical cell sequences. After that we want to mimic the second line sequence of

-> [DATA] -> [DATA] -> DATA -> DATA...(inbound data cells continue)

We achieve this by starting padding INTRODUCE1 has been sent. With padding negotiation cells, in the common case of the second line looks like:

-> [INTRO1] -> [PADDING_NEGOTIATE] -> PADDING_NEGOTIATED -> INTRO_ACK

Then, the middle node will send between INTRO_MACHINE_MINIMUM_PADDING (7) and INTRO_MACHINE_MAXIMUM_PADDING (10) cells, to match the "...(inbound data cells continue)" portion of the trace (aka the rest of an HTTPS response body).

We also set a special flag which keeps the circuit open even after the introduction is performed. With this feature the circuit will stay alive for the same duration as normal web circuits before they expire (usually 10 minutes).

Client-side rendezvous circuit hiding

Following a similar argument as for intro circuits, we are aiming for padded rendezvous circuits to blend in with the initial cell sequence of general circuits which usually look like this:

  [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [BEGIN] -> CONNECTED
     -> [DATA] -> [DATA] -> DATA -> DATA...(incoming cells continue)

  Whereas normal rendezvous circuits usually look like:

  [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EST_REND] -> REND_EST
     -> REND2 -> [BEGIN]

This means that up to the sixth cell (the first line), both general and rend circuits have identical cell sequences.

After that we want to mimic a [DATA] -> [DATA] -> DATA -> DATA sequence.

With padding negotiation right after the REND_ESTABLISHED, the sequence becomes:

  [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EXTEND2] -> EXTENDED2 -> [EST_REND] -> REND_EST
     -> [PADDING_NEGOTIATE] -> [DROP] -> PADDING_NEGOTIATED -> DROP...

  After which normal application DATA-bearing cells continue on the circuit.

Hence this way we make rendezvous circuits look like general circuits up till the end of the circuit setup.

After that our machine gets deactivated, and we let the actual rendezvous circuit shape the traffic flow. Since rendezvous circuits usually imitate general circuits (their purpose is to surf the web), we can expect that they will look alike.

Circuit setup machine overhead

For the intro circuit case, we see that the origin-side machine just sends a single PADDING_NEGOTIATE message, whereas the origin-side machine sends a PADDING_NEGOTIATED message and between 7 to 10 DROP cells. This means that the average overhead of this machine is 11 padding cells per introduction circuit.

For the rend circuit case, this machine is quite light. Both sides send 2 padding cells, for a total of 4 padding cells.

Circuit padding consensus parameters

The circuit padding system has a handful of consensus parameters that can either disable circuit padding entirely, or rate limit the total overhead at relays and clients.

  * circpad_padding_disabled
    - If set to 1, no circuit padding machines will negotiate, and all
      current padding machines will cease padding immediately.
    - Default: 0

  * circpad_padding_reduced
    - If set to 1, only circuit padding machines marked as "reduced"/"low
      overhead" will be used. (Currently no such machines are marked
      as "reduced overhead").
    - Default: 0

  * circpad_global_allowed_cells
    - This is the number of padding cells that must be sent before
      the 'circpad_global_max_padding_percent' parameter is applied.
    - Default: 0

  * circpad_global_max_padding_percent
    - This is the maximum ratio of padding cells to total cells, specified
      as a percent. If the global ratio of padding cells to total cells
      across all circuits exceeds this percent value, no more padding is sent
      until the ratio becomes lower. 0 means no limit.
    - Default: 0

  * circpad_max_circ_queued_cells
    - This is the maximum number of cells that can be in the circuitmux queue
      before padding stops being sent on that circuit.
    - Default: CIRCWINDOW_START_MAX (1000)

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by NSF grants CNS-1111539, CNS-1314637, CNS-1526306, CNS-1619454, and CNS-1640548.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetFlow
2. http://infodoc.alcatel-lucent.com/html/0_add-h-f/93-0073-10-01/7750_SR_OS_Router_Configuration_Guide/Cflowd-CLI.html
3. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/12_3t/netflow/command/reference/nfl_a1gt_ps5207_TSD_Products_Command_Reference_Chapter.html#wp1185203
4. http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-6500-series-switches/70974-netflow-catalyst6500.html#opconf
5. https://www.juniper.net/techpubs/software/erx/junose60/swconfig-routing-vol1/html/ip-jflow-stats-config4.html#560916
6. http://www.jnpr.net/techpubs/en_US/junos15.1/topics/reference/configuration-statement/flow-active-timeout-edit-forwarding-options-po.html
7. http://www.jnpr.net/techpubs/en_US/junos15.1/topics/reference/configuration-statement/flow-active-timeout-edit-forwarding-options-po.html
8. http://www.h3c.com/portal/Technical_Support___Documents/Technical_Documents/Switches/H3C_S9500_Series_Switches/Command/Command/H3C_S9500_CM-Release1648%5Bv1.24%5D-System_Volume/200901/624854_1285_0.htm#_Toc217704193
9. http://docs-legacy.fortinet.com/fgt/handbook/cli52_html/FortiOS%205.2%20CLI/config_system.23.046.html
10. http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:IP/Traffic_Flow
11. https://metrics.torproject.org/dirbytes.html
12. http://freehaven.net/anonbib/cache/murdoch-pet2007.pdf
13. https://spec.torproject.org/proposals/188-bridge-guards.html
14. http://www.ntop.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/nProbe_UserGuide.pdf
15. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1512.00524
16. https://www.cs.kau.se/pulls/hot/thebasketcase-ape/
17. https://github.com/torproject/tor/tree/master/doc/HACKING/CircuitPaddingDevelopment.md
18. https://www.usenix.org/node/190967
    https://blog.torproject.org/technical-summary-usenix-fingerprinting-paper

Denial-of-service prevention mechanisms in Tor

This document covers the strategy, motivation, and implementation for denial-of-service mitigation systems designed into Tor.

The older dos-spec document is now the Memory exhaustion section here.

An in-depth description of the proof of work mechanism for onion services, originally proposal 327, is now in the Proof of Work for onion service introduction spec.

Overview

As a public and anonymous network, Tor is open to many types of denial-of-service attempts. It's necessary to constantly develop a variety of defenses that mitigate specific types of attacks.

These mitigations are expected to improve network availability, but DoS mitigation is also important for limiting the avenues an attacker could use to perform active attacks on anonymity. For example, the ability to kill targeted Tor instances can be used to facilitate traffic analysis. See the "Sniper Attack" paper by Jansen, Tschorsch, Johnson, and Scheuermann.

The attack and defense environment changes over time. Expect that this document is an attempt to describe the current state of things, but that it may not be complete.

The defenses here are organized by the type of resource under contention. These can be physical resources (Memory, CPU, Bandwidth) or protocol resources (Channels, Circuits, Introductions).

In practice there are always overlaps between these resource types. Connecting to an onion service, for example, puts some strain on every resource type here.

Physical resources

Memory

Memory exhaustion is both one of the most serious denial-of-service avenues and the subject of the most fully developed defense mechanisms so far. We track overall memory use and free the most disposable objects first when usage is over threshold.

CPU

The available CPU time on a router can be exhausted, assuming the implementation is not capable of processing network input at line rate in all circumstances. This is especially problematic in the single-threaded C implementation. Certain expensive operations like circuit extension handshakes are deferred to a thread pool, but time on the main thread is still a precious resource.

We currently don't directly monitor and respond to CPU usage. Instead C Tor relies on limits for protocol resources, like circuits extensions and onion service introductions, that are associated with this CPU load.

Bandwidth

Relay operators can place hard limits on total bandwidth using the Bandwidth or RelayBandwidth options. These options can help relay operators avoid bandwidth peaks on their network, however they aren't designed as denial of service prevention mechanisms.

Beyond just shaving off harmful bandwidth peaks it's important that normal service is not disrupted too much, and especially not disrupted in a targetable way. To approximate this goal we rely on flow control and fair dequeueing of relay cells.

Protocol resources

Channels

All channels to some extent are a limited resource, but we focus specifically on preventing floods of incoming TLS connections.

Excessive incoming TLS connections consume memory as well as limited network and operating system resources. Excessive incoming connections typically signal a low-effort denial of service attack.

The C Tor implementation establishes limits on both the number of concurrent connections per IP address and the rate of new connections, using the DoSConnection family of configuration options and their corresponding consensus parameters.

Circuits

Excessive circuit creation can impact the entire path of that circuit, so it's important to reject these attacks any time they can be identified. Ideally we reject them as early as possible, before they have fully built the circuit.

Because of Tor's anonymity, most affected nodes experience the circuit flood as coming from every direction. The guard position, however, has a chance to notice specific peers that are creating too many circuits.

The C Tor implementation limits the acceptable rate of circuit creation per client IP address using the DoSCircuit configuration options and their corresponding consensus parameters.

Onion service introductions

Flooding an onion service with introduction attempts causes significant network load. In addition to the CPU, memory, and bandwidth load experienced by the introduction point and the service, all involved relays experience a circuit creation flood.

We have two types of onion service DoS mitigations currently. Both are optional, enabled as needed by individual onion servce operators.

Mitigation by rate limiting

Introduction attempts can be rate-limited by each introduction point, at the request of the service.

This defense is configured by an operator using the HiddenServiceEnableIntroDos configuration options. Services use the introduction DoS extension to communicate these settings to each introduction point.

Mitigation using proof of work

A short non-interactive computational puzzle can be solved with each connection attempt. Requests provided by the client will be entered into a queue prioritized by their puzzle solution's effort score. Requests are processed by the service at a limited rate, which can be adjusted to a value within the server's capabilities.

Based on the queue behavior, servers will continuously provide an updated effort suggestion. Queue backlogs cause the effort to rise, and an idle server will cause the effort to decay. If the queue is never overfull the effort decays to zero, asking clients not to include a proof-of-work solution at all.

We may support multiple cryptographic algorithms for this puzzle in the future, but currently we support one type. It's called v1 in our protocol, and it's based on the Equi-X algorithm developed for this purpose. See the document on Proof of Work for onion service introduction.

This defense is configured by an operator using the HiddenServicePoW configuration options. Additionally, it requires both the client and the onion service to be compiled with the pow module (and --enable-gpl mode) available. Despite this non-default build setting, proof of work is available through common packagers like the Tor Browser and Debian.

Memory exhaustion

Memory exhaustion is a broad issue with many underlying causes. The Tor protocol requires clients, onion services, relays, and authorities to store various kind of information in buffers and caches. But an attacker can use these buffers and queues to exhaust the memory of the a targeted Tor process, and force the operating system to kill that process.

With this in mind, any Tor implementation (especially one that runs as a relay or onion service) must take steps to prevent memory-based denial-of-service attacks.

Detecting low memory

The easiest way to notice you're out of memory would, in theory, be getting an error when you try to allocate more. Unfortunately, some systems (e.g. Linux) won't actually give you an "out of memory" error when you're low on memory. Instead, they overcommit and promise you memory that they can't actually provide… and then later on, they might kill processes that actually try to use more memory than they wish they'd given out.

So in practice, the mainline Tor implementation uses a different strategy. It uses a self-imposed "MaxMemInQueues" value as an upper bound for how much memory it's willing to allocate to certain kinds of queued usages. This value can either be set by the user, or derived from a fraction of the total amount of system RAM.

As of Tor 0.4.7.x, the MaxMemInQueues mechanism tracks the following kinds of allocation:

• Relay cells queued on circuits.
• Per-connection read or write buffers.
• On-the-fly compression or decompression state.
• Half-open stream records.
• Cached onion service descriptors (hsdir only).
• Cached DNS resolves (relay only).
• GEOIP-based usage activity statistics.

Note that directory caches aren't counted, since those are stored on disk and accessed via mmap.

Responding to low memory

If our allocations exceed MaxMemInQueues, then we take the following steps to reduce our memory allocation.

Freeing from caches: For each of our onion service descriptor cache, our DNS cache, and our GEOIP statistics cache, we check whether they account for greater than 20% of our total allocation. If they do, we free memory from the offending cache until the total remaining is no more than 10% of our total allocation.

When freeing entries from a cache, we aim to free (approximately) the oldest entries first.

Freeing from buffers: After freeing data from caches, we see whether allocations are still above 90% of MaxMemInQueues. If they are, we try to close circuits and connections until we are below 90% of MaxMemInQueues.

When deciding to what circuits to free, we sort them based on the age of the oldest data in their queues, and free the ones with the oldest data. (For example, a circuit on which a single cell has been queued for 5 minutes would be freed before a circuit where 100 cells have been queued for 5 seconds.) "Data queued on a circuit" includes all data that we could drop if the circuit were destroyed: not only the cells on the circuit's relay cell queue, but also any bytes queued in buffers associated with streams or half-stream records attached to the circuit.

We free non-tunneled directory connections according to a similar rule, according to the age of their oldest queued data.

Upon freeing a circuit, a "DESTROY cell" must be sent in both directions.

Reporting low memory

We define a "low threshold" equal to 3/4 of MaxMemInQueues. Every time our memory usage is above the low threshold, we record ourselves as being "under memory pressure".

(This is not currently reported.)

Tor's extensions to the SOCKS protocol

Overview

The SOCKS protocol provides a generic interface for TCP proxies. Client software connects to a SOCKS server via TCP, and requests a TCP connection to another address and port. The SOCKS server establishes the connection, and reports success or failure to the client. After the connection has been established, the client application uses the TCP stream as usual.

Except as noted below, Tor supports SOCKS4 as defined here, SOCKS4A as defined here, and SOCKS5 as defined in RFC 1928 and RFC 1929.

The stickiest issue for Tor in supporting clients, in practice, is forcing DNS lookups to occur at the OR side: if clients do their own DNS lookup, the DNS server can learn which addresses the client wants to reach. SOCKS4 supports addressing by IPv4 address; SOCKS4A is a kludge on top of SOCKS4 to allow addressing by hostname; SOCKS5 supports IPv4, IPv6, and hostnames.

Extent of support

Tor supports the SOCKS4, SOCKS4A, and SOCKS5 standards, except as follows:

SOCKS4, SOCKS4A:

• The BIND command is not supported.

SOCKS5:

• The SOCKS5 "UDP ASSOCIATE" command is not supported.
• The SOCKS5 "BIND" command is not supported.
• SOCKS5 GSSAPI authentication, and its subnegotiation protocol, are not supported, even though they are listed as "MUST support" by RFC 1928.
• As an extension to support some broken clients, the C tor implementation allows clients to pass "USERNAME/PASSWORD" authentication message to us even if "NO AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED" was selected in the "METHOD selection message". (In such cases, the provided "USERNAME/PASSWORD" authentication message is interpreted as if "USERNAME/PASSWORD" authentication had been selected in the "METHOD selection message.") This technically violates RFC 1929, but ensures interoperability with somewhat broken SOCKS5 client implementations.

Name lookup

As an extension to SOCKS4A and SOCKS5, Tor implements a new command value, "RESOLVE" ([F0]). When Tor receives a RESOLVE SOCKS command, it initiates a remote lookup of the hostname provided as the target address in the SOCKS request. The reply is either an error (if the address couldn't be resolved) or a success response. In the case of success, the address is stored in the portion of the SOCKS response reserved for remote IP address.

(We support RESOLVE in SOCKS4 too, even though it is unnecessary.)

For SOCKS5 only, we support reverse resolution with a new command value, RESOLVE_PTR ([F1]). In response to a RESOLVE_PTR SOCKS5 command with an IPv4 address as its target, Tor attempts to find the canonical hostname for that IPv4 record, and returns it in the "server bound address" portion of the reply. (This command was not supported before Tor 0.1.2.2-alpha.)

HTTP-resistance

Tor checks the first byte of each SOCKS request to see whether it looks more like an HTTP request (that is, it starts with a "G", "H", or "P"). If so, Tor returns a small webpage, telling the user that their browser is misconfigured. This is helpful for the many users who mistakenly try to use Tor as an HTTP proxy instead of a SOCKS proxy.

Optimistic data

Tor allows SOCKS clients to send connection data before Tor has sent a SOCKS response. When using an exit node that supports "optimistic data", Tor will send such data to the server without waiting to see whether the connection attempt succeeds. This behavior can save a single round-trip time when starting connections with a protocol where the client speaks first (like HTTP). Clients that do this must be ready to hear that their connection has succeeded or failed after they have sent the data.

Extended error codes

We define a set of additional extension error codes that can be returned by our SOCKS implementation in response to failed onion service connections.

(In the C Tor implementation, these error codes can be disabled via the ExtendedErrors flag. In Arti, these error codes are enabled whenever onion services are.)

• [F0] Onion Service Descriptor Can Not be Found

  The requested onion service descriptor can't be found on the hashring and thus not reachable by the client.

• [F1] Onion Service Descriptor Is Invalid

  The requested onion service descriptor can't be parsed or signature validation failed.

• [F2] Onion Service Introduction Failed

  Client failed to introduce to the service meaning the descriptor was found but the service is not anymore at the introduction points. The service has likely changed its descriptor or is not running.

• [F3] Onion Service Rendezvous Failed

  Client failed to rendezvous with the service which means that the client is unable to finalize the connection.

• [F4] Onion Service Missing Client Authorization

  Tor was able to download the requested onion service descriptor but is unable to decrypt its content because it is missing client authorization information for it.

• [F5] Onion Service Wrong Client Authorization

  Tor was able to download the requested onion service descriptor but is unable to decrypt its content using the client authorization information it has. This means the client access were revoked.

• [F6] Onion Service Invalid Address

  The given .onion address is invalid. In one of these cases this error is returned: address checksum doesn't match, ed25519 public key is invalid or the encoding is invalid.

• [F7] Onion Service Introduction Timed Out

  Similar to [F2] code but in this case, all introduction attempts have failed due to a time out.

(Note that not all of the above error codes are currently returned by Arti as of August 2023.)

Interpreting usernames and passwords

We support a series of extensions in SOCKS5 Username/Passwords. Currently, these extensions can encode a stream isolation parameter (used to indicate that streams may share a circuit) and an RPC object ID (used to associate the stream with an entity in an RPC session).

These extensions are in use whenever the SOCKS5 Username begins with the 8-byte "magic" sequence [3c 74 6f 72 53 30 58 3e]. (This is the ASCII encoding of <torS0X>).

If the SOCKS5 Username/Password fields are present but the Username does not begin with this byte sequence, it indicates legacy isolation. New client implementations SHOULD NOT use legacy isolation. A SocksPort may be configured to reject legacy isolation.

When these extensions are in use, the next byte of the username after the "magic" sequence indicate a format type. Any implementation receiving an unrecognized or missing format type MUST reject the socks request.

• When the format type is [30] (the ascii encoding of 0), we interpret the rest of the Username field and the Password field as follows:

  The remainder of the Username field must be empty.

  The Password field is stream isolation parameter. If it is empty, the stream isolation parameter is an empty string.

• When the format type is [31] (the ascii encoding of 1), we interpret the rest of the Username and field and the Password field as follows:

  The remainder of the Username field encodes an RPC Object ID. It must not be empty.

  The Password field is stream isolation parameter. If it is empty, the stream isolation parameter is an empty string.

All implementations SHOULD implement format type [30].

Tor began supporting format type [30] in 0.4.9.1-alpha. Arti began supporting format types [30] and [31] in 1.2.8.

Note however that using format type [30] will have the intended effect with older versions of Tor and Arti, even though they will interpret it as legacy isolation.

Examples:

• Username=hello; Password=world. These are legacy parameters, since hello does not begin with <torS0X>.

• Username=<torS0X>0; Password=123. There is no associated object ID. The isolation string is 123.

• Username=<torS0X>0; Password=123. There is no associated object ID. The isolation string is empty.

• Username=<torS0X>1abc; Password=123. The object ID is abc. The isolation string is 123.

• Username=<torS0X>1abc; Password=123. The object ID is abc. The isolation string is empty.

• Username=<torS0X>0abc; Password=123. Error: The format type is 0 but there is extra data in the username. Implementations must reject this.

• Username=<torS0X>1; Password=123. Error: The format type is 1 but the object ID is empty. Implementations must reject this.

• Username=<torS0X>9; Password=123. Error: The format type 9 is unspecified. Implementations must reject this.

• Username=<torS0X>; Password=123. Error: There is no format type. Implementations must reject this.

Stream isolation

Two streams are considered to have the same SOCKS authentication values if and only if one of the following is true:

• They are both SOCKS4 or SOCKS4a, with the same user "ID" string.
• They are both SOCKS5, with no authentication.
• They are both SOCKS5 with USERNAME/PASSWORD authentication, using legacy isolation parameters, and they have identical usernames and identical passwords.
• They are both SOCKS5 using the extensions above, with the same stream isolation parameter.

Additionally, two streams with different format types (e.g. [30] and [31]) may not share a circuit.

For more information on stream isolation, including other factors that can prevent streams from sharing circuits, see proposal 171.

Inferring IP version preference

The Tor protocol's BEGIN messages include flags to indicate preferences for IPv4 versus IPv6.

When opening streams based on SOCKS requests, the "IPv6 okay" flag is set, and the other flags are left cleared, except as follows:

If the address is an IPv4 address (received via SOCKS4, SOCKS5 address type 1, or a hostname string containing a literal IPv4 address) then the "IPv6 okay" flag is cleared.

If the address is an IPv6 address (via SOCKS5 address type 4, or a hostname string containing a literal IPv6 address) then the "IPv4 not okay" flag is set.

User-specified configuration options may override this behavior.

Special Hostnames in Tor

Overview

Most of the time, Tor treats user-specified hostnames as opaque: When the user connects to <www.torproject.org>, Tor picks an exit node and uses that node to connect to "www.torproject.org". Some hostnames, however, can be used to override Tor's default behavior and circuit-building rules.

These hostnames can be passed to Tor as the address part of a SOCKS4a or SOCKS5 request. If the application is connected to Tor using an IP-only method (such as SOCKS4, TransPort, or NATDPort), these hostnames can be substituted for certain IP addresses using the MapAddress configuration option or the MAPADDRESS control command.

.exit

  SYNTAX:  [hostname].[name-or-digest].exit
           [name-or-digest].exit

Hostname is a valid hostname; [name-or-digest] is either the nickname of a Tor node or the hex-encoded digest of that node's public key.

When Tor sees an address in this format, it uses the specified hostname as the exit node. If no "hostname" component is given, Tor defaults to the published IPv4 address of the exit node.

It is valid to try to resolve hostnames, and in fact upon success Tor will cache an internal mapaddress of the form "www.google.com.foo.exit=64.233.161.99.foo.exit" to speed subsequent lookups.

The .exit notation is disabled by default as of Tor 0.2.2.1-alpha, due to potential application-level attacks.

  EXAMPLES:
     www.example.com.exampletornode.exit

        Connect to www.example.com from the node called "exampletornode".

     exampletornode.exit

        Connect to the published IP address of "exampletornode" using
        "exampletornode" as the exit.

.onion

  SYNTAX:  [digest].onion
           [ignored].[digest].onion

Version 2 addresses (deprecated since 0.4.6.1-alpha), the digest is the first eighty bits of a SHA1 hash of the identity key for a hidden service, encoded in base32.

Version 3 addresses, the digest is defined as:

     onion_address = base32(PUBKEY | CHECKSUM | VERSION)
     CHECKSUM = H(".onion checksum" | PUBKEY | VERSION)[:2]

     where:
       - PUBKEY is the 32 bytes ed25519 master pubkey of the onion service.
       - VERSION is a one byte version field (default value '\x03')
       - ".onion checksum" is a constant string
       - H is SHA3-256
       - CHECKSUM is truncated to two bytes before inserting it in onion_address

When Tor sees an address in this format, it tries to look up and connect to the specified onion service. See rend-spec-v3.txt for full details.

The "ignored" portion of the address is intended for use in vhosting, and is supported in Tor 0.2.4.10-alpha and later.

.noconnect

SYNTAX: [string].noconnect

When Tor sees an address in this format, it immediately closes the connection without attaching it to any circuit. This is useful for controllers that want to test whether a given application is indeed using the same instance of Tor that they're controlling.

This feature was added in Tor 0.1.2.4-alpha, and taken out in Tor 0.2.2.1-alpha over fears that it provided another avenue for detecting Tor users via application-level web tricks.

Tor Rendezvous Specification - Version 3

This document specifies how the hidden service version 3 protocol works. This text used to be proposal 224-rend-spec-ng.txt.

This document describes a proposed design and specification for hidden services in Tor version 0.2.5.x or later. It's a replacement for the current rend-spec.txt, rewritten for clarity and for improved design.

Hidden services: overview and preliminaries

Hidden services aim to provide responder anonymity for bidirectional stream-based communication on the Tor network. Unlike regular Tor connections, where the connection initiator receives anonymity but the responder does not, hidden services attempt to provide bidirectional anonymity.

Participants:

Operator -- A person running a hidden service

      Host, "Server" -- The Tor software run by the operator to provide
         a hidden service.

      User -- A person contacting a hidden service.

      Client -- The Tor software running on the User's computer

      Hidden Service Directory (HSDir) -- A Tor node that hosts signed
        statements from hidden service hosts so that users can make
        contact with them.

      Introduction Point -- A Tor node that accepts connection requests
        for hidden services and anonymously relays those requests to the
        hidden service.

      Rendezvous Point -- A Tor node to which clients and servers
        connect and which relays traffic between them.

Improvements over previous versions

Here is a list of improvements of this proposal over the legacy hidden services:

a) Better crypto (replaced SHA1/DH/RSA1024 with SHA3/ed25519/curve25519) b) Improved directory protocol leaking less to directory servers. c) Improved directory protocol with smaller surface for targeted attacks. d) Better onion address security against impersonation. e) More extensible introduction/rendezvous protocol. f) Offline keys for onion services g) Restricted discovery mode

Note: "restricted discovery mode" was previously called "client authorization"

Notation and vocabulary

Unless specified otherwise, all multi-octet integers are big-endian.

We write sequences of bytes in two ways:

     1. A sequence of two-digit hexadecimal values in square brackets,
        as in [AB AD 1D EA].

     2. A string of characters enclosed in quotes, as in "Hello". The
        characters in these strings are encoded in their ascii
        representations; strings are NOT nul-terminated unless
        explicitly described as NUL terminated.

   We use the words "byte" and "octet" interchangeably.

   We use the vertical bar | to denote concatenation.

We use INT_N(val) to denote the network (big-endian) encoding of the unsigned integer "val" in N bytes. For example, INT_4(1337) is [00 00 05 39]. Values are truncated like so: val % (2 ^ (N * 8)). For example, INT_4(42) is 42 % 4294967296 (32 bit).

Cryptographic building blocks

This specification uses the following cryptographic building blocks:

      * A pseudorandom number generator backed by a strong entropy source.
        The output of the PRNG should always be hashed before being posted on
        the network to avoid leaking raw PRNG bytes to the network
        (see [PRNG-REFS]).

      * A stream cipher STREAM(iv, k) where iv is a nonce of length
        S_IV_LEN bytes and k is a key of length S_KEY_LEN bytes.

      * A public key signature system SIGN_KEYGEN()->seckey, pubkey;
        SIGN_SIGN(seckey,msg)->sig; and SIGN_CHECK(pubkey, sig, msg) ->
        { "OK", "BAD" }; where secret keys are of length SIGN_SECKEY_LEN
        bytes, public keys are of length SIGN_PUBKEY_LEN bytes, and
        signatures are of length SIGN_SIG_LEN bytes.

        This signature system must also support key blinding operations
        as discussed in appendix [KEYBLIND] and in section [SUBCRED]:
        SIGN_BLIND_SECKEY(seckey, blind)->seckey2 and
        SIGN_BLIND_PUBKEY(pubkey, blind)->pubkey2 .

      * A public key agreement system "PK", providing
        PK_KEYGEN()->seckey, pubkey; PK_VALID(pubkey) -> {"OK", "BAD"};
        and PK_HANDSHAKE(seckey, pubkey)->output; where secret keys are
        of length PK_SECKEY_LEN bytes, public keys are of length
        PK_PUBKEY_LEN bytes, and the handshake produces outputs of
        length PK_OUTPUT_LEN bytes.

      * A cryptographic hash function H(d), which should be preimage and
        collision resistant. It produces hashes of length HASH_LEN
        bytes.

      * A cryptographic message authentication code MAC(key,msg) that
        produces outputs of length MAC_LEN bytes.

      * A key derivation function KDF(message, n) that outputs n bytes.

   As a first pass, I suggest:

      * Instantiate STREAM with AES256-CTR.

      * Instantiate SIGN with Ed25519 and the blinding protocol in
        [KEYBLIND].

      * Instantiate PK with Curve25519.

      * Instantiate H with SHA3-256.

      * Instantiate KDF with SHAKE-256.

      * Instantiate MAC(key=k, message=m) with H(k_len | k | m),
        where k_len is htonll(len(k)).

When we need a particular MAC key length below, we choose MAC_KEY_LEN=32 (256 bits).

For legacy purposes, we specify compatibility with older versions of the Tor introduction point and rendezvous point protocols. These used RSA1024, DH1024, AES128, and SHA1, as discussed in rend-spec.txt.

As in [proposal 220], all signatures are generated not over strings themselves, but over those strings prefixed with a distinguishing value.

Protocol building blocks

In sections below, we need to transmit the locations and identities of Tor nodes. We do so in the link identification format used by EXTEND2 messages in the Tor protocol.

         NSPEC      (Number of link specifiers)   [1 byte]
         NSPEC times:
           LSTYPE (Link specifier type)           [1 byte]
           LSLEN  (Link specifier length)         [1 byte]
           LSPEC  (Link specifier)                [LSLEN bytes]

Link specifier types are as described in tor-spec.txt. Every set of link specifiers SHOULD include at minimum specifiers of type [00] (TLS-over-TCP, IPv4), [02] (legacy node identity) and [03] (ed25519 identity key). Sets of link specifiers without these three types SHOULD be rejected.

As of 0.4.1.1-alpha, Tor includes both IPv4 and IPv6 link specifiers in v3 onion service protocol link specifier lists. All available addresses SHOULD be included as link specifiers, regardless of the address that Tor actually used to connect/extend to the remote relay.

We also incorporate Tor's circuit extension handshakes, as used in the CREATE2 and CREATED2 cells described in tor-spec.txt. In these handshakes, a client who knows a public key for a server sends a message and receives a message from that server. Once the exchange is done, the two parties have a shared set of forward-secure key material, and the client knows that nobody else shares that key material unless they control the secret key corresponding to the server's public key.

Assigned relay message types

These relay message types are reserved for use in the hidden service protocol.

32 -- RELAY_COMMAND_ESTABLISH_INTRO

            Sent from hidden service host to introduction point;
            establishes introduction point. Discussed in
            [REG_INTRO_POINT].

      33 -- RELAY_COMMAND_ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS

            Sent from client to rendezvous point; creates rendezvous
            point. Discussed in [EST_REND_POINT].

      34 -- RELAY_COMMAND_INTRODUCE1

            Sent from client to introduction point; requests
            introduction. Discussed in [SEND_INTRO1]

      35 -- RELAY_COMMAND_INTRODUCE2

            Sent from introduction point to hidden service host; requests
            introduction. Same format as INTRODUCE1. Discussed in
            [FMT_INTRO1] and [PROCESS_INTRO2]

      36 -- RELAY_COMMAND_RENDEZVOUS1

            Sent from hidden service host to rendezvous point;
            attempts to join host's circuit to
            client's circuit. Discussed in [JOIN_REND]

      37 -- RELAY_COMMAND_RENDEZVOUS2

            Sent from rendezvous point to client;
            reports join of host's circuit to
            client's circuit. Discussed in [JOIN_REND]

      38 -- RELAY_COMMAND_INTRO_ESTABLISHED

            Sent from introduction point to hidden service host;
            reports status of attempt to establish introduction
            point. Discussed in [INTRO_ESTABLISHED]

      39 -- RELAY_COMMAND_RENDEZVOUS_ESTABLISHED

            Sent from rendezvous point to client; acknowledges
            receipt of ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS message. Discussed in
            [EST_REND_POINT]

      40 -- RELAY_COMMAND_INTRODUCE_ACK

            Sent from introduction point to client; acknowledges
            receipt of INTRODUCE1 message and reports success/failure.
            Discussed in [INTRO_ACK]

Acknowledgments

This design includes ideas from many people, including

     Christopher Baines,
     Daniel J. Bernstein,
     Matthew Finkel,
     Ian Goldberg,
     George Kadianakis,
     Aniket Kate,
     Tanja Lange,
     Robert Ransom,
     Roger Dingledine,
     Aaron Johnson,
     Tim Wilson-Brown ("teor"),
     special (John Brooks),
     s7r

It's based on Tor's original hidden service design by Roger Dingledine, Nick Mathewson, and Paul Syverson, and on improvements to that design over the years by people including

     Tobias Kamm,
     Thomas Lauterbach,
     Karsten Loesing,
     Alessandro Preite Martinez,
     Robert Ransom,
     Ferdinand Rieger,
     Christoph Weingarten,
     Christian Wilms,

We wouldn't be able to do any of this work without good attack designs from researchers including

     Alex Biryukov,
     Lasse Øverlier,
     Ivan Pustogarov,
     Paul Syverson,
     Ralf-Philipp Weinmann,

   See [ATTACK-REFS] for their papers.

   Several of these ideas have come from conversations with

      Christian Grothoff,
      Brian Warner,
      Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn,

And if this document makes any sense at all, it's thanks to editing help from

      Matthew Finkel,
      George Kadianakis,
      Peter Palfrader,
      Tim Wilson-Brown ("teor"),

[XXX Acknowledge the huge bunch of people working on 8106.] [XXX Acknowledge the huge bunch of people working on 8244.]

Please forgive me if I've missed you; please forgive me if I've misunderstood your best ideas here too.

Protocol overview

In this section, we outline the hidden service protocol. This section omits some details in the name of simplicity; those are given more fully below, when we specify the protocol in more detail.

View from 10,000 feet

A hidden service host prepares to offer a hidden service by choosing several Tor nodes to serve as its introduction points. It builds circuits to those nodes, and tells them to forward introduction requests to it using those circuits.

Once introduction points have been picked, the host builds a set of documents called "hidden service descriptors" (or just "descriptors" for short) and uploads them to a set of HSDir nodes. These documents list the hidden service's current introduction points and describe how to make contact with the hidden service.

When a client wants to connect to a hidden service, it first chooses a Tor node at random to be its "rendezvous point" and builds a circuit to that rendezvous point. If the client does not have an up-to-date descriptor for the service, it contacts an appropriate HSDir and requests such a descriptor.

The client then builds an anonymous circuit to one of the hidden service's introduction points listed in its descriptor, and gives the introduction point an introduction request to pass to the hidden service. This introduction request includes the target rendezvous point and the first part of a cryptographic handshake.

Upon receiving the introduction request, the hidden service host makes an anonymous circuit to the rendezvous point and completes the cryptographic handshake. The rendezvous point connects the two circuits, and the cryptographic handshake gives the two parties a shared key and proves to the client that it is indeed talking to the hidden service.

Once the two circuits are joined, the client can use Tor relay cells to deliver relay messages to the server: Whenever the rendezvous point receives as relay cell from one of the circuits, it transmits it to the other. (It accepts both RELAY and RELAY_EARLY cells, and retransmits them all as RELAY cells.)

The two parties use these relay messages to implement Tor's usual application stream protocol: RELAY_BEGIN messages open streams to an external process or processes configured by the server; RELAY_DATA messages are used to communicate data on those streams, and so forth.

In more detail: naming hidden services

A hidden service's name is its long term master identity key. This is encoded as a hostname by encoding the entire key in Base 32, including a version byte and a checksum, and then appending the string ".onion" at the end. The result is a 56-character domain name.

(This is a change from older versions of the hidden service protocol, where we used an 80-bit truncated SHA1 hash of a 1024 bit RSA key.)

The names in this format are distinct from earlier names because of their length. An older name might look like:

        unlikelynamefora.onion
        yyhws9optuwiwsns.onion

   And a new name following this specification might look like:

        l5satjgud6gucryazcyvyvhuxhr74u6ygigiuyixe3a6ysis67ororad.onion

   Please see section [ONIONADDRESS] for the encoding specification.

In more detail: Access control

Access control for a hidden service is imposed at multiple points through the process above. Furthermore, there is also the option to impose additional restricted discovery access control using pre-shared secrets exchanged out-of-band between the hidden service and its clients.

Note: "restricted discovery mode" was previously called "client authorization"

The first stage of access control happens when downloading HS descriptors. Specifically, in order to download a descriptor, clients must know which blinded signing key was used to sign it. (See the next section for more info on key blinding.)

To learn the introduction points, clients must decrypt the body of the hidden service descriptor. To do so, clients must know the unblinded public key of the service, which makes the descriptor unusable by entities without that knowledge (e.g. HSDirs that don't know the onion address).

Also, if optional restricted discovery mode is enabled, hidden service descriptors are superencrypted using each authorized user's identity x25519 key, to further ensure that unauthorized entities cannot decrypt it.

In order to make the introduction point send a rendezvous request to the service, the client needs to use the per-introduction-point authentication key found in the hidden service descriptor.

The final level of access control happens at the server itself, which may decide to respond or not respond to the client's request depending on the contents of the request. The protocol is extensible at this point: at a minimum, the server requires that the client demonstrate knowledge of the contents of the encrypted portion of the hidden service descriptor. If optional restricted discovery mode is enabled, the service may additionally require the client to prove knowledge of a pre-shared private key.

In more detail: Distributing hidden service descriptors.

Periodically, hidden service descriptors become stored at different locations to prevent a single directory or small set of directories from becoming a good DoS target for removing a hidden service.

For each period, the Tor directory authorities agree upon a collaboratively generated random value. (See section 2.3 for a description of how to incorporate this value into the voting practice; generating the value is described in other proposals, including [SHAREDRANDOM-REFS].) That value, combined with hidden service directories' public identity keys, determines each HSDir's position in the hash ring for descriptors made in that period.

Each hidden service's descriptors are placed into the ring in positions based on the key that was used to sign them. Note that hidden service descriptors are not signed with the services' public keys directly. Instead, we use a key-blinding system [KEYBLIND] to create a new key-of-the-day for each hidden service. Any client that knows the hidden service's public identity key can derive these blinded signing keys for a given period. It should be impossible to derive the blinded signing key lacking that knowledge.

This is achieved using two nonces:

    * A "credential", derived from the public identity key KP_hs_id.
      N_hs_cred.

    * A "subcredential", derived from the credential N_hs_cred
      and information which various with the current time period.
      N_hs_subcred.

The body of each descriptor is also encrypted with a key derived from the public signing key.

To avoid a "thundering herd" problem where every service generates and uploads a new descriptor at the start of each period, each descriptor comes online at a time during the period that depends on its blinded signing key. The keys for the last period remain valid until the new keys come online.

In more detail: Scaling to multiple hosts

This design is compatible with our current approaches for scaling hidden services. Specifically, hidden service operators can use onionbalance to achieve high availability between multiple nodes on the HSDir layer. Furthermore, operators can use proposal 255 to load balance their hidden services on the introduction layer. See [SCALING-REFS] for further discussions on this topic and alternative designs.

1.6. In more detail: Backward compatibility with older hidden service
      protocols

This design is incompatible with the clients, server, and hsdir node protocols from older versions of the hidden service protocol as described in rend-spec.txt. On the other hand, it is designed to enable the use of older Tor nodes as rendezvous points and introduction points.

In more detail: Keeping crypto keys offline

In this design, a hidden service's secret identity key may be stored offline. It's used only to generate blinded signing keys, which are used to sign descriptor signing keys.

In order to operate a hidden service, the operator can generate in advance a number of blinded signing keys and descriptor signing keys (and their credentials; see [DESC-OUTER] and [HS-DESC-ENC] below), and their corresponding descriptor encryption keys, and export those to the hidden service hosts.

As a result, in the scenario where the Hidden Service gets compromised, the adversary can only impersonate it for a limited period of time (depending on how many signing keys were generated in advance).

It's important to not send the private part of the blinded signing key to the Hidden Service since an attacker can derive from it the secret master identity key. The secret blinded signing key should only be used to create credentials for the descriptor signing keys.

(NOTE: although the protocol allows them, offline keys are not implemented as of 0.3.2.1-alpha.)

In more detail: Encryption Keys And Replay Resistance

To avoid replays of an introduction request by an introduction point, a hidden service host must never accept the same request twice. Earlier versions of the hidden service design used an authenticated timestamp here, but including a view of the current time can create a problematic fingerprint. (See proposal 222 for more discussion.)

In more detail: A menagerie of keys

[In the text below, an "encryption keypair" is roughly "a keypair you can do Diffie-Hellman with" and a "signing keypair" is roughly "a keypair you can do ECDSA with."]

Public/private keypairs defined in this document:

      Master (hidden service) identity key -- A master signing keypair
        used as the identity for a hidden service.  This key is long
        term and not used on its own to sign anything; it is only used
        to generate blinded signing keys as described in [KEYBLIND]
        and [SUBCRED]. The public key is encoded in the ".onion"
        address according to [NAMING].
        KP_hs_id, KS_hs_id.

      Blinded signing key -- A keypair derived from the identity key,
        used to sign descriptor signing keys. It changes periodically for
        each service. Clients who know a 'credential' consisting of the
        service's public identity key and an optional secret can derive
        the public blinded identity key for a service.  This key is used
        as an index in the DHT-like structure of the directory system
        (see [SUBCRED]).
        KP_hs_blind_id, KS_hs_blind_id.

      Descriptor signing key -- A key used to sign hidden service
        descriptors.  This is signed by blinded signing keys. Unlike
        blinded signing keys and master identity keys, the secret part
        of this key must be stored online by hidden service hosts. The
        public part of this key is included in the unencrypted section
        of HS descriptors (see [DESC-OUTER]).
        KP_hs_desc_sign, KS_hs_desc_sign.

      Introduction point authentication key -- A short-term signing
        keypair used to identify a hidden service's session at a given
        introduction point. The service makes a fresh keypair for each
        introduction point; these are used to sign the request that a
        hidden service host makes when establishing an introduction
        point, so that clients who know the public component of this key
        can get their introduction requests sent to the right
        service. No keypair is ever used with more than one introduction
        point. (previously called a "service key" in rend-spec.txt)
        KP_hs_ipt_sid, KS_hs_ipt_sid
        ("hidden service introduction point session id").

      Introduction point encryption key -- A short-term encryption
        keypair used when establishing connections via an introduction
        point. Plays a role analogous to Tor nodes' onion keys. The service
        makes a fresh keypair for each introduction point.
        KP_hss_ntor, KS_hss_ntor.

      Ephemeral descriptor encryption key -- A short-lived encryption
        keypair made by the service, and used to encrypt the inner layer
        of hidden service descriptors when restricted discovery is in
        use.
        KP_hss_desc_enc, KS_hss_desc_enc

   Nonces defined in this document:

      N_hs_desc_enc -- a nonce used to derive keys to decrypt the inner
        encryption layer of hidden service descriptors.  This is
        sometimes also called a "descriptor cookie".

   Public/private keypairs defined elsewhere:

      Onion key -- Short-term encryption keypair (KS_ntor, KP_ntor).

      (Node) identity key (KP_relayid).

   Symmetric key-like things defined elsewhere:

      KH from circuit handshake -- An unpredictable value derived as
      part of the Tor circuit extension handshake, used to tie a request
      to a particular circuit.

In even more detail: Restricted discovery keys

When restricted discovery is enabled, each authorized client of a hidden service has two more asymmetric keypairs which are shared with the hidden service. An entity without those keys is not able to use the hidden service. Throughout this document, we assume that these pre-shared keys are exchanged between the hidden service and its clients in a secure out-of-band fashion.

Specifically, each authorized client possesses:

• (NOTE: implemented as of 0.3.5.1-alpha.) An x25519 keypair used to compute decryption keys that allow the client to decrypt the hidden service descriptor. See HS-DESC-ENC. This is the client's counterpart to KP_hss_desc_enc. KP_hsc_desc_enc, KS_hsd_desc_enc.

• (NOTE: not implemented) An ed25519 keypair which allows the client to compute signatures which prove to the hidden service that the client is authorized. These signatures are inserted into the INTRODUCE1 message, and without them the introduction to the hidden service cannot be completed. See INTRO-AUTH. KP_hsc_intro_auth, KS_hsc_intro_auth.

The right way to exchange these keys is to have the client generate keys and send the corresponding public keys to the hidden service out-of-band. An easier but less secure way of doing this exchange would be to have the hidden service generate the keypairs and pass the corresponding private keys to its clients. See section [RESTRICTED-DISCOVERY-MGMT] for more details on how these keys should be managed.

[TODO: Also specify stealth restricted discovery.]

Generating and publishing hidden service descriptors [HSDIR]

Hidden service descriptors follow the same metaformat as other Tor directory objects. They are published anonymously to Tor servers with the HSDir flag, HSDir=2 protocol version and tor version >= 0.3.0.8 (because a bug was fixed in this version).

Deriving blinded keys and subcredentials

In each time period (see [TIME-PERIODS] for a definition of time periods), a hidden service host uses a different blinded private key to sign its directory information, and clients use a different blinded public key as the index for fetching that information.

For a candidate for a key derivation method, see Appendix [KEYBLIND].

Additionally, clients and hosts derive a subcredential for each period. Knowledge of the subcredential is needed to decrypt hidden service descriptors for each period and to authenticate with the hidden service host in the introduction process. Unlike the credential, it changes each period. Knowing the subcredential does not enable the hidden service host to derive the main credential--therefore, it is safe to put the subcredential on the hidden service host while leaving the hidden service's private key offline.

The subcredential for a period is derived as:

N_hs_subcred = H("subcredential" | N_hs_cred | blinded-public-key).

In the above formula, credential corresponds to:

N_hs_cred = H("credential" | public-identity-key)

where public-identity-key is the public identity master key of the hidden service.

Locating, uploading, and downloading hidden service descriptors

To avoid attacks where a hidden service's descriptor is easily targeted for censorship, we store them at different directories over time, and use shared random values to prevent those directories from being predictable far in advance.

Which Tor servers hosts a hidden service depends on:

         * the current time period,
         * the daily subcredential,
         * the hidden service directories' public keys,
         * a shared random value that changes in each time period,
           shared_random_value.
         * a set of network-wide networkstatus consensus parameters.
           (Consensus parameters are integer values voted on by authorities
           and published in the consensus documents, described in
           dir-spec.txt, section 3.3.)

   Below we explain in more detail.

Dividing time into periods

To prevent a single set of hidden service directory from becoming a target by adversaries looking to permanently censor a hidden service, hidden service descriptors are uploaded to different locations that change over time.

The length of a "time period" is controlled by the consensus parameter 'hsdir-interval', and is a number of minutes between 30 and 14400 (10 days). The default time period length is 1440 (one day).

Time periods start at the Unix epoch (Jan 1, 1970), and are computed by taking the number of minutes since the epoch and dividing by the time period. However, we want our time periods to start at a regular offset from the SRV voting schedule, so we subtract a "rotation time offset" of 12 voting periods from the number of minutes since the epoch, before dividing by the time period (effectively making "our" epoch start at Jan 1, 1970 12:00UTC when the voting period is 1 hour.)

Example: If the current time is 2016-04-13 11:15:01 UTC, making the seconds since the epoch 1460546101, and the number of minutes since the epoch 24342435. We then subtract the "rotation time offset" of 12*60 minutes from the minutes since the epoch, to get 24341715. If the current time period length is 1440 minutes, by doing the division we see that we are currently in time period number 16903.

Specifically, time period #16903 began 16903*1440*60 + (12*60*60) seconds after the epoch, at 2016-04-12 12:00 UTC, and ended at 16904*1440*60 + (12*60*60) seconds after the epoch, at 2016-04-13 12:00 UTC.

When to publish a hidden service descriptor

Hidden services periodically publish their descriptor to the responsible HSDirs. The set of responsible HSDirs is determined as specified in [WHERE-HSDESC].

Specifically, every time a hidden service publishes its descriptor, it also sets up a timer for a random time between 60 minutes and 120 minutes in the future. When the timer triggers, the hidden service needs to publish its descriptor again to the responsible HSDirs for that time period. [TODO: Control republish period using a consensus parameter?]

Overlapping descriptors

Hidden services need to upload multiple descriptors so that they can be reachable to clients with older or newer consensuses than them. Services need to upload their descriptors to the HSDirs before the beginning of each upcoming time period, so that they are readily available for clients to fetch them. Furthermore, services should keep uploading their old descriptor even after the end of a time period, so that they can be reachable by clients that still have consensuses from the previous time period.

Hence, services maintain two active descriptors at every point. Clients on the other hand, don't have a notion of overlapping descriptors, and instead always download the descriptor for the current time period and shared random value. It's the job of the service to ensure that descriptors will be available for all clients. See section [FETCHUPLOADDESC] for how this is achieved.

[TODO: What to do when we run multiple hidden services in a single host?]

Where to publish a hidden service descriptor

This section specifies how the HSDir hash ring is formed at any given time. Whenever a time value is needed (e.g. to get the current time period number), we assume that clients and services use the valid-after time from their latest live consensus.

The following consensus parameters control where a hidden service descriptor is stored;

        hsdir_n_replicas = an integer in range [1,16] with default value 2.
        hsdir_spread_fetch = an integer in range [1,128] with default value 3.
        hsdir_spread_store = an integer in range [1,128] with default value 4.
           (Until 0.3.2.8-rc, the default was 3.)

To determine where a given hidden service descriptor will be stored in a given period, after the blinded public key for that period is derived, the uploading or downloading party calculates:

        for replicanum in 1...hsdir_n_replicas:
            hs_service_index(replicanum) = H("store-at-idx" |
                                     blinded_public_key |
                                     INT_8(replicanum) |
                                     INT_8(period_length) |
                                     INT_8(period_num) )

where blinded_public_key is specified in section [KEYBLIND], period_length is the length of the time period in minutes, and period_num is calculated using the current consensus "valid-after" as specified in section [TIME-PERIODS].

Then, for each node listed in the current consensus with the HSDir flag, we compute a directory index for that node as:

           hs_relay_index(node) = H("node-idx" | node_identity |
                                 shared_random_value |
                                 INT_8(period_num) |
                                 INT_8(period_length) )

where shared_random_value is the shared value generated by the authorities in section [PUB-SHAREDRANDOM], and node_identity is the ed25519 identity key of the node.

Finally, for replicanum in 1...hsdir_n_replicas, the hidden service host uploads descriptors to the first hsdir_spread_store nodes whose indices immediately follow hs_service_index(replicanum). If any of those nodes have already been selected for a lower-numbered replica of the service, any nodes already chosen are disregarded (i.e. skipped over) when choosing a replica's hsdir_spread_store nodes.

When choosing an HSDir to download from, clients choose randomly from among the first hsdir_spread_fetch nodes after the indices. (Note that, in order to make the system better tolerate disappearing HSDirs, hsdir_spread_fetch may be less than hsdir_spread_store.) Again, nodes from lower-numbered replicas are disregarded when choosing the spread for a replica.

Using time periods and SRVs to fetch/upload HS descriptors

Hidden services and clients need to make correct use of time periods (TP) and shared random values (SRVs) to successfully fetch and upload descriptors. Furthermore, to avoid problems with skewed clocks, both clients and services use the 'valid-after' time of a live consensus as a way to take decisions with regards to uploading and fetching descriptors. By using the consensus times as the ground truth here, we minimize the desynchronization of clients and services due to system clock. Whenever time-based decisions are taken in this section, assume that they are consensus times and not system times.

As [PUB-SHAREDRANDOM] specifies, consensuses contain two shared random values (the current one and the previous one). Hidden services and clients are asked to match these shared random values with descriptor time periods and use the right SRV when fetching/uploading descriptors. This section attempts to precisely specify how this works.

Let's start with an illustration of the system:

      +------------------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                                                  |
      | 00:00      12:00       00:00       12:00       00:00       12:00 |
      | SRV#1      TP#1        SRV#2       TP#2        SRV#3       TP#3  |
      |                                                                  |
      |  $==========|-----------$===========|-----------$===========|    |
      |                                                                  |
      |                                                                  |
      +------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                      Legend: [TP#1 = Time Period #1]
                                              [SRV#1 = Shared Random Value #1]
                                              ["$" = descriptor rotation moment]

Client behavior for fetching descriptors

And here is how clients use TPs and SRVs to fetch descriptors:

Clients always aim to synchronize their TP with SRV, so they always want to use TP#N with SRV#N: To achieve this wrt time periods, clients always use the current time period when fetching descriptors. Now wrt SRVs, if a client is in the time segment between a new time period and a new SRV (i.e. the segments drawn with "-") it uses the current SRV, else if the client is in a time segment between a new SRV and a new time period (i.e. the segments drawn with "="), it uses the previous SRV.

Example:

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                  |
| 00:00      12:00       00:00       12:00       00:00       12:00 |
| SRV#1      TP#1        SRV#2       TP#2        SRV#3       TP#3  |
|                                                                  |
|  $==========|-----------$===========|-----------$===========|    |
|              ^           ^                                       |
|              C1          C2                                      |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

If a client (C1) is at 13:00 right after TP#1, then it will use TP#1 and SRV#1 for fetching descriptors. Also, if a client (C2) is at 01:00 right after SRV#2, it will still use TP#1 and SRV#1.

Service behavior for uploading descriptors

As discussed above, services maintain two active descriptors at any time. We call these the "first" and "second" service descriptors. Services rotate their descriptor every time they receive a consensus with a valid_after time past the next SRV calculation time. They rotate their descriptors by discarding their first descriptor, pushing the second descriptor to the first, and rebuilding their second descriptor with the latest data.

Services like clients also employ a different logic for picking SRV and TP values based on their position in the graph above. Here is the logic:

First descriptor upload logic

Here is the service logic for uploading its first descriptor:

When a service is in the time segment between a new time period a new SRV (i.e. the segments drawn with "-"), it uses the previous time period and previous SRV for uploading its first descriptor: that's meant to cover for clients that have a consensus that is still in the previous time period.

Example: Consider in the above illustration that the service is at 13:00 right after TP#1. It will upload its first descriptor using TP#0 and SRV#0. So if a client still has a 11:00 consensus it will be able to access it based on the client logic above.

Now if a service is in the time segment between a new SRV and a new time period (i.e. the segments drawn with "=") it uses the current time period and the previous SRV for its first descriptor: that's meant to cover clients with an up-to-date consensus in the same time period as the service.

Example:

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                  |
| 00:00      12:00       00:00       12:00       00:00       12:00 |
| SRV#1      TP#1        SRV#2       TP#2        SRV#3       TP#3  |
|                                                                  |
|  $==========|-----------$===========|-----------$===========|    |
|                          ^                                       |
|                          S                                       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

Consider that the service is at 01:00 right after SRV#2: it will upload its first descriptor using TP#1 and SRV#1.

Second descriptor upload logic

Here is the service logic for uploading its second descriptor:

When a service is in the time segment between a new time period a new SRV (i.e. the segments drawn with "-"), it uses the current time period and current SRV for uploading its second descriptor: that's meant to cover for clients that have an up-to-date consensus on the same TP as the service.

Example: Consider in the above illustration that the service is at 13:00 right after TP#1: it will upload its second descriptor using TP#1 and SRV#1.

Now if a service is in the time segment between a new SRV and a new time period (i.e. the segments drawn with "=") it uses the next time period and the current SRV for its second descriptor: that's meant to cover clients with a newer consensus than the service (in the next time period).

Example:

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                  |
| 00:00      12:00       00:00       12:00       00:00       12:00 |
| SRV#1      TP#1        SRV#2       TP#2        SRV#3       TP#3  |
|                                                                  |
|  $==========|-----------$===========|-----------$===========|    |
|                          ^                                       |
|                          S                                       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

Consider that the service is at 01:00 right after SRV#2: it will upload its second descriptor using TP#2 and SRV#2.

Directory behavior for handling descriptor uploads [DIRUPLOAD]

Upon receiving a hidden service descriptor publish request, directories MUST check the following:

     * The outer wrapper of the descriptor can be parsed according to
       [DESC-OUTER]
     * The version-number of the descriptor is "3"
     * If the directory has already cached a descriptor for this hidden service,
       the revision-counter of the uploaded descriptor must be greater than the
       revision-counter of the cached one
     * The descriptor signature is valid

If any of these basic validity checks fails, the directory MUST reject the descriptor upload.

NOTE: Even if the descriptor passes the checks above, its first and second layers could still be invalid: directories cannot validate the encrypted layers of the descriptor, as they do not have access to the public key of the service (required for decrypting the first layer of encryption), or the necessary client credentials (for decrypting the second layer).

Expiring hidden service descriptors

Hidden services set their descriptor's "descriptor-lifetime" field to 180 minutes (3 hours). Hidden services ensure that their descriptor will remain valid in the HSDir caches, by republishing their descriptors periodically as specified in [WHEN-HSDESC].

Hidden services MUST also keep their introduction circuits alive for as long as descriptors including those intro points are valid (even if that's after the time period has changed).

URLs for anonymous uploading and downloading

Hidden service descriptors conforming to this specification are uploaded with an HTTP POST request to the URL /tor/hs/<version>/publish relative to the hidden service directory's root, and downloaded with an HTTP GET request for the URL /tor/hs/<version>/<z> where <z> is a base64 encoding of the hidden service's blinded public key and <version> is the protocol version which is "3" in this case.

These requests must be made anonymously, on circuits not used for anything else.

Client-side validation of onion addresses

When a Tor client receives a prop224 onion address from the user, it MUST first validate the onion address before attempting to connect or fetch its descriptor. If the validation fails, the client MUST refuse to connect.

As part of the address validation, Tor clients should check that the underlying ed25519 key does not have a torsion component. If Tor accepted ed25519 keys with torsion components, attackers could create multiple equivalent onion addresses for a single ed25519 key, which would map to the same service. We want to avoid that because it could lead to phishing attacks and surprising behaviors (e.g. imagine a browser plugin that blocks onion addresses, but could be bypassed using an equivalent onion address with a torsion component).

The right way for clients to detect such fraudulent addresses (which should only occur malevolently and never naturally) is to extract the ed25519 public key from the onion address and multiply it by the ed25519 group order and ensure that the result is the ed25519 identity element. For more details, please see [TORSION-REFS].

Publishing shared random values

Our design for limiting the predictability of HSDir upload locations relies on a shared random value (SRV) that isn't predictable in advance or too influenceable by an attacker. The authorities must run a protocol to generate such a value at least once per hsdir period. Here we describe how they publish these values; the procedure they use to generate them can change independently of the rest of this specification. For more information see [SHAREDRANDOM-REFS].

According to proposal 250, we add two new lines in consensuses:

     "shared-rand-previous-value" SP NUM_REVEALS SP VALUE NL
     "shared-rand-current-value" SP NUM_REVEALS SP VALUE NL

Client behavior in the absence of shared random values

If the previous or current shared random value cannot be found in a consensus, then Tor clients and services need to generate their own random value for use when choosing HSDirs.

To do so, Tor clients and services use:

SRV = H("shared-random-disaster" | INT_8(period_length) | INT_8(period_num))

where period_length is the length of a time period in minutes, rounded down; period_num is calculated as specified in [TIME-PERIODS] for the wanted shared random value that could not be found originally.

Hidden services and changing shared random values

It's theoretically possible that the consensus shared random values will change or disappear in the middle of a time period because of directory authorities dropping offline or misbehaving.

To avoid client reachability issues in this rare event, hidden services should use the new shared random values to find the new responsible HSDirs and upload their descriptors there.

XXX How long should they upload descriptors there for?

Hidden service descriptors: outer wrapper [DESC-OUTER]

The format for a hidden service descriptor is as follows, using the meta-format from dir-spec.txt.

"hs-descriptor" SP version-number NL

[At start, exactly once.]

       The version-number is a 32 bit unsigned integer indicating the version
       of the descriptor. Current version is "3".

     "descriptor-lifetime" SP LifetimeMinutes NL

       [Exactly once]

       The lifetime of a descriptor in minutes. An HSDir SHOULD expire the
       hidden service descriptor at least LifetimeMinutes after it was
       uploaded.

       The LifetimeMinutes field can take values between 30 and 720 (12
       hours).

    "descriptor-signing-key-cert" NL certificate NL

       [Exactly once.]

       The 'certificate' field contains a certificate in the format from
       proposal 220, wrapped with "-----BEGIN ED25519 CERT-----".  The
       certificate cross-certifies the short-term descriptor signing key with
       the blinded public key.  The certificate type must be [08], and the
       blinded public key must be present as the signing-key extension.

     "revision-counter" SP Integer NL

       [Exactly once.]

       The revision number of the descriptor. If an HSDir receives a
       second descriptor for a key that it already has a descriptor for,
       it should retain and serve the descriptor with the higher
       revision-counter.

       (Checking for monotonically increasing revision-counter values
       prevents an attacker from replacing a newer descriptor signed by
       a given key with a copy of an older version.)

       Implementations MUST be able to parse 64-bit values for these
       counters.

     "superencrypted" NL encrypted-string

       [Exactly once.]

       An encrypted blob, whose format is discussed in [HS-DESC-ENC] below. The
       blob is base64 encoded and enclosed in -----BEGIN MESSAGE---- and
       ----END MESSAGE---- wrappers. (The resulting document does not end with
       a newline character.)

     "signature" SP signature NL

       [exactly once, at end.]

       A signature of all previous fields, using the signing key in the
       descriptor-signing-key-cert line, prefixed by the string "Tor onion
       service descriptor sig v3". We use a separate key for signing, so that
       the hidden service host does not need to have its private blinded key
       online.

HSDirs accept hidden service descriptors of up to 50k bytes (a consensus parameter should also be introduced to control this value).

Hidden service descriptors: encryption format

Hidden service descriptors are protected by two layers of encryption. Clients need to decrypt both layers to connect to the hidden service.

The first layer of encryption provides confidentiality against entities who don't know the public key of the hidden service (e.g. HSDirs), while the second layer of encryption is only useful when restricted discovery is enabled and protects against entities that do not possess valid client credentials.

First layer of encryption

The first layer of HS descriptor encryption is designed to protect descriptor confidentiality against entities who don't know the public identity key of the hidden service.

First layer encryption logic

The encryption keys and format for the first layer of encryption are generated as specified in [HS-DESC-ENCRYPTION-KEYS] with customization parameters:

     SECRET_DATA = blinded-public-key
     STRING_CONSTANT = "hsdir-superencrypted-data"

The encryption scheme in [HS-DESC-ENCRYPTION-KEYS] uses the service credential which is derived from the public identity key (see [SUBCRED]) to ensure that only entities who know the public identity key can decrypt the first descriptor layer.

The ciphertext is placed on the "superencrypted" field of the descriptor.

Before encryption the plaintext is padded with NUL bytes to the nearest multiple of 10k bytes.

First layer plaintext format

After clients decrypt the first layer of encryption, they need to parse the plaintext to get to the second layer ciphertext which is contained in the "encrypted" field.

If restricted discovery is enabled, the hidden service generates a fresh descriptor_cookie key (N_hs_desc_enc, 32 random bytes) and encrypts it using each authorized client's identity x25519 key. Authorized clients can use the descriptor cookie (N_hs_desc_enc) to decrypt the second (inner) layer of encryption. Our encryption scheme requires the hidden service to also generate an ephemeral x25519 keypair for each new descriptor.

If restricted discovery is disabled, fake data is placed in each of the fields below to obfuscate whether restricted discovery is enabled.

Here are all the supported fields:

"desc-auth-type" SP type NL

[Exactly once]

      This field contains the type of authorization used to protect the
      descriptor. The only recognized type is "x25519" and specifies the
      encryption scheme described in this section.

      If restricted discovery is disabled, the value here should be "x25519".

     "desc-auth-ephemeral-key" SP KP_hs_desc_ephem NL

      [Exactly once]

      This field contains `KP_hss_desc_enc`, an ephemeral x25519 public
      key generated by the hidden service and encoded in base64. The key
      is used by the encryption scheme below.

      If restricted discovery is disabled, the value here should be a fresh
      x25519 pubkey that will remain unused.

     "auth-client" SP client-id SP iv SP encrypted-cookie

      [At least once]

      When restricted discovery is enabled, the hidden service inserts an
      "auth-client" line for each of its authorized clients. If client
      authorization is disabled, the fields here can be populated with random
      data of the right size (that's 8 bytes for 'client-id', 16 bytes for 'iv'
      and 16 bytes for 'encrypted-cookie' all encoded with base64).

      When restricted discovery is enabled, each "auth-client" line
      contains the descriptor cookie `N_hs_desc_enc` encrypted to each
      individual client. We assume that each authorized client possesses
      a pre-shared x25519 keypair (`KP_hsc_desc_enc`) which is used to
      decrypt the descriptor cookie.

      We now describe the descriptor cookie encryption scheme. Here is what
      the hidden service computes:

          SECRET_SEED = x25519(KS_hs_desc_ephem, KP_hsc_desc_enc)
          KEYS = KDF(N_hs_subcred | SECRET_SEED, 40)
          CLIENT-ID = fist 8 bytes of KEYS
          COOKIE-KEY = last 32 bytes of KEYS

      Here is a description of the fields in the "auth-client" line:

      - The "client-id" field is CLIENT-ID from above encoded in base64.

      - The "iv" field is 16 random bytes encoded in base64.

      - The "encrypted-cookie" field contains the descriptor cookie ciphertext
        as follows and is encoded in base64:
           encrypted-cookie = STREAM(iv, COOKIE-KEY) XOR N_hs_desc_enc.

      See section [FIRST-LAYER-CLIENT-BEHAVIOR] for the client-side logic of
      how to decrypt the descriptor cookie.

    "encrypted" NL encrypted-string

     [Exactly once]

      An encrypted blob containing the second layer ciphertext, whose format is
      discussed in [HS-DESC-SECOND-LAYER] below. The blob is base64 encoded
      and enclosed in -----BEGIN MESSAGE---- and ----END MESSAGE---- wrappers.

    Compatibility note: The C Tor implementation does not include a final
    newline when generating this first-layer-plaintext section; other
    implementations MUST accept this section even if it is missing its final
    newline.  Other implementations MAY generate this section without a final
    newline themselves, to avoid being distinguishable from C tor.

Client behavior

    The goal of clients at this stage is to decrypt the "encrypted" field as
    described in [HS-DESC-SECOND-LAYER].

    If restricted discovery is enabled, authorized clients need to extract the
    descriptor cookie to proceed with decryption of the second layer as
    follows:

    An authorized client parsing the first layer of an encrypted descriptor,
    extracts the ephemeral key from "desc-auth-ephemeral-key" and calculates
    CLIENT-ID and COOKIE-KEY as described in the section above using their
    x25519 private key. The client then uses CLIENT-ID to find the right
    "auth-client" field which contains the ciphertext of the descriptor
    cookie. The client then uses COOKIE-KEY and the iv to decrypt the
    descriptor_cookie, which is used to decrypt the second layer of descriptor
    encryption as described in [HS-DESC-SECOND-LAYER].

Hiding restricted discovery data

    Hidden services should avoid leaking whether restricted discovery is
    enabled or how many authorized clients there are.

    Hence even when restricted discovery is disabled, the hidden service adds
    fake "desc-auth-type", "desc-auth-ephemeral-key" and "auth-client" lines to
    the descriptor, as described in [HS-DESC-FIRST-LAYER].

    The hidden service also avoids leaking the number of authorized clients by
    adding fake "auth-client" entries to its descriptor. Specifically,
    descriptors always contain a number of authorized clients that is a
    multiple of 16 by adding fake "auth-client" entries if needed.
    [XXX consider randomization of the value 16]

    Clients MUST accept descriptors with any number of "auth-client" lines as
    long as the total descriptor size is within the max limit of 50k (also
    controlled with a consensus parameter).

Second layer of encryption

The second layer of descriptor encryption is designed to protect descriptor confidentiality against unauthorized clients. If restricted discovery is enabled, it's encrypted using the descriptor_cookie, and contains needed information for connecting to the hidden service, like the list of its introduction points.

If restricted discovery is disabled, then the second layer of HS encryption does not offer any additional security, but is still used.

Second layer encryption keys

The encryption keys and format for the second layer of encryption are generated as specified in [HS-DESC-ENCRYPTION-KEYS] with customization parameters as follows:

     SECRET_DATA = blinded-public-key | descriptor_cookie
     STRING_CONSTANT = "hsdir-encrypted-data"

   If restricted discovery is disabled the 'descriptor_cookie' field is left blank.

   The ciphertext is placed on the "encrypted" field of the descriptor.

Second layer plaintext format

After decrypting the second layer ciphertext, clients can finally learn the list of intro points etc. The plaintext has the following format:

"create2-formats" SP formats NL

\[Exactly once\]

      A space-separated list of integers denoting CREATE2 cell HTYPEs
      (handshake types) that the server recognizes. Must include at least
      ntor as described in tor-spec.txt. See tor-spec section 5.1 for a list
      of recognized handshake types.

     "intro-auth-required" SP types NL

      [At most once]

      A space-separated list of introduction-layer authentication types; see
      section [INTRO-AUTH] for more info. A client that does not support at
      least one of these authentication types will not be able to contact the
      host. Recognized types are: 'ed25519'.

     "single-onion-service"

      [At most once]

      If present, this line indicates that the service is a Single Onion
      Service (see prop260 for more details about that type of service). This
      field has been introduced in 0.3.0 meaning 0.2.9 service don't include
      this.

     "pow-params" SP scheme SP seed-b64 SP suggested-effort
                  SP expiration-time NL

      If present, this line provides parameters for an optional proof-of-work
      client puzzle. A client that supports an offered scheme can include a
      corresponding solution in its introduction request to improve priority
      in the service's processing queue.

      Only scheme `v1` is currently defined.
      It may appear only once.

      Unknown schemes found in a descriptor must be completely ignored:
      future schemes might have a different format (in the parts of the
      Item after the "scheme"; this could even include an Object); and
      future schemes might allow repetition, and might appear in any order.

      Introduced in tor-0.4.8.1-alpha.

        scheme: The PoW system used. We call the one specified here "v1".

        seed-b64: A random seed that should be used as the input to the PoW
                  hash function. Should be 32 random bytes encoded in base64
                  without trailing padding.

        suggested-effort: An unsigned integer specifying an effort value that
                  clients should aim for when contacting the service. Can be
                  zero to mean that PoW is available but not currently
                  suggested for a first connection attempt.

        expiration-time: A timestamp in "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS" format (iso time
                         with no space) after which the above seed expires and
                         is no longer valid as the input for PoW.

Followed by zero or more introduction points as follows (see section [NUM_INTRO_POINT] below for accepted values):

        "introduction-point" SP link-specifiers NL

          [Exactly once per introduction point at start of introduction
            point section]

          The link-specifiers is a base64 encoding of a link specifier
          block in the format described in [BUILDING-BLOCKS] above.

          As of 0.4.1.1-alpha, services include both IPv4 and IPv6 link
          specifiers in descriptors. All available addresses SHOULD be
          included in the descriptor, regardless of the address that the
          onion service actually used to connect/extend to the intro
          point.

          The client SHOULD NOT reject any LSTYPE fields which it doesn't
          recognize; instead, it should use them verbatim in its EXTEND
          request to the introduction point.

          The client SHOULD perform the basic validity checks on the link
          specifiers in the descriptor, described in `tor-spec.txt`
          section 5.1.2. These checks SHOULD NOT leak
          detailed information about the client's version, configuration,
          or consensus. (See 3.3 for service link specifier handling.)

          When connecting to the introduction point, the client SHOULD send
          this list of link specifiers verbatim, in the same order as given
          here.

          The client MAY reject the list of link specifiers if it is
          inconsistent with relay information from the directory, but SHOULD
          NOT modify it.

        "onion-key" SP "ntor" SP key NL

          [Exactly once per introduction point]

          The key is a base64 encoded curve25519 public key which is the onion
          key of the introduction point Tor node used for the ntor handshake
          when a client extends to it.

        "onion-key" SP KeyType SP key.. NL

          [Any number of times]

          Implementations should accept other types of onion keys using this
          syntax (where "KeyType" is some string other than "ntor");
          unrecognized key types should be ignored.

        "auth-key" NL certificate NL

          [Exactly once per introduction point]

          The certificate is a proposal 220 certificate wrapped in
          "-----BEGIN ED25519 CERT-----".  It contains the introduction
          point authentication key (`KP_hs_ipt_sid`), signed by
          the descriptor signing key (`KP_hs_desc_sign`).  The
          certificate type must be [09], and the signing key extension
          is mandatory.

          NOTE: This certificate was originally intended to be
          constructed the other way around: the signing and signed keys
          are meant to be reversed.  However, C tor implemented it
          backwards, and other implementations now need to do the same
          in order to conform.  (Since this section is inside the
          descriptor, which is _already_ signed by `KP_hs_desc_sign`,
          the verification aspect of this certificate serves no point in
          its current form.)

        "enc-key" SP "ntor" SP key NL

          [Exactly once per introduction point]

          The key is a base64 encoded curve25519 public key used to encrypt
          the introduction request to service. (`KP_hss_ntor`)

        "enc-key" SP KeyType SP key.. NL

          [Any number of times]

          Implementations should accept other types of onion keys using this
          syntax (where "KeyType" is some string other than "ntor");
          unrecognized key types should be ignored.

        "enc-key-cert" NL certificate NL

          [Exactly once per introduction point]

          Cross-certification of the encryption key using the descriptor
          signing key.

          For "ntor" keys, certificate is a proposal 220 certificate
          wrapped in "-----BEGIN ED25519 CERT-----" armor.

          The subject
          key is the the ed25519 equivalent of a curve25519 public
          encryption key (`KP_hss_ntor`), with the ed25519 key
          derived using the process in proposal 228 appendix A,
          and its sign bit set to zero.

          The
          signing key is the descriptor signing key (`KP_hs_desc_sign`).
          The certificate type must be [0B], and the signing-key
          extension is mandatory.

          NOTE: As with "auth-key", this certificate was intended to be
          constructed the other way around.  However, for compatibility
          with C tor, implementations need to construct it this way.  It
          serves even less point than "auth-key", however, since the
          encryption key `KP_hss_ntor` is already available from
          the `enc-key` entry.

          ALSO NOTE: Setting the sign bit of the subject key
          to zero makes the subjected unusable for verification;
          this is also a mistake preserved for compatiblility with
          C tor.

        "legacy-key" NL key NL

          [None or at most once per introduction point]
          [This field is obsolete and should never be generated; it
           is included for historical reasons only.]

          The key is an ASN.1 encoded RSA public key in PEM format used for a
          legacy introduction point as described in [LEGACY_EST_INTRO].

          This field is only present if the introduction point only supports
          legacy protocol (v2) that is <= 0.2.9 or the protocol version value
          "HSIntro 3".

        "legacy-key-cert" NL certificate NL

          [None or at most once per introduction point]
          [This field is obsolete and should never be generated; it
           is included for historical reasons only.]

          MUST be present if "legacy-key" is present.

          The certificate is a proposal 220 RSA->Ed cross-certificate wrapped
          in "-----BEGIN CROSSCERT-----" armor, cross-certifying the RSA
          public key found in "legacy-key" using the descriptor signing key.

To remain compatible with future revisions to the descriptor format, clients should ignore unrecognized lines in the descriptor. Other encryption and authentication key formats are allowed; clients should ignore ones they do not recognize.

Clients who manage to extract the introduction points of the hidden service can proceed with the introduction protocol as specified in [INTRO-PROTOCOL].

Compatibility note: At least some versions of OnionBalance do not include a final newline when generating this inner plaintext section; other implementations MUST accept this section even if it is missing its final newline.

Deriving hidden service descriptor encryption keys

In this section we present the generic encryption format for hidden service descriptors. We use the same encryption format in both encryption layers, hence we introduce two customization parameters SECRET_DATA and STRING_CONSTANT which vary between the layers.

The SECRET_DATA parameter specifies the secret data that are used during encryption key generation, while STRING_CONSTANT is merely a string constant that is used as part of the KDF.

Here is the key generation logic:

       SALT = 16 bytes from H(random), changes each time we rebuild the
              descriptor even if the content of the descriptor hasn't changed.
              (So that we don't leak whether the intro point list etc. changed)

       secret_input = SECRET_DATA | N_hs_subcred | INT_8(revision_counter)

       keys = KDF(secret_input | salt | STRING_CONSTANT, S_KEY_LEN + S_IV_LEN + MAC_KEY_LEN)

       SECRET_KEY = first S_KEY_LEN bytes of keys
       SECRET_IV  = next S_IV_LEN bytes of keys
       MAC_KEY    = last MAC_KEY_LEN bytes of keys

   The encrypted data has the format:

       SALT       hashed random bytes from above  [16 bytes]
       ENCRYPTED  The ciphertext                  [variable]
       MAC        D_MAC of both above fields      [32 bytes]

   The final encryption format is ENCRYPTED = STREAM(SECRET_IV,SECRET_KEY) XOR Plaintext .

   Where D_MAC = H(mac_key_len | MAC_KEY | salt_len | SALT | ENCRYPTED)
   and
    mac_key_len = htonll(len(MAC_KEY))
   and
    salt_len = htonll(len(SALT)).

Number of introduction points

This section defines how many introduction points an hidden service descriptor can have at minimum, by default and the maximum:

Minimum: 0 - Default: 3 - Maximum: 20

A value of 0 would means that the service is still alive but doesn't want to be reached by any client at the moment. Note that the descriptor size increases considerably as more introduction points are added.

The reason for a maximum value of 20 is to give enough scalability to tools like OnionBalance to be able to load balance up to 120 servers (20 x 6 HSDirs) but also in order for the descriptor size to not overwhelmed hidden service directories with user defined values that could be gigantic.

The introduction protocol

The introduction protocol proceeds in three steps.

First, a hidden service host builds an anonymous circuit to a Tor node and registers that circuit as an introduction point.

Single Onion Services attempt to build a non-anonymous single-hop circuit, but use an anonymous 3-hop circuit if:

     * the intro point is on an address that is configured as unreachable via
       a direct connection, or
     * the initial attempt to connect to the intro point over a single-hop
       circuit fails, and they are retrying the intro point connection.

        [After 'First' and before 'Second', the hidden service publishes its
        introduction points and associated keys, and the client fetches
        them as described in section [HSDIR] above.]

Second, a client builds an anonymous circuit to the introduction point, and sends an introduction request.

Third, the introduction point relays the introduction request along the introduction circuit to the hidden service host, and acknowledges the introduction request to the client.

Registering an introduction point

Extensible ESTABLISH_INTRO protocol

When a hidden service is establishing a new introduction point, it sends an ESTABLISH_INTRO message with the following contents:

     AUTH_KEY_TYPE    [1 byte]
     AUTH_KEY_LEN     [2 bytes]
     AUTH_KEY         [AUTH_KEY_LEN bytes]
     N_EXTENSIONS     [1 byte]
     N_EXTENSIONS times:
        EXT_FIELD_TYPE [1 byte]
        EXT_FIELD_LEN  [1 byte]
        EXT_FIELD      [EXT_FIELD_LEN bytes]
     HANDSHAKE_AUTH   [MAC_LEN bytes]
     SIG_LEN          [2 bytes]
     SIG              [SIG_LEN bytes]

The AUTH_KEY_TYPE field indicates the type of the introduction point authentication key and the type of the MAC to use in HANDSHAKE_AUTH. Recognized types are:

       [00, 01] -- Reserved for legacy introduction messages; see
                   [LEGACY_EST_INTRO below]
       [02] -- Ed25519; SHA3-256.

The AUTH_KEY_LEN field determines the length of the AUTH_KEY field. The AUTH_KEY field contains the public introduction point authentication key, KP_hs_ipt_sid.

The EXT_FIELD_TYPE, EXT_FIELD_LEN, EXT_FIELD entries are reserved for extensions to the introduction protocol. Extensions with unrecognized EXT_FIELD_TYPE values must be ignored. (EXT_FIELD_LEN may be zero, in which case EXT_FIELD is absent.)

   Unless otherwise specified in the documentation for an extension type:
      * Each extension type SHOULD be sent only once in a message.
      * Parties MUST ignore any occurrences all occurrences of an extension
        with a given type after the first such occurrence.
      * Extensions SHOULD be sent in numerically ascending order by type.
   (The above extension sorting and multiplicity rules are only defaults;
   they may be overridden in the descriptions of individual extensions.)

The following extensions are currently defined:

The HANDSHAKE_AUTH field contains the MAC of all earlier fields in the message using as its key the shared per-circuit material ("KH") generated during the circuit extension protocol; see tor-spec.txt section 5.2, "Setting circuit keys". It prevents replays of ESTABLISH_INTRO messages.

SIG_LEN is the length of the signature.

SIG is a signature, using AUTH_KEY, of all contents of the message, up to but not including SIG_LEN and SIG. These contents are prefixed with the string "Tor establish-intro cell v1".

(Note that this string is sic; it predates our efforts to distinguish cells from relay messages.)

Upon receiving an ESTABLISH_INTRO message, a Tor node first decodes the key and the signature, and checks the signature. The node must reject the ESTABLISH_INTRO message and destroy the circuit in these cases:

        * If the key type is unrecognized
        * If the key is ill-formatted
        * If the signature is incorrect
        * If the HANDSHAKE_AUTH value is incorrect

        * If the circuit is already a rendezvous circuit.
        * If the circuit is already an introduction circuit.
          [TODO: some scalability designs fail there.]
        * If the key is already in use by another circuit.

Otherwise, the node must associate the key with the circuit, for use later in INTRODUCE1 messages.

Denial-of-Service defense extension (DOS_PARAMS)

The DOS_PARAMS extension in ESTABLISH_INTRO is used to send Denial-of-Service (DoS) parameters to the introduction point in order for it to apply them for the introduction circuit.

This is for the rate limiting DoS mitigation specifically.

The EXT_FIELD_TYPE value for the DOS_PARAMS extension is [01].

The content is defined as follows:

Recognized values for PARAM_TYPE in this extension are:

Together, these parameters configure a token bucket that determines how many INTRODUCE2 messages the introduction point may send to the service.

Technically speaking, the BURST parameter is misnamed in that it is not actually "per second": only a rate has an associated time.

If either of these parameters is set to 0, the defense is disabled, and the introduction point should ignore the other parameter.

If the burst is lower than the rate, the introduction point SHOULD ignore the extension.

Using this extension extends the body of the ESTABLISH_INTRO message by 19 bytes bringing it from 134 bytes to 155 bytes.

When this extension is not sent, introduction points use default settings taken from taken from the consensus parameters HiddenServiceEnableIntroDoSDefense, HiddenServiceEnableIntroDoSRatePerSec, and HiddenServiceEnableIntroDoSBurstPerSec.

This extension can only be used with relays supporting the protocol version "HSIntro=5".

Introduced in tor-0.4.2.1-alpha.

Registering an introduction point on a legacy Tor node

This section is obsolete and refers to a workaround for now-obsolete Tor relay versions. It is included for historical reasons.

Tor nodes should also support an older version of the ESTABLISH_INTRO message, first documented in rend-spec.txt. New hidden service hosts must use this format when establishing introduction points at older Tor nodes that do not support the format above in [EST_INTRO].

In this older protocol, an ESTABLISH_INTRO message contains:

        KEY_LEN        [2 bytes]
        KEY            [KEY_LEN bytes]
        HANDSHAKE_AUTH [20 bytes]
        SIG            [variable, up to end of relay message body]

   The KEY_LEN variable determines the length of the KEY field.

The KEY field is the ASN1-encoded legacy RSA public key that was also included in the hidden service descriptor.

The HANDSHAKE_AUTH field contains the SHA1 digest of (KH | "INTRODUCE").

The SIG field contains an RSA signature, using PKCS1 padding, of all earlier fields.

Older versions of Tor always use a 1024-bit RSA key for these introduction authentication keys.

Acknowledging establishment of introduction point

After setting up an introduction circuit, the introduction point reports its status back to the hidden service host with an INTRO_ESTABLISHED message.

The INTRO_ESTABLISHED message has the following contents:

     N_EXTENSIONS [1 byte]
     N_EXTENSIONS times:
       EXT_FIELD_TYPE [1 byte]
       EXT_FIELD_LEN  [1 byte]
       EXT_FIELD      [EXT_FIELD_LEN bytes]

Older versions of Tor send back an empty INTRO_ESTABLISHED message instead. Services must accept an empty INTRO_ESTABLISHED message from a legacy relay. [The above paragraph is obsolete and refers to a workaround for now-obsolete Tor relay versions. It is included for historical reasons.]

The same rules for multiplicity, ordering, and handling unknown types apply to the extension fields here as described [EST_INTRO] above.

Sending an INTRODUCE1 message to the introduction point

In order to participate in the introduction protocol, a client must know the following:

     * An introduction point for a service.
     * The introduction authentication key for that introduction point.
     * The introduction encryption key for that introduction point.

The client sends an INTRODUCE1 message to the introduction point, containing an identifier for the service, an identifier for the encryption key that the client intends to use, and an opaque blob to be relayed to the hidden service host.

In reply, the introduction point sends an INTRODUCE_ACK message back to the client, either informing it that its request has been delivered, or that its request will not succeed.

If the INTRODUCE_ACK message indicates success, the client SHOULD close the circuit to the introduction point, and not use it for anything else. If the INTRODUCE_ACK message indicates failure, the client MAY try a different introduction point. It MAY reach the different introduction point either by extending its introduction circuit an additional hop, or by building a new introduction circuit.

   [TODO: specify what tor should do when receiving a malformed message. Drop it?
          Kill circuit? This goes for all possible messages.]

Extensible INTRODUCE1 message format

When a client is connecting to an introduction point, INTRODUCE1 messages should be of the form:

     LEGACY_KEY_ID   [20 bytes]
     AUTH_KEY_TYPE   [1 byte]
     AUTH_KEY_LEN    [2 bytes]
     AUTH_KEY        [AUTH_KEY_LEN bytes]
     N_EXTENSIONS    [1 byte]
     N_EXTENSIONS times:
       EXT_FIELD_TYPE [1 byte]
       EXT_FIELD_LEN  [1 byte]
       EXT_FIELD      [EXT_FIELD_LEN bytes]
     ENCRYPTED        [Up to end of relay message body]

The ENCRYPTED field is described in the [PROCESS_INTRO2] section.

AUTH_KEY_TYPE is defined as in [EST_INTRO]. Currently, the only value of AUTH_KEY_TYPE for this message is an Ed25519 public key [02].

The LEGACY_KEY_ID field is used to distinguish between legacy and new style INTRODUCE1 messages. In new style INTRODUCE1 messages, LEGACY_KEY_ID is 20 zero bytes. Upon receiving an INTRODUCE1 messages, the introduction point checks the LEGACY_KEY_ID field. If LEGACY_KEY_ID is non-zero, the INTRODUCE1 message should be handled as a legacy INTRODUCE1 message by the intro point.

Upon receiving a INTRODUCE1 message, the introduction point checks whether AUTH_KEY matches the introduction point authentication key for an active introduction circuit. If so, the introduction point sends an INTRODUCE2 message with exactly the same contents to the service, and sends an INTRODUCE_ACK response to the client.

(Note that the introduction point does not "clean up" the INTRODUCE1 message that it retransmits. Specifically, it does not change the order or multiplicity of the extensions sent by the client.)

The same rules for multiplicity, ordering, and handling unknown types apply to the extension fields here as described [EST_INTRO] above.

INTRODUCE_ACK message format.

An INTRODUCE_ACK message has the following fields:

     STATUS       [2 bytes]
     N_EXTENSIONS [1 bytes]
     N_EXTENSIONS times:
       EXT_FIELD_TYPE [1 byte]
       EXT_FIELD_LEN  [1 byte]
       EXT_FIELD      [EXT_FIELD_LEN bytes]

   Recognized status values are:

     [00 00] -- Success: message relayed to hidden service host.
     [00 01] -- Failure: service ID not recognized
     [00 02] -- Bad message format
     [00 03] -- Can't relay message to service

The same rules for multiplicity, ordering, and handling unknown types apply to the extension fields here as described [EST_INTRO] above.

Processing an INTRODUCE2 message at the hidden service.

Upon receiving an INTRODUCE2 message, the hidden service host checks whether the AUTH_KEY or LEGACY_KEY_ID field matches the keys for this introduction circuit.

The service host then checks whether it has received a message with these contents or rendezvous cookie before. If it has, it silently drops it as a replay. (It must maintain a replay cache for as long as it accepts messages with the same encryption key. Note that the encryption format below should be non-malleable.)

If the message is not a replay, it decrypts the ENCRYPTED field, establishes a shared key with the client, and authenticates the whole contents of the message as having been unmodified since they left the client. There may be multiple ways of decrypting the ENCRYPTED field, depending on the chosen type of the encryption key. Requirements for an introduction handshake protocol are described in [INTRO-HANDSHAKE-REQS]. We specify one below in section [NTOR-WITH-EXTRA-DATA].

The decrypted plaintext must have the form:

      RENDEZVOUS_COOKIE                          [20 bytes]
      N_EXTENSIONS                               [1 byte]
      N_EXTENSIONS times:
          EXT_FIELD_TYPE                         [1 byte]
          EXT_FIELD_LEN                          [1 byte]
          EXT_FIELD                              [EXT_FIELD_LEN bytes]
      ONION_KEY_TYPE                             [1 bytes]
      ONION_KEY_LEN                              [2 bytes]
      ONION_KEY                                  [ONION_KEY_LEN bytes]
      NSPEC      (Number of link specifiers)     [1 byte]
      NSPEC times:
          LSTYPE (Link specifier type)           [1 byte]
          LSLEN  (Link specifier length)         [1 byte]
          LSPEC  (Link specifier)                [LSLEN bytes]
      PAD        (optional padding)              [up to end of plaintext]

Upon processing this plaintext, the hidden service makes sure that any required authentication is present in the extension fields, and then extends a rendezvous circuit to the node described in the LSPEC fields, using the ONION_KEY to complete the extension. As mentioned in [BUILDING-BLOCKS], the "TLS-over-TCP, IPv4" and "Legacy node identity" specifiers must be present.

As of 0.4.1.1-alpha, clients include both IPv4 and IPv6 link specifiers in INTRODUCE1 messages. All available addresses SHOULD be included in the message, regardless of the address that the client actually used to extend to the rendezvous point.

The hidden service should handle invalid or unrecognised link specifiers the same way as clients do in section 2.5.2.2. In particular, services SHOULD perform basic validity checks on link specifiers, and SHOULD NOT reject unrecognised link specifiers, to avoid information leaks. The list of link specifiers received here SHOULD either be rejected, or sent verbatim when extending to the rendezvous point, in the same order received.

The service MAY reject the list of link specifiers if it is inconsistent with relay information from the directory, but SHOULD NOT modify it.

The ONION_KEY_TYPE field is:

[01] NTOR: ONION_KEY is 32 bytes long.

The ONION_KEY field describes the onion key that must be used when extending to the rendezvous point. It must be of a type listed as supported in the hidden service descriptor.

The PAD field should be filled with zeros; its size should be chosen so that the INTRODUCE2 message occupies a fixed maximum size, in order to hide the length of the encrypted data. (This maximum size is 490, since we assume that a future Tor implementations will implement proposal 340 and thus lower the number of bytes that can be contained in a single relay message.) Note also that current versions of Tor only pad the INTRODUCE2 message up to 246 bytes.

Upon receiving a well-formed INTRODUCE2 message, the hidden service host will have:

     * The information needed to connect to the client's chosen
       rendezvous point.
     * The second half of a handshake to authenticate and establish a
       shared key with the hidden service client.
     * A set of shared keys to use for end-to-end encryption.

The same rules for multiplicity, ordering, and handling unknown types apply to the extension fields here as described [EST_INTRO] above.

INTRODUCE1/INTRODUCE2 Extensions

The following sections details the currently supported or reserved extensions of an INTRODUCE1/INTRODUCE2 message.

Note that there are two sets of extensions in INTRODUCE1/INTRODUCE2: one in the top-level, unencrypted portion, and one within the plaintext of ENCRYPTED (ie, after RENDEZVOUS_COOKIE and before ONION_KEY_TYPE.

The sets of extensions allowed in each part of the message are disjoint: each extension is valid in only one of the two places.

Nevertheless, for historical reasons, both kinds of extension are listed in this section, and they use nonoverlapping values of EXT_FIELD_TYPE.

Congestion Control

This is used to request that the rendezvous circuit with the service be configured with congestion control.

EXT_FIELD_TYPE:

 \[01\] -- Congestion Control Request.

This field is has zero body length. Its presence signifies that the client wants to use congestion control. The client MUST NOT set this field, or use ntorv3, if the service did not list "2" in the FlowCtrl line in the descriptor. The client SHOULD NOT provide this field if the consensus parameter 'cc_alg' is 0.

This appears in the ENCRYPTED section of the INTRODUCE1/INTRODUCE2 message.

Proof-of-Work (PoW)

This extension can be used to optionally attach a proof of work to the introduction request. The proof must be calculated using unique parameters appropriate for this specific service. An acceptable proof will raise the priority of this introduction request according to the proof's verified computational effort.

This is for the proof-of-work DoS mitigation, described in depth by the Proof of Work for onion service introduction specification.

This appears in the ENCRYPTED section of the INTRODUCE1/INTRODUCE2 message.

The content is defined as follows:

EXT_FIELD_TYPE:

[02] -- PROOF_OF_WORK

The EXT_FIELD content format is:

    POW_SCHEME     [1 byte]
    POW_NONCE      [16 bytes]
    POW_EFFORT     [4 bytes]
    POW_SEED       [4 bytes]
    POW_SOLUTION   [16 bytes]

where:

POW_SCHEME is 1 for the `v1` protocol specified here
POW_NONCE is the nonce value chosen by the client's solver
POW_EFFORT is the effort value chosen by the client,
           as a 32-bit integer in network byte order
POW_SEED identifies which seed was in use, by its first 4 bytes
POW_SOLUTION is a matching proof computed by the client's solver

Only SCHEME 1, v1, is currently defined. Other schemes may have a different format, after the POW_SCHEME byte. A correctly functioning client only submits solutions with a scheme and seed which were advertised by the server (using a "pow-params" Item in the HS descriptor) and have not yet expired. An extension with an unknown scheme or expired seed is suspicious and SHOULD result in introduction failure.

Introduced in tor-0.4.8.1-alpha.

Subprotocol Request

[RESERVED]

EXT_FIELD_TYPE:

 \[03\] -- Subprotocol Request

Introduction handshake encryption requirements

When decoding the encrypted information in an INTRODUCE2 message, a hidden service host must be able to:

     * Decrypt additional information included in the INTRODUCE2 message,
       to include the rendezvous token and the information needed to
       extend to the rendezvous point.

     * Establish a set of shared keys for use with the client.

     * Authenticate that the message has not been modified since the client
       generated it.

Note that the old TAP-derived protocol of the previous hidden service design achieved the first two requirements, but not the third.

Example encryption handshake: ntor with extra data

TODO: relocate this

This is a variant of the ntor handshake (also see "Anonymity and one-way authentication in key-exchange protocols" by Goldberg, Stebila, and Ustaoglu).

It behaves the same as the ntor handshake, except that, in addition to negotiating forward secure keys, it also provides a means for encrypting non-forward-secure data to the server (in this case, to the hidden service host) as part of the handshake.

Notation here is as in section 5.1.4 of tor-spec.txt, which defines the ntor handshake.

The PROTOID for this variant is "tor-hs-ntor-curve25519-sha3-256-1". We also use the following tweak values:

      t_hsenc    = PROTOID | ":hs_key_extract"
      t_hsverify = PROTOID | ":hs_verify"
      t_hsmac    = PROTOID | ":hs_mac"
      m_hsexpand = PROTOID | ":hs_key_expand"

To make an INTRODUCE1 message, the client must know a public encryption key B for the hidden service on this introduction circuit. The client generates a single-use keypair:

x,X = KEYGEN()

and computes:

             intro_secret_hs_input = EXP(B,x) | AUTH_KEY | X | B | PROTOID
             info = m_hsexpand | N_hs_subcred
             hs_keys = KDF(intro_secret_hs_input | t_hsenc | info, S_KEY_LEN+MAC_LEN)
             ENC_KEY = hs_keys[0:S_KEY_LEN]
             MAC_KEY = hs_keys[S_KEY_LEN:S_KEY_LEN+MAC_KEY_LEN]

   and sends, as the ENCRYPTED part of the INTRODUCE1 message:

          CLIENT_PK                [PK_PUBKEY_LEN bytes]
          ENCRYPTED_DATA           [Padded to length of plaintext]
          MAC                      [MAC_LEN bytes]

Substituting those fields into the INTRODUCE1 message body format described in [FMT_INTRO1] above, we have

            LEGACY_KEY_ID               [20 bytes]
            AUTH_KEY_TYPE               [1 byte]
            AUTH_KEY_LEN                [2 bytes]
            AUTH_KEY                    [AUTH_KEY_LEN bytes]
            N_EXTENSIONS                [1 bytes]
            N_EXTENSIONS times:
               EXT_FIELD_TYPE           [1 byte]
               EXT_FIELD_LEN            [1 byte]
               EXT_FIELD                [EXT_FIELD_LEN bytes]
            ENCRYPTED:
               CLIENT_PK                [PK_PUBKEY_LEN bytes]
               ENCRYPTED_DATA           [Padded to length of plaintext]
               MAC                      [MAC_LEN bytes]

(This format is as documented in [FMT_INTRO1] above, except that here we describe how to build the ENCRYPTED portion.)

Here, the encryption key plays the role of B in the regular ntor handshake, and the AUTH_KEY field plays the role of the node ID. The CLIENT_PK field is the public key X. The ENCRYPTED_DATA field is the message plaintext, encrypted with the symmetric key ENC_KEY. The MAC field is a MAC of all of the message from the AUTH_KEY through the end of ENCRYPTED_DATA, using the MAC_KEY value as its key.

To process this format, the hidden service checks PK_VALID(CLIENT_PK) as necessary, and then computes ENC_KEY and MAC_KEY as the client did above, except using EXP(CLIENT_PK,b) in the calculation of intro_secret_hs_input. The service host then checks whether the MAC is correct. If it is invalid, it drops the message. Otherwise, it computes the plaintext by decrypting ENCRYPTED_DATA.

The hidden service host now completes the service side of the extended ntor handshake, as described in tor-spec.txt section 5.1.4, with the modified PROTOID as given above. To be explicit, the hidden service host generates a keypair of y,Y = KEYGEN(), and uses its introduction point encryption key 'b' to compute:

      intro_secret_hs_input = EXP(X,b) | AUTH_KEY | X | B | PROTOID
      info = m_hsexpand | N_hs_subcred
      hs_keys = KDF(intro_secret_hs_input | t_hsenc | info, S_KEY_LEN+MAC_LEN)
      HS_DEC_KEY = hs_keys[0:S_KEY_LEN]
      HS_MAC_KEY = hs_keys[S_KEY_LEN:S_KEY_LEN+MAC_KEY_LEN]

      (The above are used to check the MAC and then decrypt the
      encrypted data.)

      rend_secret_hs_input = EXP(X,y) | EXP(X,b) | AUTH_KEY | B | X | Y | PROTOID
      NTOR_KEY_SEED = MAC(rend_secret_hs_input, t_hsenc)
      verify = MAC(rend_secret_hs_input, t_hsverify)
      auth_input = verify | AUTH_KEY | B | Y | X | PROTOID | "Server"
      AUTH_INPUT_MAC = MAC(auth_input, t_hsmac)

      (The above are used to finish the ntor handshake.)

   The server's handshake reply is:

       SERVER_PK   Y                         [PK_PUBKEY_LEN bytes]
       AUTH        AUTH_INPUT_MAC            [MAC_LEN bytes]

These fields will be sent to the client in a RENDEZVOUS1 message using the HANDSHAKE_INFO element (see [JOIN_REND]).

The hidden service host now also knows the keys generated by the handshake, which it will use to encrypt and authenticate data end-to-end between the client and the server. These keys are as computed with the ntor handshake, except that instead of using AES-128 and SHA1 for this hop, we use AES-256 and SHA3-256.

Authentication during the introduction phase.

Hidden services may restrict access only to authorized users. One mechanism to do so is the credential mechanism, where only users who know the credential for a hidden service may connect at all.

There is one defined authentication type: ed25519.

Ed25519-based authentication ed25519

(NOTE: This section is not implemented by Tor. It is likely that we would want to change its design substantially before deploying any implementation. At the very least, we would want to bind these extensions to a single onion service, to prevent replays. We might also want to look for ways to limit the number of keys a user needs to have.)

To authenticate with an Ed25519 private key, the user must include an extension field in the encrypted part of the INTRODUCE1 message with an EXT_FIELD_TYPE type of [02] and the contents:

        Nonce     [16 bytes]
        Pubkey    [32 bytes]
        Signature [64 bytes]

Nonce is a random value. Pubkey is the public key that will be used to authenticate. [TODO: should this be an identifier for the public key instead?] Signature is the signature, using Ed25519, of:

        "hidserv-userauth-ed25519"
        Nonce       (same as above)
        Pubkey      (same as above)
        AUTH_KEY    (As in the INTRODUCE1 message)

The hidden service host checks this by seeing whether it recognizes and would accept a signature from the provided public key. If it would, then it checks whether the signature is correct. If it is, then the correct user has authenticated.

Replay prevention on the whole message is sufficient to prevent replays on the authentication.

Users SHOULD NOT use the same public key with multiple hidden services.

The rendezvous protocol

Before connecting to a hidden service, the client first builds a circuit to an arbitrarily chosen Tor node (known as the rendezvous point), and sends an ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS message. The hidden service later connects to the same node and sends a RENDEZVOUS message. Once this has occurred, the relay forwards the contents of the RENDEZVOUS message to the client, and joins the two circuits together.

Single Onion Services attempt to build a non-anonymous single-hop circuit, but use an anonymous 3-hop circuit if:

     * the rend point is on an address that is configured as unreachable via
       a direct connection, or
     * the initial attempt to connect to the rend point over a single-hop
       circuit fails, and they are retrying the rend point connection.

Establishing a rendezvous point

The client sends the rendezvous point a RELAY_COMMAND_ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS message containing a 20-byte value.

RENDEZVOUS_COOKIE [20 bytes]

Rendezvous points MUST ignore any extra bytes in an ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS message. (Older versions of Tor did not.)

The rendezvous cookie is an arbitrary 20-byte value, chosen randomly by the client. The client SHOULD choose a new rendezvous cookie for each new connection attempt. If the rendezvous cookie is already in use on an existing circuit, the rendezvous point should reject it and destroy the circuit.

Upon receiving an ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS message, the rendezvous point associates the cookie with the circuit on which it was sent. It replies to the client with an empty RENDEZVOUS_ESTABLISHED message to indicate success. Clients MUST ignore any extra bytes in a RENDEZVOUS_ESTABLISHED message.

The client MUST NOT use the circuit which sent the message for any purpose other than rendezvous with the given location-hidden service.

The client should establish a rendezvous point BEFORE trying to connect to a hidden service.

Joining to a rendezvous point

To complete a rendezvous, the hidden service host builds a circuit to the rendezvous point and sends a RENDEZVOUS1 message containing:

       RENDEZVOUS_COOKIE          [20 bytes]
       HANDSHAKE_INFO             [variable; depends on handshake type
                                   used.]

where RENDEZVOUS_COOKIE is the cookie suggested by the client during the introduction (see [PROCESS_INTRO2]) and HANDSHAKE_INFO is defined in [NTOR-WITH-EXTRA-DATA].

If the cookie matches the rendezvous cookie set on any not-yet-connected circuit on the rendezvous point, the rendezvous point connects the two circuits, and sends a RENDEZVOUS2 message to the client containing the HANDSHAKE_INFO field of the RENDEZVOUS1 message.

Upon receiving the RENDEZVOUS2 message, the client verifies that HANDSHAKE_INFO correctly completes a handshake. To do so, the client parses SERVER_PK from HANDSHAKE_INFO and reverses the final operations of section [NTOR-WITH-EXTRA-DATA] as shown here:

      rend_secret_hs_input = EXP(Y,x) | EXP(B,x) | AUTH_KEY | B | X | Y | PROTOID
      NTOR_KEY_SEED = MAC(rend_secret_hs_input, t_hsenc)
      verify = MAC(rend_secret_hs_input, t_hsverify)
      auth_input = verify | AUTH_KEY | B | Y | X | PROTOID | "Server"
      AUTH_INPUT_MAC = MAC(auth_input, t_hsmac)

Finally the client verifies that the received AUTH field of HANDSHAKE_INFO is equal to the computed AUTH_INPUT_MAC.

Now both parties use the handshake output to derive shared keys for use on the circuit as specified in the section below:

Key expansion

The hidden service and its client need to derive crypto keys from the NTOR_KEY_SEED part of the handshake output. To do so, they use the KDF construction as follows:

K = KDF(NTOR_KEY_SEED | m_hsexpand, HASH_LEN 2 + S_KEY_LEN 2)

The first HASH_LEN bytes of K form the forward digest Df; the next HASH_LEN bytes form the backward digest Db; the next S_KEY_LEN bytes form Kf, and the final S_KEY_LEN bytes form Kb. Excess bytes from K are discarded.

Subsequently, the rendezvous point passes RELAY cells, unchanged, from each of the two circuits to the other. When Alice's OP sends RELAY cells along the circuit, it authenticates with Df, and encrypts them with the Kf, then with all of the keys for the ORs in Alice's side of the circuit; and when Alice's OP receives RELAY cells from the circuit, it decrypts them with the keys for the ORs in Alice's side of the circuit, then decrypts them with Kb, and checks integrity with Db. Bob's OP does the same, with Kf and Kb interchanged.

[TODO: Should we encrypt HANDSHAKE_INFO as we did INTRODUCE2 contents? It's not necessary, but it could be wise. Similarly, we should make it extensible.]

Using legacy hosts as rendezvous points

[This section is obsolete and refers to a workaround for now-obsolete Tor relay versions. It is included for historical reasons.]

The behavior of ESTABLISH_RENDEZVOUS is unchanged from older versions of this protocol, except that relays should now ignore unexpected bytes at the end.

Old versions of Tor required that RENDEZVOUS message bodies be exactly 168 bytes long. All shorter rendezvous bodies should be padded to this length with random bytes, to make them difficult to distinguish from older protocols at the rendezvous point.

Relays older than 0.2.9.1 should not be used for rendezvous points by next generation onion services because they enforce too-strict length checks to RENDEZVOUS messages. Hence the "HSRend" protocol from proposal#264 should be used to select relays for rendezvous points.

Encrypting data between client and host

A successfully completed handshake, as embedded in the INTRODUCE/RENDEZVOUS messages, gives the client and hidden service host a shared set of keys Kf, Kb, Df, Db, which they use for sending end-to-end traffic encryption and authentication as in the regular Tor relay encryption protocol, applying encryption with these keys before other encryption, and decrypting with these keys before other decryption. The client encrypts with Kf and decrypts with Kb; the service host does the opposite.

As mentioned previously, these keys are used the same as for regular relay cell encryption, except that instead of using AES-128 and SHA1, both parties use AES-256 and SHA3-256.

Encoding onion addresses [ONIONADDRESS]

The onion address of a hidden service includes its identity public key, a version field and a basic checksum. All this information is then base32 encoded as shown below:

     onion_address = base32(PUBKEY | CHECKSUM | VERSION) + ".onion"
     CHECKSUM = H(".onion checksum" | PUBKEY | VERSION)[:2]

     where:
       - PUBKEY is the 32 bytes ed25519 master pubkey of the hidden service.
       - VERSION is a one byte version field (default value '\x03')
       - ".onion checksum" is a constant string
       - CHECKSUM is truncated to two bytes before inserting it in onion_address

  Here are a few example addresses:

       pg6mmjiyjmcrsslvykfwnntlaru7p5svn6y2ymmju6nubxndf4pscryd.onion
       sp3k262uwy4r2k3ycr5awluarykdpag6a7y33jxop4cs2lu5uz5sseqd.onion
       xa4r2iadxm55fbnqgwwi5mymqdcofiu3w6rpbtqn7b2dyn7mgwj64jyd.onion

For historical notes and rationales about this encoding, see this discussion thread.

Managing streams

Sending BEGIN messages

In order to open a new stream to an onion service, the client sends a BEGIN message on an established rendezvous circuit.

When sending a BEGIN message to an onion service, a client should use an empty string as the target address, and not set any flags on the begin message.

For example, to open a connection to <some_addr>.onion on port 443, a client would send a BEGIN message with the address:port string of ":443", and a FLAGS value of 0. The 0-values FLAGS would not be encoded, according to the instructions for encoding BEGIN messages.

Receiving BEGIN messages

When a service receives a BEGIN message, it should check its port, and ignore all other fields in the begin message, including its address and flags.

If a service chooses to reject a BEGIN message, it should typically destroy the circuit entirely to prevent port scanning, resource exhaustion, and other undesirable behaviors. But if it rejects the BEGIN without destroy the circuit, it should send back an END message with the DONE reason, to avoid leaking any further information.

If the service chooses to accept the BEGIN message, it should send back a CONNECTED message with an empty body.

References

How can we improve the HSDir unpredictability design proposed in [SHAREDRANDOM]? See these references for discussion.

[SHAREDRANDOM-REFS]:
        https://gitweb.torproject.org/torspec.git/tree/proposals/250-commit-reveal-consensus.txt
        https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/8244

Scaling hidden services is hard. There are on-going discussions that you might be able to help with:

[SCALING-REFS]:
        https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2013-October/005556.html

How can hidden service addresses become memorable while retaining their self-authenticating and decentralized nature? See these references for some proposals; many more are possible.

[HUMANE-HSADDRESSES-REFS]:
        https://gitweb.torproject.org/torspec.git/blob/HEAD:/proposals/ideas/xxx-onion-nyms.txt
        http://archives.seul.org/or/dev/Dec-2011/msg00034.html

Hidden Services are pretty slow. Both because of the lengthy setup procedure and because the final circuit has 6 hops. How can we make the Hidden Service protocol faster? See these references for some suggestions.

[PERFORMANCE-REFS]:
        "Improving Efficiency and Simplicity of Tor circuit
        establishment and hidden services" by Overlier, L., and
        P. Syverson

        [TODO: Need more here! Do we have any? :( ]

Other references:

[KEYBLIND-REFS]:
        https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/8106
        https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2012-September/004026.html

[KEYBLIND-PROOF]:
        https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2013-December/005943.html

[ATTACK-REFS]:
        "Trawling for Tor Hidden Services: Detection, Measurement,
        Deanonymization" by Alex Biryukov, Ivan Pustogarov,
        Ralf-Philipp Weinmann

        "Locating Hidden Servers" by Lasse Øverlier and Paul
        Syverson

[ED25519-REFS]:
        "High-speed high-security signatures" by Daniel
        J. Bernstein, Niels Duif, Tanja Lange, Peter Schwabe, and
        Bo-Yin Yang. http://cr.yp.to/papers.html#ed25519

[ED25519-B-REF]:
        https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-josefsson-eddsa-ed25519-03#section-5:

[PRNG-REFS]:
        http://projectbullrun.org/dual-ec/ext-rand.html
        https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2015-November/009954.html

[SRV-TP-REFS]:
        https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2016-April/010759.html

[VANITY-REFS]:
        https://github.com/Yawning/horse25519

[ONIONADDRESS-REFS]:
        https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2017-January/011816.html

[TORSION-REFS]:
        https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2017-April/012164.html
        https://getmonero.org/2017/05/17/disclosure-of-a-major-bug-in-cryptonote-based-currencies.html

Appendix A: Signature scheme with key blinding

Key derivation overview

As described in [IMD:DIST] and [SUBCRED] above, we require a "key blinding" system that works (roughly) as follows:

There is a master keypair (sk, pk).

        Given the keypair and a nonce n, there is a derivation function
        that gives a new blinded keypair (sk_n, pk_n).  This keypair can
        be used for signing.

        Given only the public key and the nonce, there is a function
        that gives pk_n.

        Without knowing pk, it is not possible to derive pk_n; without
        knowing sk, it is not possible to derive sk_n.

        It's possible to check that a signature was made with sk_n while
        knowing only pk_n.

        Someone who sees a large number of blinded public keys and
        signatures made using those public keys can't tell which
        signatures and which blinded keys were derived from the same
        master keypair.

        You can't forge signatures.

        [TODO: Insert a more rigorous definition and better references.]

Tor's key derivation scheme

We propose the following scheme for key blinding, based on Ed25519.

(This is an ECC group, so remember that scalar multiplication is the trapdoor function, and it's defined in terms of iterated point addition. See the Ed25519 paper [Reference ED25519-REFS] for a fairly clear writeup.)

Let B be the ed25519 basepoint as found in section 5 of [ED25519-B-REF]:

      B = (15112221349535400772501151409588531511454012693041857206046113283949847762202,
           46316835694926478169428394003475163141307993866256225615783033603165251855960)

Assume B has prime order l, so lB=0. Let a master keypair be written as (a,A), where a is the private key and A is the public key (A=aB).

To derive the key for a nonce N and an optional secret s, compute the blinding factor like this:

           h = H(BLIND_STRING | A | s | B | N)
           BLIND_STRING = "Derive temporary signing key" | INT_1(0)
           N = "key-blind" | INT_8(period-number) | INT_8(period_length)
           B = "(1511[...]2202, 4631[...]5960)"

  then clamp the blinding factor 'h' according to the ed25519 spec:

           h[0] &= 248;
           h[31] &= 63;
           h[31] |= 64;

  and do the key derivation as follows:

      private key for the period:

           a' = h a mod l
           RH' = SHA-512(RH_BLIND_STRING | RH)[:32]
           RH_BLIND_STRING = "Derive temporary signing key hash input"

      public key for the period:

           A' = h A = (ha)B

Generating a signature of M: given a deterministic random-looking r (see EdDSA paper), take R=rB, S=r+hash(R,A',M)ah mod l. Send signature (R,S) and public key A'.

Verifying the signature: Check whether SB = R+hash(R,A',M)A'.

  (If the signature is valid,
       SB = (r + hash(R,A',M)ah)B
          = rB + (hash(R,A',M)ah)B
          = R + hash(R,A',M)A' )

  This boils down to regular Ed25519 with key pair (a', A').

See [KEYBLIND-REFS] for an extensive discussion on this scheme and possible alternatives. Also, see [KEYBLIND-PROOF] for a security proof of this scheme.

Appendix B: Selecting nodes [PICKNODES]

Picking introduction points Picking rendezvous points Building paths Reusing circuits

(TODO: This needs a writeup)

Appendix C: Recommendations for searching for vanity .onions [VANITY]

EDITORIAL NOTE: The author thinks that it's silly to brute-force the keyspace for a key that, when base-32 encoded, spells out the name of your website. It also feels a bit dangerous to me. If you train your users to connect to

llamanymityx4fi3l6x2gyzmtmgxjyqyorj9qsb5r543izcwymle.onion

I worry that you're making it easier for somebody to trick them into connecting to

llamanymityb4sqi0ta0tsw6uovyhwlezkcrmczeuzdvfauuemle.onion

Nevertheless, people are probably going to try to do this, so here's a decent algorithm to use.

To search for a public key with some criterion X:

Generate a random (sk,pk) pair.

While pk does not satisfy X:

            Add the number 8 to sk
            Add the point 8*B to pk

        Return sk, pk.

We add 8 and 8*B, rather than 1 and B, so that sk is always a valid Curve25519 private key, with the lowest 3 bits equal to 0.

This algorithm is safe [source: djb, personal communication] [TODO: Make sure I understood correctly!] so long as only the final (sk,pk) pair is used, and all previous values are discarded.

To parallelize this algorithm, start with an independent (sk,pk) pair generated for each independent thread, and let each search proceed independently.

See [VANITY-REFS] for a reference implementation of this vanity .onion search scheme.

Appendix E: Reserved numbers

We reserve these certificate type values for Ed25519 certificates:

      [08] short-term descriptor signing key, signed with blinded
           public key. (Section 2.4)
      [09] intro point authentication key, cross-certifying the descriptor
           signing key. (Section 2.5)
      [0B] ed25519 key derived from the curve25519 intro point encryption key,
           cross-certifying the descriptor signing key. (Section 2.5)

      Note: The value "0A" is skipped because it's reserved for the onion key
            cross-certifying ntor identity key from proposal 228.

Appendix F: Hidden service directory format [HIDSERVDIR-FORMAT]

This appendix section specifies the contents of the HiddenServiceDir directory:

• "hostname" [FILE]

This file contains the onion address of the onion service.

• "private_key_ed25519" [FILE]

This file contains the private master ed25519 key of the onion service. [TODO: Offline keys]

  - "./authorized_clients/"                  [DIRECTORY]
    "./authorized_clients/alice.auth"        [FILE]
    "./authorized_clients/bob.auth"          [FILE]
    "./authorized_clients/charlie.auth"      [FILE]

Note: "restricted discovery" is called "client authorization" in the C Tor implementation

If client authorization is enabled, this directory MUST contain a ".auth" file for each authorized client. Each such file contains the public key of the respective client. The files are transmitted to the service operator by the client.

See section [RESTRICTED-DISCOVERY-MGMT] for more details and the format of the client file.

(NOTE: client authorization is implemented as of 0.3.5.1-alpha.)

Appendix G: Managing authorized client data [RESTRICTED-DISCOVERY-MGMT]

Hidden services and clients can configure their authorized client data either using the torrc, or using the control port. This section presents a suggested scheme for configuring restricted discovery. Please see appendix [HIDSERVDIR-FORMAT] for more information about relevant hidden service files.

(NOTE: restricted discovery is implemented as of 0.3.5.1-alpha.)

G.1. Configuring restricted discovery using torrc

G.1.1. Hidden Service side configuration

Note: "restricted discovery" is called "client authorization" in the C Tor implementation

     A hidden service that wants to enable client authorization, needs to
     populate the "authorized_clients/" directory of its HiddenServiceDir
     directory with the ".auth" files of its authorized clients.

     When Tor starts up with a configured onion service, Tor checks its
     <HiddenServiceDir>/authorized_clients/ directory for ".auth" files, and if
     any recognized and parseable such files are found, then client
     authorization becomes activated for that service.

  G.1.2. Service-side bookkeeping

     This section contains more details on how onion services should be keeping
     track of their client ".auth" files.

     For the "descriptor" authentication type, the ".auth" file MUST contain
     the x25519 public key of that client. Here is a suggested file format:

        <auth-type>:<key-type>:<base32-encoded-public-key>

     Here is an an example:

        descriptor:x25519:OM7TGIVRYMY6PFX6GAC6ATRTA5U6WW6U7A4ZNHQDI6OVL52XVV2Q

     Tor SHOULD ignore lines it does not recognize.
     Tor SHOULD ignore files that don't use the ".auth" suffix.

  G.1.3. Client side configuration

     A client who wants to register client authorization data for onion
     services needs to add the following line to their torrc to indicate the
     directory which hosts ".auth_private" files containing client-side
     credentials for onion services:

         ClientOnionAuthDir <DIR>

     The <DIR> contains a file with the suffix ".auth_private" for each onion
     service the client is authorized with. Tor should scan the directory for
     ".auth_private" files to find which onion services require client
     authorization from this client.

     For the "descriptor" auth-type, a ".auth_private" file contains the
     private x25519 key:

        <onion-address>:descriptor:x25519:<base32-encoded-privkey>

     The keypair used for client authorization is created by a third party tool
     for which the public key needs to be transferred to the service operator
     in a secure out-of-band way. The third party tool SHOULD add appropriate
     headers to the private key file to ensure that users won't accidentally
     give out their private key.

  G.2. Configuring client authorization using the control port

  G.2.1. Service side

     A hidden service also has the option to configure authorized clients
     using the control port. The idea is that hidden service operators can use
     controller utilities that manage their access control instead of using
     the filesystem to register client keys.

     Specifically, we require a new control port command ADD_ONION_CLIENT_AUTH
     which is able to register x25519/ed25519 public keys tied to a specific
     authorized client.
      [XXX figure out control port command format]

     Hidden services who use the control port interface for client auth need
     to perform their own key management.

  G.2.2. Client side

     There should also be a control port interface for clients to register
     authorization data for hidden services without having to use the
     torrc. It should allow both generation of client authorization private
     keys, and also to import client authorization data provided by a hidden
     service

     This way, Tor Browser can present "Generate client auth keys" and "Import
     client auth keys" dialogs to users when they try to visit a hidden service
     that is protected by client authorization.

     Specifically, we require two new control port commands:
                   IMPORT_ONION_CLIENT_AUTH_DATA
                   GENERATE_ONION_CLIENT_AUTH_DATA
     which import and generate client authorization data respectively.

     [XXX how does key management work here?]
     [XXX what happens when people use both the control port interface and the
          filesystem interface?]

Appendix F: Two methods for managing revision counters

Implementations MAY generate revision counters in any way they please, so long as they are monotonically increasing over the lifetime of each blinded public key. But to avoid fingerprinting, implementors SHOULD choose a strategy also used by other Tor implementations. Here we describe two, and additionally list some strategies that implementors should NOT use.

F.1. Increment-on-generation

This is the simplest strategy, and the one used by Tor through at least version 0.3.4.0-alpha.

Whenever using a new blinded key, the service records the highest revision counter it has used with that key. When generating a descriptor, the service uses the smallest non-negative number higher than any number it has already used.

In other words, the revision counters under this system start fresh with each blinded key as 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on.

F.2. Encrypted time in period

This scheme is what we recommend for situations when multiple service instances need to coordinate their revision counters, without an actual coordination mechanism.

Let T be the number of seconds that have elapsed since the start time of the SRV protocol run that corresponds to this descriptor, plus 1. (T must be at least 1.)

Let S be a per-time-period secret that all the service providers share. (C tor and arti use S = KS_hs_blind_id; when KS_hs_blind_id is not available, implementations may use S = KS_hs_desc_sign.)

Let K be an AES-256 key, generated as

K = H("rev-counter-generation" | S)

Use K, and AES in counter mode with IV=0, to generate a stream of T * 2 bytes. Consider these bytes as a sequence of T 16-bit little-endian words. Add these words.

Let the sum of these words, plus T, be the revision counter.

(We include T in the sum so that every increment in T adds at least one to the output.)

Cryptowiki attributes roughly this scheme to G. Bebek in:

G. Bebek. Anti-tamper database research: Inference control techniques. Technical Report EECS 433 Final Report, Case Western Reserve University, November 2002.

Although we believe it is suitable for use in this application, it is not a perfect order-preserving encryption algorithm (and all order-preserving encryption has weaknesses). Please think twice before using it for anything else.

(This scheme can be optimized pretty easily by caching the encryption of X*1, X*2, X*3, etc for some well chosen X.)

For a slow reference implementation that can generate test vectors, see src/test/ope_ref.py in the Tor source repository.

Note:

Some onion service operators have historically relied upon the behavior of this OPE scheme to provide a kind of ersatz load-balancing: they run multiple onion services, each with the the same KP_hs_id. The onion services choose different introduction points, and race each other to publish their HSDescs.

It's probably better to use Onionbalance or a similar tool for this purpose. Nonetheless, onion services implemenentations MAY choose to implement this particular OPE scheme exactly in order to provide interoperability with C tor in this use case.

F.X. Some revision-counter strategies to avoid

Though it might be tempting, implementations SHOULD NOT use the current time or the current time within the period directly as their revision counter -- doing so leaks their view of the current time, which can be used to link the onion service to other services run on the same host.

Similarly, implementations SHOULD NOT let the revision counter increase forever without resetting it -- doing so links the service across changes in the blinded public key.

Appendix G: Test vectors

G.1. Test vectors for hs-ntor / NTOR-WITH-EXTRA-DATA

    Here is a set of test values for the hs-ntor handshake, called
    [NTOR-WITH-EXTRA-DATA] in this document.  They were generated by
    instrumenting Tor's code to dump the values for an INTRODUCE/RENDEZVOUS
    handshake, and then by running that code on a Chutney network.

    We assume an onion service with:

      KP_hs_ipd_sid = 34E171E4358E501BFF21ED907E96AC6B
                      FEF697C779D040BBAF49ACC30FC5D21F
      KP_hss_ntor   = 8E5127A40E83AABF6493E41F142B6EE3
                      604B85A3961CD7E38D247239AFF71979
      KS_hss_ntor   = A0ED5DBF94EEB2EDB3B514E4CF6ABFF6
                      022051CC5F103391F1970A3FCD15296A
      N_hs_subcred  = 0085D26A9DEBA252263BF0231AEAC59B
                      17CA11BAD8A218238AD6487CBAD68B57

    The client wants to make in INTRODUCE request.  It generates
    the following header (everything before the ENCRYPTED portion)
    of its INTRODUCE1 message:

      H = 000000000000000000000000000000000000000002002034E171E4358E501BFF
          21ED907E96AC6BFEF697C779D040BBAF49ACC30FC5D21F00

    It generates the following plaintext body to encrypt.  (This
    is the "decrypted plaintext body" from [PROCESS_INTRO2].

      P = 6BD364C12638DD5C3BE23D76ACA05B04E6CE932C0101000100200DE6130E4FCA
          C4EDDA24E21220CC3EADAE403EF6B7D11C8273AC71908DE565450300067F0000
          0113890214F823C4F8CC085C792E0AEE0283FE00AD7520B37D0320728D5DF39B
          7B7077A0118A900FF4456C382F0041300ACF9C58E51C392795EF870000000000
          0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
          000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

      (Note! This should in fact be padded to be longer; when these
      test vectors were generated, the target INTRODUCE1 length in C
      Tor was needlessly short.)

    The client now begins the hs-ntor handshake.  It generates
    a curve25519 keypair:

      x = 60B4D6BF5234DCF87A4E9D7487BDF3F4
          A69B6729835E825CA29089CFDDA1E341
      X = BF04348B46D09AED726F1D66C618FDEA
          1DE58E8CB8B89738D7356A0C59111D5D

    Then it calculates:

      ENC_KEY = 9B8917BA3D05F3130DACCE5300C3DC27
                F6D012912F1C733036F822D0ED238706
      MAC_KEY = FC4058DA59D4DF61E7B40985D122F502
                FD59336BC21C30CAF5E7F0D4A2C38FD5

    With these, it encrypts the plaintext body P with ENC_KEY, getting
    an encrypted value C.  It computes MAC(MAC_KEY, H | X | C),
    getting a MAC value M.  It then assembles the final INTRODUCE1
    body as H | X | C | M:

      000000000000000000000000000000000000000002002034E171E4358E501BFF
      21ED907E96AC6BFEF697C779D040BBAF49ACC30FC5D21F00BF04348B46D09AED
      726F1D66C618FDEA1DE58E8CB8B89738D7356A0C59111D5DADBECCCB38E37830
      4DCC179D3D9E437B452AF5702CED2CCFEC085BC02C4C175FA446525C1B9D5530
      563C362FDFFB802DAB8CD9EBC7A5EE17DA62E37DEEB0EB187FBB48C63298B0E8
      3F391B7566F42ADC97C46BA7588278273A44CE96BC68FFDAE31EF5F0913B9A9C
      7E0F173DBC0BDDCD4ACB4C4600980A7DDD9EAEC6E7F3FA3FC37CD95E5B8BFB3E
      35717012B78B4930569F895CB349A07538E42309C993223AEA77EF8AEA64F25D
      DEE97DA623F1AEC0A47F150002150455845C385E5606E41A9A199E7111D54EF2
      D1A51B7554D8B3692D85AC587FB9E69DF990EFB776D8

Later the service receives that body in an INTRODUCE2 message. It processes it according to the hs-ntor handshake, and recovers the client's plaintext P. To continue the hs-ntor handshake, the service chooses a curve25519 keypair:

      y = 68CB5188CA0CD7924250404FAB54EE13
          92D3D2B9C049A2E446513875952F8F55
      Y = 8FBE0DB4D4A9C7FF46701E3E0EE7FD05
          CD28BE4F302460ADDEEC9E93354EE700

   From this and the client's input, it computes:

      AUTH_INPUT_MAC = 4A92E8437B8424D5E5EC279245D5C72B
                       25A0327ACF6DAF902079FCB643D8B208
      NTOR_KEY_SEED  = 4D0C72FE8AFF35559D95ECC18EB5A368
                       83402B28CDFD48C8A530A5A3D7D578DB

The service sends back Y | AUTH_INPUT_MAC in its RENDEZVOUS1 message body. From these, the client finishes the handshake, validates AUTH_INPUT_MAC, and computes the same NTOR_KEY_SEED.

Now that both parties have the same NTOR_KEY_SEED, they can derive the shared key material they will use for their circuit.

Proof of Work for onion service introduction

The overall denial-of-service prevention strategies in Tor are described in the Denial-of-service prevention mechanisms in Tor document. This document describes one specific mitigation, the proof-of-work client puzzle for onion service introduction.

This was originally proposal 327, A First Take at PoW Over Introduction Circuits authored by George Kadianakis, Mike Perry, David Goulet, and tevador.

Motivation

See the denial-of-service overview for the big-picture view. Here we are focusing on a mitigation for attacks on one specific resource: onion service introductions.

Attackers can generate low-effort floods of introductions which cause the onion service and all involved relays to perform a disproportionate amount of work, leading to a denial-of-service opportunity. This proof-of-work scheme intends to make introduction floods unattractive to attackers, reducing the network-wide impact of this activity.

Previous to this work, our attempts at limiting the impact of introduction flooding DoS attacks on onion services has been focused on horizontal scaling with Onionbalance, optimizing the CPU usage of Tor and applying rate limiting. While these measures move the goalpost forward, a core problem with onion service DoS is that building rendezvous circuits is a costly procedure both for the service and for the network.

For more information on the limitations of rate-limiting when defending against DDoS, see draft-nygren-tls-client-puzzles-02.

If we ever hope to have truly reachable global onion services, we need to make it harder for attackers to overload the service with introduction requests. This proposal achieves this by allowing onion services to specify an optional dynamic proof-of-work scheme that its clients need to participate in if they want to get served.

With the right parameters, this proof-of-work scheme acts as a gatekeeper to block amplification attacks by attackers while letting legitimate clients through.

Related work

For a similar concept, see the three internet drafts that have been proposed for defending against TLS-based DDoS attacks using client puzzles:

• draft-nygren-tls-client-puzzles-02
• draft-nir-tls-puzzles-00
• draft-ietf-ipsecme-ddos-protection-10

Threat model

Attacker profiles

This mitigation is written to thwart specific attackers. The current protocol is not intended to defend against all and every DoS attack on the Internet, but there are adversary models we can defend against.

Let's start with some adversary profiles:

• "The script-kiddie"

  The script-kiddie has a single computer and pushes it to its limits. Perhaps it also has a VPS and a pwned server. We are talking about an attacker with total access to 10 GHz of CPU and 10 GB of RAM. We consider the total cost for this attacker to be zero $.

• "The small botnet"

  The small botnet is a bunch of computers lined up to do an introduction flooding attack. Assuming 500 medium-range computers, we are talking about an attacker with total access to 10 THz of CPU and 10 TB of RAM. We consider the upfront cost for this attacker to be about $400.

• "The large botnet"

  The large botnet is a serious operation with many thousands of computers organized to do this attack. Assuming 100k medium-range computers, we are talking about an attacker with total access to 200 THz of CPU and 200 TB of RAM. The upfront cost for this attacker is about $36k.

We hope that this proposal can help us defend against the script-kiddie attacker and small botnets. To defend against a large botnet we would need more tools at our disposal (see the discussion on future designs).

User profiles

We have attackers and we have users. Here are a few user profiles:

• "The standard web user"

  This is a standard laptop/desktop user who is trying to browse the web. They don't know how these defences work and they don't care to configure or tweak them. If the site doesn't load, they are gonna close their browser and be sad at Tor. They run a 2GHz computer with 4GB of RAM.

• "The motivated user"

  This is a user that really wants to reach their destination. They don't care about the journey; they just want to get there. They know what's going on; they are willing to make their computer do expensive multi-minute PoW computations to get where they want to be.

• "The mobile user"

  This is a motivated user on a mobile phone. Even tho they want to read the news article, they don't have much leeway on stressing their machine to do more computation.

We hope that this proposal will allow the motivated user to always connect where they want to connect to, and also give more chances to the other user groups to reach the destination.

The DoS Catch-22

This proposal is not perfect and it does not cover all the use cases. Still, we think that by covering some use cases and giving reachability to the people who really need it, we will severely demotivate the attackers from continuing the DoS attacks and hence stop the DoS threat all together. Furthermore, by increasing the cost to launch a DoS attack, a big class of DoS attackers will disappear from the map, since the expected ROI will decrease.

Common protocol

We have made an effort to split the design of the proof-of-work subsystem into an algorithm-specific piece that can be upgraded, and a core protocol that provides queueing and effort adjustment.

Currently there is only one versioned subprotocol defined:

• Version 1, Equi-X and Blake2b

Overview

                                          +----------------------------------+
                                          |          Onion Service           |
   +-------+ INTRO1  +-----------+ INTRO2 +--------+                         |
   |Client |-------->|Intro Point|------->|  PoW   |-----------+             |
   +-------+         +-----------+        |Verifier|           |             |
                                          +--------+           |             |
                                          |                    |             |
                                          |                    |             |
                                          |         +----------v---------+   |
                                          |         |Intro Priority Queue|   |
                                          +---------+--------------------+---+
                                                           |  |  |
                                                Rendezvous |  |  |
                                                  circuits |  |  |
                                                           v  v  v

The proof-of-work scheme specified in this document takes place during the introduction phase of the onion service protocol.

The system described in this proposal is not meant to be on all the time, and it can be entirely disabled for services that do not experience DoS attacks.

When the subsystem is enabled, suggested effort is continuously adjusted and the computational puzzle can be bypassed entirely when the effort reaches zero. In these cases, the proof-of-work subsystem can be dormant but still provide the necessary parameters for clients to voluntarily provide effort in order to get better placement in the priority queue.

The protocol involves the following major steps:

1. Service encodes PoW parameters in descriptor: pow-params in the second layer plaintext format.
2. Client fetches descriptor and begins solving. Currently this must use the v1 solver algorithm.
3. Client finishes solving and sends results using the proof-of-work extension to INTRODUCE1.
4. Service verifies the proof and queues an introduction based on proven effort. This currently uses the v1 verify algorithm only.
5. Requests are continuously drained from the queue, highest effort first, subject to multiple constraints on speed. See below for more on handling queued requests.

Replay protection

The service MUST NOT accept introduction requests with the same (seed, nonce) tuple. For this reason a replay protection mechanism must be employed.

The simplest way is to use a hash table to check whether a (seed, nonce) tuple has been used before for the active duration of a seed. Depending on how long a seed stays active this might be a viable solution with reasonable memory/time overhead.

If there is a worry that we might get too many introductions during the lifetime of a seed, we can use a Bloom filter or similar as our replay cache mechanism. A probabilistic filter means that we will potentially flag some connections as replays even if they are not, with this false positive probability increasing as the number of entries increase. With the right parameter tuning this probability should be negligible, and dropped requests will be retried by the client.

The introduction queue

When proof-of-work is enabled for a service, that service diverts all incoming introduction requests to a priority queue system rather than handling them immediately.

Adding introductions to the introduction queue