Should the Tor browser be able to run in Container?

[CISfan]

@Eric Cryptid post:39

Just skimming throug this one. What tweaks have you done to auto-containment? If you’ve done CruelSister trick of setting it to “Restricted” remember to add a containment rule to run the browser as “partially limited” and a Firewall program rule added as “web browser” as described here: Comodo Firewall- The Cruelsister Variation - YouTube. Restricted blocks contained apps from connecting out.

I don’t use cruelsister’ settings, I use pretty default config settings that come with CIS after install and I’ve applied only some small tweaks to my liking.

I just disabled auto-containment (I have it enabled by default) and tried again to see if Tor would show the connect buttons when I choose “Run in COMODO container” but unfortunately again no connect buttons.

And there is this odd thing that when Tor doesn’t show the connect buttons it is able to check for updates when I select Tor menu “Help → About Tor Browser” (see previous screenshot in VD).
So it seems Tor can connect out in containment but for some strange reason it refuses to show the connect buttons.

[CISfan]

@Ploget post:40

It does . . . it is totally consistent on both OS. rarely use it in these circumstances until this query arose, but there are no problems at all. Multiple tests over the last few days

Thank you for trying, I think the issue seems to occur mostly on Windows 7 and 8.

[CISfan]

When removing directory “C:\Tor Browser\Browser\TorBrowser\Data\Browser\Caches\profile.default\startupCache” and executing “Reset the Container” and running Tor in containment then Tor does show the connect buttons but it won’t show the buttons again when Tor is closed and started anew in containment without resetting the container first.
The above is reproducible.

Note: Tor will recreate the “startupCache” directory when the directory isn’t present (so recreation will take place in containment or on the real system).

[C.O.M.O.D.O_RT]

@CISfan post:43

When removing directory “C:\Tor Browser\Browser\TorBrowser\Data\Browser\Caches\profile.default\startupCache” and executing “Reset the Container” and running Tor in containment then Tor does show the connect buttons but it won’t show the buttons again when Tor is closed and started anew in containment without resetting the container first.
The above is reproducible.

Note: Tor will recreate the “startupCache” directory when the directory isn’t present (so recreation will take place in containment or on the real system).

Hi CISfan,

Thank you for sharing the further information on this issue.
Could you please check your inbox for PM ? and respond.

Thanks
C.O.M.O.D.O RT

[CISfan]

Hello C.O.M.O.D.O RT and all,

I found another thing and from that I think that the issue is with Tor and probably not with CIS.
What I did is (using Tor V11.0.3):

• Set CIS FW to Block All mode.
• Run Tor in normal window and wait at least 10 seconds for the Connect Buttons to appear, you can wait even longer but the CONNECT BUTTONS DO NOT APPEAR!
• Leave Tor running.
• Set CIS FW to previous mode (I use Safe Mode)
• Let Tor run for a while or even longer but the Connect Buttons will never reappear. Seemingly Tor will not retry to show the connect button again after restoring the connection.

When I use Tor V9.5.1 in normal window and do the same steps as above then Tor keeps trying (it seems not to give up) to make a connection (it shows “Waiting for Tor to start…”) and after FW has been set back to Safe Mode then Tor continues to work normally. Seemingly Tor V9.5.1 has a much longer (or no) timeout on trying to make a connection.

In my opinion the issue, whether Tor V11.0.3 does show the Connect Buttons or not, is related to a Tor timeout in showing the Connect Button when Tor can’t connect out within a certain amount of time (timeout error).

Is the above reproducible on Windows 10 and 11 machines?
Can you or others confirm please?

[CISfan]

Tested new Tor version V11.0.4

Also Tor V11.0.4 has same issue, it still doesn’t show the Connect button in Containment nor in Virtual Desktop.

Probably CIS Containment and Virtual Desktop do cause a delay in setting up outgoing connections for Tor and then Tor times out resulting in not showing the Connect button.
It could be either a Tor or CIS issue or both.

[selden]

Just to (belatedly) close the loop… the Tor browser (both alpha and stable releases) has been able to run in Comodo’s Container for several months, although I’m not sure when the bug was fixed. Certainly the current releases do: 11.5a13 (alpha) and 11.0.15 (stable).