Russia is extending their Tor block[0]. Currently, they block Fully Encrypted
Protocols like obfs4 on some mobile networks[1]. For a while, WebTunnel has been
a good alternative, but since June, Roskomnadzor has enumerated some WebTunnel
bridges and blocked them by domain name[2]. Bridge operators can bypass this
block by creating a new subdomain or using a new domain for their WebTunnel
bridge.
We are working on multiple solutions for this problem. And one of them is to
start distributing WebTunnel bridges over Telegram[3]. In the past, our Telegram
distribution bot has proved to be fairly resistant to the attempts to enumerate
bridges made by the Russian censor.
But to be able to do that, we first need to have enough bridges assigned to that
distributor. We are looking for a minimum of 30 bridges assigned to this
distributor. If you are in the capacity to host a WebTunnel bridge, please do
so!
You can follow the documentation on the Community portal[4] and configure your
WebTunnel bridge with this option in your torrc:
BridgeDistribution telegram
Or if you're using our Docker container, you will need to add the lines below to
your .env file:
OBFS4_ENABLE_ADDITIONAL_VARIABLES=1
OBFS4V_BridgeDistribution=telegram
It is ok if your WebTunnel bridge is on the same IP address of another existing
WebTunnel bridge as long as is in a different subdomain name, for example
www1.example.com. As the censor is blocking the bridges by domain name and not
by IP.
Please avoid hosting your bridge with Hetzner, Digital Ocean, OVH and do not use
Cloudflare DNS, as there are reports of these are being targeted and blocked by
DPI[5].
--
meskio | https://meskio.net/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
My contact info: https://meskio.net/crypto.txt
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Nos vamos a Croatan.
On Thu, Jul 17, 2025 at 03:44:46PM -0500, Jonah Aragon via tor-relays wrote:
Is there a place to see how many bridges are currently assigned to each
distribution method?
Jonah
On 7/17/25 8:20 AM, meskio via tor-relays wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Russia is extending their Tor block[0]. Currently, they block Fully Encrypted
> Protocols like obfs4 on some mobile networks[1]. For a while, WebTunnel has been
> a good alternative, but since June, Roskomnadzor has enumerated some WebTunnel
> bridges and blocked them by domain name[2]. Bridge operators can bypass this
> block by creating a new subdomain or using a new domain for their WebTunnel
> bridge.
>
> We are working on multiple solutions for this problem. And one of them is to
> start distributing WebTunnel bridges over Telegram[3]. In the past, our Telegram
> distribution bot has proved to be fairly resistant to the attempts to enumerate
> bridges made by the Russian censor.
>
> But to be able to do that, we first need to have enough bridges assigned to that
> distributor. We are looking for a minimum of 30 bridges assigned to this
> distributor. If you are in the capacity to host a WebTunnel bridge, please do
> so!
>
> You can follow the documentation on the Community portal[4] and configure your
> WebTunnel bridge with this option in your torrc:
>
> BridgeDistribution telegram
>
> Or if you're using our Docker container, you will need to add the lines below to
> your .env file:
> OBFS4_ENABLE_ADDITIONAL_VARIABLES=1
> OBFS4V_BridgeDistribution=telegram
>
> It is ok if your WebTunnel bridge is on the same IP address of another existing
> WebTunnel bridge as long as is in a different subdomain name, for example
> www1.example.com. As the censor is blocking the bridges by domain name and not
> by IP.
>
> Please avoid hosting your bridge with Hetzner, Digital Ocean, OVH and do not use
> Cloudflare DNS, as there are reports of these are being targeted and blocked by
> DPI[5].
>
> Thank you.
>
>
> [0][Russia] Blocking Tor resources (2025 edition) (#40057) · Issues · The Tor Project / Anti-censorship / censorship-analysis · GitLab
> [1][Russia] Investigate obsf4 blocking by protocol in mobile 4G in some ISPs (#40050) · Issues · The Tor Project / Anti-censorship / censorship-analysis · GitLab
> [2][Russia] Blocking of webtunnel (#40064) · Issues · The Tor Project / Anti-censorship / censorship-analysis · GitLab
> [3]Distribute WebTunnel bridges via Telegram bot? (#158) · Issues · The Tor Project / Anti-censorship / Team · GitLab
> [4]Tor Project | WebTunnel Bridge
> [5][Russia] Censor has a new method of blocking · Issue #490 · net4people/bbs · GitHub
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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Or if you're using our Docker container, you will need to add the lines below to
your .env file:
OBFS4_ENABLE_ADDITIONAL_VARIABLES=1
OBFS4V_BridgeDistribution=telegram
For WebTunnel docker container, please edit your .env and include: