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Groups > alt.comp.software.firefox > #17860
| From | Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | alt.comp.software.firefox, alt.os.linux, comp.mobile.android, alt.internet.wireless, alt.comp.os.windows-10 |
| Subject | Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix |
| Date | 2026-07-21 14:10 -0400 |
| Organization | BWH Usenet Archive (https://usenet.blueworldhosting.com) |
| Message-ID | <113ocn2$17be$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> (permalink) |
| References | (4 earlier) <113n5c5$1p2g4$4@dont-email.me> <113nbbn$fu$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <nc8qvgFc5a2U2@mid.individual.net> <113nf82$2upc$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com> <nc8vsoFc5a2U4@mid.individual.net> |
Cross-posted to 5 groups.
Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> To be clear, RFC 8981 privacy extensions are likely great, but AFAIK, they
>> only prevent long-term correlation of activity across different networks.
>
> Long and short. They know what address is talking, but they do not know
> what machine inside the house is talking. It is machine XYZW, so what?
> That tells them nothing.
>
> Only the router owner knows, if he wants.
>
> On the other hand, the ISP can capture all the traffic from one machine
> (not knowing what machine it is actually), and do a traffic analysis on it.
I agree with Carlos that RFC 8981 is decent, but it doesn't change the
prefix, but I think, where the best privacy is to not have IPv6 at all.
In that regard, looking up the commands to disable IPv6, these may work.
Linux:
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6=1
Those are not permanent but puting this is /etc/sysctl.conf should be:
net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6 = 1
To apply:
sudo sysctl -p
To verify:
cat /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/disable_ipv6
Windows: disables IPv6 on all non-tunnel interfaces
(i.e., Teredo, ISATAP, 6to4), but native IPv6 stays enabled.
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 0x20 /f
(This disables IPv6 tunnels but keeps native IPv6 and loopback intact.)
0x20 disables the fake IPv6 Windows creates behind your back,
but keeps the real IPv6 and all VPN and Wi-Fi still working.
Or,
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 0x01 /f
This disables all IPv6 except loopback (::1).
(which keeps Wi-Fi stable & does not interfere with Tor or VPN)
Or,
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 0xFF /f
(this is the strongest IPv6-disable flag Microsoft exposes)
(but it disables the loopback, which breaks many things)
To apply:
shutdown /r /t 0
To verify:
ipconfig /all
Note: 0x00 IPv6 fully enabled
0x20 Disable IPv6 tunnels only (6to4, ISATAP, Teredo)
0x01 Disable IPv6 except loopback (::1)
0xFF Disable IPv6 everywhere including loopback (dangerous)
(this is safe if you don't use pnputil /force afterward)
If you get in trouble, you can revert with:
reg delete HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents /f
Android needs to be rooted (and in Termux) and is similar to Linux:
su
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.wlan0.disable_ipv6=1
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.rmnet0.disable_ipv6=1
setprop persist.sys.net.ipv6.disable 1
Persistence, as with Linux, comes with /system/etc/sysctl.conf
net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
>> Based on my research (which we discussed in the Windows 10 newsgroup prior)
>> privacy extensions rotate only interface identifiers, not prefixes.
>>
>> That means, if I'm correct, that even with RFC-8981 privacy extensions...
>> a. Websites see our IPv6 prefix
>> b. Websites know which household the traffic comes from
>> c. Websites can correlate all our temporary IPv6 addresses to that prefix
>> d. Websites can still identify your home even if the IID rotates
>>
>
> Certainly, as this is intentional and an advantage of IPv6, for the
> original intentions of Internet design (ie, direct communication person
> to person anywhere in the world, without intermediaries). I could send
> an email to you without using a public mail server, and I could include
> links to files in my computer without hosting them anywhere. For
> instance. This is also privacy.
I agree. If I can summarize how IPv6 changes things, IPv4 gave every house
an IP address but every device in that house looked the same to a web site.
Then IPv6 made every device in the house look different to a web site.
The RFC 8981 "fix" is to rotate the second half of the IPV6 address.
That brought IPv6 back to what IPv4 gave us (kind of, sort of).
With RFC 8981, the IPv6 "house" is still identified permanently.
Just as it was with IPv4.
--
Sometimes I have to reassess as what I had "known" all along is wrong.
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PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-20 02:45 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-20 14:03 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 02:43 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-21 11:18 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 07:36 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-21 19:28 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 14:32 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Hank Rogers <Hank@nospam.invalid> - 2026-07-21 18:31 -0500
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-22 15:40 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-22 18:53 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Brian Gregory <void-invalid-dead-dontuse@email.invalid> - 2026-07-28 00:36 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix David Higton <dave@davehigton.me.uk> - 2026-07-20 20:47 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-20 21:59 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 02:04 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2026-07-21 06:37 +0000
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 03:23 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-21 07:59 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 04:41 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-21 11:03 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 05:47 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-21 12:27 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 14:10 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-21 10:53 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 05:19 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-21 11:30 +0200
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 06:10 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-22 19:13 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-22 09:47 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-22 16:30 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Brian Gregory <void-invalid-dead-dontuse@email.invalid> - 2026-07-22 21:35 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-22 16:46 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Brian Gregory <void-invalid-dead-dontuse@email.invalid> - 2026-07-23 04:33 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-23 08:12 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-23 16:23 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Oregonian Haruspex <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-25 04:58 +0000
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-26 14:25 -0700
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 01:38 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-21 07:51 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-21 03:45 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-22 09:37 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-24 11:36 -0700
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Brian Gregory <void-invalid-dead-dontuse@email.invalid> - 2026-07-22 21:32 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-22 16:54 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix agris <agris@invalid.tld> - 2026-07-22 17:05 -0700
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-22 23:06 -0400
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Brian Gregory <void-invalid-dead-dontuse@email.invalid> - 2026-07-23 04:50 +0100
Re: PSA: IPv6 browser privacy leaks are caused by the host yet there's a simple fix Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-07-23 16:51 -0400
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