Author: Aymeric Vitte 2019-11-09 19:33:25
Published on: 2019-11-09T19:33:25+00:00
The discussion in this context is about the use of SOCKS proxy and Tor network with Bitcoin. The vulnerability CVE-2017-18350, which allows a malicious SOCKS proxy server to overwrite the program stack on systems with a signed 'char' type, was hidden in Bitcoin Core v0.7.0rc1, released in 2012 Aug 27. The fix was introduced in v0.15.1, released in 2017 Nov 6. It is mentioned that using any proxy over an insecure network, such as the Internet, is potentially a vulnerability since the connection could be intercepted for such a purpose. One of the participants in the discussion suggests that using the Tor network with Bitcoin is not practical due to its centralized structure and limited capacity. He claims that using bitcoin with the Tor network is absurd and dangerous for the "whole bitcoin world." However, he suggests that using the Tor protocol for Bitcoin is not absurd at all and can add an internal missing encryption and anonymity layer to the Bitcoin protocol. He has also advertised the open sourcing of node-Tor, designed for p2p, to use the Tor protocol, which can relay the Bitcoin anonymized protocol using the Tor protocol between each other, adding an extra layer of encryption and anonymity.Another participant suggests that SOCKS proxies have their use in controlled gateway infrastructure and are relevant for any software required to operate behind a secure network boundary and allow for UDP connectivity. He explains that the Tor project's primary purpose is to allow anonymity and connection privacy, which works well, and there seem to be hundreds of known Tor nodes. Even if an exit node performs all logging, it is only aware of the node one hop up, but the originator is higher still. In the case where we perform a Tor cluster and make hundreds of guard, middle, and exit nodes, we still cannot with absolute certainty say that the connecting node is the originator, and the eventual Bitcoin node is still unaware of the originator IP. In conclusion, while using SOCKS proxy and the Tor network with Bitcoin has its advantages and disadvantages, it is crucial to be aware of the potential vulnerabilities and risks associated with them. The focus should be on anonymizing/helping anonymize Bitcoin when required and making it a real p2p network.
Updated on: 2023-06-13T22:11:58.590867+00:00