Tor Browser 13.0 Release Overview

The significant release of Tor Browser 13.0 marks a major update for this specialized browser focused on anonymity, security, and privacy. With this version, Tor Browser transitions to the Firefox 115 ESR branch. All traffic is routed exclusively through the Tor network, making it impossible to connect directly via the system’s standard network connection. This design prevents tracking of the user’s real IP address. However, in the event of a browser compromise, attackers could potentially access system network settings, so for complete leak protection, tools like Whonix are recommended. Tor Browser is available for Linux, Android, Windows, and macOS.

Key Security and Privacy Features

• HTTPS Only Mode: Enabled by default to ensure encrypted traffic on all supported sites.
• NoScript Extension: Included to reduce JavaScript-based attack risks and block plugins by default.
• Traffic Obfuscation: Uses fteproxy and obfs4proxy to bypass censorship and traffic inspection.
• Alternative Transports: Provides encrypted channels to circumvent restrictions in environments that block all traffic except HTTP, such as in China.
• Tracking Protection: Disables or restricts APIs like WebGL, WebGL2, WebAudio, Social, SpeechSynthesis, Touch, AudioContext, HTMLMediaElement, Mediastream, Canvas, SharedWorker, Permissions, MediaDevices.enumerateDevices, and screen.orientation. Telemetry, Pocket, Reader View, HTTP Alternative-Services, MozTCPSocket, “link rel=preconnect,” and libmdns are also disabled or modified to enhance privacy.

What’s New in Tor Browser 13.0

• Upgraded to Firefox 115 ESR codebase and stable tor 0.4.8.7 branch.
• Security audit of changes since Firefox 102 ESR; removal of patches deemed questionable for security or privacy.
• Replaced string-to-double conversion code, disabled recent links sharing, removed PDF saving API, and eliminated cookie consent banner auto-hide and text recognition interfaces.
• Updated icons and refined the application logo while maintaining overall recognizability.
• Introduced a redesigned home page (“about:tor”) featuring a simplified layout, a prominent logo, a search bar, and an “onionize” switch for accessing DuckDuckGo via an onion service. Improved accessibility for screen readers and assistive technologies. The bookmarks bar is now visible by default.
• Resolved the “red screen of death” issue that occurred due to network connection check failures.
• Default window size increased for better usability on widescreen displays. The letterboxing mechanism, which adds padding to web content to prevent screen and window size leaks, now supports a maximum resolution of 1400×900 (up from 1000×1000) and improved resizing logic to address issues with certain websites.
• Adopted a new package naming scheme: ${ARTIFACT}-${OS}-${ARCH}-${VERSION}.${EXT}. For example, the macOS build is now named “tor-browser-macos-13.0.dmg” instead of “TorBrowser-12.5-macos_ALL.dmg”.
• In “Safest” mode, DuckDuckGo search now uses a JavaScript-free version of the site.
• Enhanced protection against WebRTC leaks.
• Automatic removal of URL parameters used for tracking (e.g., mc_eid and fbclid from Facebook links).
• Removed the javascript.options.large_arraybuffers setting.
• On Linux, the browser.tabs.searchclipboardfor.middleclick setting is now disabled.

Source

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