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I know that you're not "supposed" to use plugins in Tor - Flash and Java are two of the stupidest things you could use while trying not to be discovered.

But let's say you'd like to view a video file - is there any way at all to install a plugin in the Tor Browser Bundle for Linux? I've already installed npapi-vlc-git, and it works for Chromium, but I can't figure out where I need to symlink/copy /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libvlcplugin.so to.

If something was changed in the browser at compile-time that disables plugins, what must I do to re-enable them? I just want the one plugin, but I'd like to keep all the other security tweaks present in the Tor browser (otherwise, I'd just replace it with the vanilla Firefox ESR.)

JamesTheAwesomeDude
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3 Answers3

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Installing any sort of plugins on TBB is a bad idea.

The best way to watch a video (if HTML5 player not available) is to download the video, disconnect from Internet and watch it offline. Otherwise it may try to make a connection over internet and ruin your anonymity.

mrphs
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Firstly, I agree with mrphs' answer; enabling any plugins would be a very bad idea. Unless you have analyzed the sources/behavior of the VLC plugin in detail (I haven't!), you should not assume that you understand the implications of enabling it. For example, it may be possible to use the plugin to fingerprint your machine, based on the codecs you have installed, even if you have configured VLC to send all network traffic via Tor.

Secondly, Tor Browser is patched to prevent plugins (except Flash!) from even loading, so you would probably have to rebuild Tor Browser without this patch to use the VLC plugin.

Further references:

questions
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This technique makes the TOR browser think that your VLC plugin is Flash, so it will let you enable it.

You need to copy /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libvlcplugin.so to ~/Downloads/tor-browser_en-US/Browser/browser/plugins/usr/libflashplayer.so and ~/Downloads/tor-browser_en-US/Browser/browser/plugins/libflashplayer.so. Then, click on the onion logo and click Privacy and Security Settings. Then, uncheck Disable browser plugins (Such as Flash). Next, go to about:addons and click on Plugins on the left-hand side. Finally, change Never activate to Ask to Activate if necessary.

Community
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anonymous
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