guardianproject / guardianproject/orbot-android

[BUG] No network available for apps relying on VPN to use tor

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#1,144 2 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Bug
Dominant language
Kotlin
Stars
3.5k
Forks
485
Avg merge
2d 14h
Merged PRs (30d)
24

Description

**Describe the Bug**
Apps relying on VPN to use Tor do not resolve domain names, hence they think they do not have network connectivity.
Apps allowing to define a proxy url and port to use Tor, such as F-droid, works flawlessly.

**To Reproduce**
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
1. install and run orbot
2. install app that does not offer UI to define a proxy, ie Breezy Wheather 5.2.3_freenet from F-droid repository
3. add the app to the applications handled by orbot
4. launch the app and add a location
5. get a "no network available" type of message

If it is of any relevance, this behavior still occurs after a reboot.

**Expected Behavior**
App handled by orbot resolves domain name and has access to the network.

**What Custom Configuration Do You Use?**
none

**Smartphone (please complete the following information):**
- Device: Samsung galaxy A5
- OS: up to date lineageos 18.1
- Version: 17.2.1-RC-1-tor-0.4.8.7 from the guardian project repository

Thanks for taking the time to look into this issue.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Start by reproducing the failure with Orbot 17.2.1-RC-1-tor-0.4.8.7 on LineageOS 18.1 using Breezy Weather, then compare an app using Orbot's VPN handling with one using an explicit proxy. Trace the Android VPN and DNS path involved and verify that a handled app can resolve domains and access the network without reporting no connectivity.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, kotlin
Domain
mobile-dev, networking
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
32/100

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