I think I might have found a leak or something strange.

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This is unlikely. Here is why.

Why this is unlikely?[edit]

  • Summary: When a link to this wiki page is posted by an administrator or moderators in the Whonix forums, then there is likely no evidence your IP was leaked from inside Whonix-Workstation.
  • Fact: 12 provides reliable IP hiding. In over 12 years of history, no leaks have been reported in Whonix.
  • Invalid compromise indicator: See also Kicksecure logo Valid Compromise Indicators versus Invalid Compromise Indicators The Web Archive Onion Version .
  • Lack of required skills: Non-technical users lack the capability to find IP leaks. It requires knowledge of using packet analyzers and understanding their output or using some tool (such as a browser, command line downloader) running inside Whonix-Workstation and showing the user’s real external IP address. This requires being a sysadmin or similar. That’s just the way it is. A non-doctor lacks the capability to perform heart surgery. There is no shame in that.
  • Invalid test results: There are many Unsuitable Tests.
  • Support Request Policy:

    Whonix developers will normally only respond if they are convinced an actual technical, privacy or security-related problem has been identified. Many issues are unfortunately Out of Scope Issues.

  • Policy Rationale: Limited developer time.
  • Purpose of this wiki page: Having a wiki page that allows to quickly reply to a similar support request.
  • Lack of other reports: If this were an issue, technical users performing Leak Tests (or Security Reviews and Feedback) would have reported this already. Multiple users, among years long users, would report the same issue.
  • Research community: It seems rational to assume that there is an active research community. See anonbibarchive.org for a collection about research papers about Tor and other anonymity networks. The Full Disclosure Mailing Listarchive.org is highly active. Presumably, security researchers would be happy to collect a proverbial trophy by finding a leak in Whonix. Nowadays, security researchers like to create websites for security issues with nice descriptions and cute logos. Examples include Milk Sadarchive.org, Meltdown and Spectrearchive.org, and many others.
  • Trust based:

Realistically, users can only Trust that software works as described and intended, develop skills to undertake audits and/or pay someone to perform that task.

Kicksecure logo System Audit The Web Archive Onion Version

How to prove that there is a leak?[edit]

  • A) Use one of the available leak tests
  • B) Create your own test.

1. Find out your own external IP address.

2. Host your own leak testing server.

3. Connect to your leak testing server over clearnet (or a VM that does not use Tor).

4. Confirm from the server logs the time and IP address when you connected to your own server.

5. Run an application inside Whonix-Workstation that connects to your own server.

6.. Check if you can find a new log entry with the time and your own external IP address.

Proper Report[edit]

Unless someone can demonstrate to run a command inside Whonix-Workstation that results in showing the user’s real external IP address, there is no anonymity / routing related bug. [1]

User Alternatives[edit]

If the user believes there is an IP leak bug in Whonix, there is not much the user can do:

  • A) Become a sysadmin: Learn Linux networking.
  • B) Paid investigation: Pay a third party to investigate this issue.
  • C) Paid full security audit: Pay a third party to perform a full security audit of Whonix.
  • D) Paid conceptual review: Pay a third party to review and explain the technical design summary to the user.
  • E) Stop: Stop using Whonix.

Example Forum Threads[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ↑ Excluding security bugs such as a hypothetical vulnerability that breaks the virtualizer, the kernel.
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