Webrtc Leak Prevent
What is a WebRTC leak & How To Test It [+Video] | NordVPN
ContentsWhat is a WebRTC leak? What is WebRTC? How does a WebRTC leak happen? The problem with WebRTC How to test for WebRTC leaksHow to block WebRTC leaks How to disable WebRTC on ChromeHow to disable WebRTC on FirefoxHow to disable WebRTC on SafariBlocking WebRTC leaks is not enoughWhat is a WebRTC leak? A WebRTC leak is a vulnerability that can occur in web browsers like Firefox, Google Chrome, Brave, Opera, and others. A WebRTC leak presents a major security risk, as it can can expose your real IP address when you’re connected to a subpar VPN that doesn’t protect you against WebRTC is WebRTC? WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is an open-source tool that allows web browsers to form real-time peer-to-peer connections with the websites they allows your Firefox browser, for example, to send live audio and video feeds back and forth between you and another participant online without having to download any additional software. This is a non-proprietary protocol that allows any website to plug in and make such a connection (with your permission) does this by establishing special real time communication channels from the browser. They communicate with the website you’re visiting and exchange information (including your local and public IP addresses) does a WebRTC leak happen? WebRTC leaks happen when communication channels bypass your encrypted tunnel created by using a VPN. In this case websites and online services you visit can see your IP problem with WebRTCWebRTC presents a massive vulnerability. Any website you visit can potentially request and access your true IP address despite your VPN. When this vulnerability was first discovered, it gave VPN providers (ourselves included) quite a scare. The worst part is that this is part of the basic functionality of WebRTC, so it can’t be “fixed. ” It’s up to the user to find ways to block these leaks or disable WebRTC entirely. The good thing is that you can easily perform a WebRTC leak test to test for WebRTC leaksCheck your VPN for any potential WebRTC leaks. You can perform a WebRTC leak test by following these simple steps:Disconnect and exit whatever VPN you’re out and note down your IP address by typing “What’s my IP” into Google and hitting Enter – your original IP address will the your VPN and refresh the webpage. Re-do step your WebRTC is NOT leaking your IP address should display as something completely different. If your IP address is the same, after you re-do step do with your VPN on – a WebRTC leak is likely exposing your IP your original IP usually begins with or or sometimes an alpha-numeric IPv6) to block WebRTC leaksIf a WebRTC test showed that there is a leak, there are a few ways to block it. By far the simplest way is to block WebRTC leaks by using NordVPN. Whether you’re using our regular VPN or our browser plugins for Firefox or Chrome, either will block any unwanted IP address leaks through WebRTC while allowing authorized WebRTC connections to continue under your anonymous IP otect your IP address and enhance online security with the click of a can also prevent WebRTC leaks by blocking WebRTC requests from your browser, but this process will be a bit more complicated. Furthermore, unlike with NordVPN, blocking WebRTC leaks using these methods will often disable WebRTC functionality to disable WebRTC on ChromeDisabling WebRTC on Chrome is tricky, and we strongly suggest using an extension to do so. That’s because the extension-free way involves manually editing setting files that can potentially make your Chrome browser malfunction if you do it Leak Prevent is the leading Chrome extension for preventing WebRTC leaks. As the developer has noted, this extension only changes WebRTC’s security and privacy settings – it doesn’t turn WebRTC to disable WebRTC on FirefoxFortunately, Firefox does have a built-in way to disable WebRTC. It can be hard to find if you don’t know where to look, so follow these steps! That’s it! This will disable all WebRTC, so it will also disable any websites that use it to deliver their to disable WebRTC on SafariDisabling WebRTC on Safari is possible, but the option is a bit harder to find than on Firefox. That’s because WebRTC was only recently implemented, and is still considered an experimental feature that only developers would want to fiddle with. If you follow these instructions, however, you’ll find it easily! That’s it! Your Safari is now free of WebRTC leaks. However, this may also prevent WebRTC-based services from working in your browser. Blocking WebRTC leaks is not enoughBlocking WebRTC leaks is a good start to securing your online activity, but it’s not enough. If you use NordVPN’s browser extension or VPN service to block these leaks, you’ll already have a collection of tools at your disposal to help you stay rdVPN offers a variety of useful features, including our CyberSec system and a Kill Switch to prevent unwanted data exposure. Our premium VPN can give you unrivaled internet speeds, without compromising on strong data ‘s never been a better time to improve your day-to-day internet safety and protect your privacy. With NordVPN, encryption is just a click rdVPN will keep you secure and private online. Try it with our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Charles Whitmore
Verified author
Charles is a content writer with a passion for online privacy and freedom of knowledge. A technophile with a weakness for full Smart Home integration – he believes everyone should strive to keep up-to-date with their cybersec.
How to Fix WebRTC Leaks (All Browsers) – RestorePrivacy
When discussing online privacy and VPNs, the topic of WebRTC leaks and vulnerabilities frequently comes up.
While the WebRTC issue is often discussed with VPN services, this is, in fact, a vulnerability with web browsers. WebRTC leaks can affect these browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Brave, and Chromium-based browsers.
So what is WebRTC?
WebRTC stands for “Web Real-Time Communication”. This basically allows for voice, video chat, and P2P sharing within the browser (real-time communication) without adding extra browser extensions.
What is a WebRTC leak?
A WebRTC leak is when your external (public) IP address is exposed via your browser’s WebRTC functionality. This leak can de-anonymize you via WebRTC APIs, even if your VPN is working correctly.
If you have not protected yourself against WebRTC leaks in your browser, any website you visit could obtain your real (ISP-assigned) IP address through WebRTC STUN requests. This is a serious problem.
While the WebRTC feature may be useful for some users, it poses a threat to those using a VPN and seeking to maintain their online privacy without their IP address being exposed.
How to test for WebRTC leaks
Our guide on testing your VPN lists a few different WebRTC testing tools:
– In addition to WebRTC leaks, this website also tests for IPv4, IPv6, and DNS owserLeaks WebRTC testPerfect Privacy WebRTC test
What does a WebRTC leak look like?
If you see your ISP-assigned (external) IP address, then this is a WebRTC leak. Below is an example of WebRTC leaks that I found when testing out a VPN service. You can see that my public IPv6 address (beginning with 2) is leaking in the WebRTC area, even while the VPN is connected and stable.
Note that a local IP address is blacked out on the left. These cannot be used to identify you. (An explanation of the difference between your local/internal IP and your public/external IP is here. )
The WebRTC Vulnerability
Anyone seeking to be anonymous online through privacy technology should take action against WebRTC leaks.
Daniel Roesler exposed this vulnerability in 2015 on his GitHub page, where he stated:
Firefox and Chrome have implemented WebRTC that allow requests to STUN servers be made that will return the local and public IP addresses for the user. These request results are available to javascript, so you can now obtain a users local and public IP addresses in ditionally, these STUN requests are made outside of the normal XMLHttpRequest procedure, so they are not visible in the developer console or able to be blocked by plugins such as AdBlockPlus or Ghostery. This makes these types of requests available for online tracking if an advertiser sets up a STUN server with a wildcard domain.
Essentially, this means that any site could simply execute a few Javascript commands to obtain your real IP address through your web browser.
WebRTC leak solutions
Here are two options for dealing with the WebRTC issue:
1. Disable WebRTC in the browser (Firefox) and only use browsers with disabled WebRTC capability. (Instructions are below. )
2. Use browser add-ons or extensions if disabling WebRTC is not possible. (Disabling WebRTC is not possible with Chrome and Chromium-based browsers, such as the Brave browser. )
Note: browser add-ons and extensions may not be 100% effective. Even with add-ons, the vulnerability still exists in the browser to reveal your true IP address with the right STUN code.
WebRTC fixes for different browsers
Below are different fixes for various browsers.
Firefox browsers
Disabling WebRTC is very simple in Firefox. First, type about:config into the URL bar and hit enter. Then, agree to the warning message and click the continue button.
Then, in the search box type “erconnection. enabled“. Double click the preference name to change the value to “false“.
That’s it.
WebRTC is now disabled in Firefox and you won’t have to worry about WebRTC leaks.
Chrome WebRTC (desktop)
Since WebRTC cannot be disabled in Chrome (desktop), add-ons are the only option (for those who do not want to just give up on using Chrome).
As pointed out above, it is important to remember that browser add-ons are may not be 100% effective. In other words, you may still be vulnerable to WebRTC IP address leaks under certain circumstances. Nonetheless, here are some add-ons that may be worth considering:
WebRTC leak preventuBlock Origin
Note: Unlike with Firefox, these extensions only change WebRTC’s security and privacy settings.
Recommended solution: stop using Chrome.
Disable Chrome WebRTC on Android
On your Android device, open the URL chromeflags/#disable-webrtc in Chrome.
Scroll down and find “WebRTC STUN origin header” – then disable it. For safe measure, you can also disable the WebRTC Hardware Video Encoding/Decoding options, though it may not be necessary.
Note: Android users can also install Firefox, and disable WebRTC via the steps above.
Chrome iOS WebRTC
Chrome on iOS does not appear to implement the vulnerable parts of WebRTC that could expose local or external IP addresses (yet).
Brave WebRTC leaks
Because the Brave browser is based on Chromium, it is also vulnerable to WebRTC IP address leaks, even when you are using a VPN.
There are two ways to block WebRTC in the Brave browser:
Method 1: Fingerprinting protection
Go to Settings > Shields > Fingerprinting blocking > and then select Standard or Strict. This should take care of all WebRTC issues – at least on desktop versions of Brave (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux).
Note on WebRTC handling policy
You can also adjust the WebRTC handling policy if you go to Settings, click on the search glass in the upper-right corner, and then enter WebRTC. Under the WebRTC IP Handling Policy click the drop down menu and you can see the options below.
Note: To understand the different options with WebRTC handling, Brave has an article on the topic here. Below are the different options:
I have now tested this with the latest versions of Brave for Windows and Mac OS. Based on my tests, if you already have Fingerprinting blocking set to enabled, you should not experience any WebRTC leaks.
Note: I have seen some complaints from users who claim that WebRTC is not getting blocked on iOS, even after making the changes above. Brave developers appear to have confirmed this issue and are working on a fix.
Safari WebRTC
WebRTC leaks have traditionally not been an issue with Safari browsers (on Mac OS and iOS devices). However, Apple is now incorporating WebRTC into Safari, although it’s still technically an “experimental” feature. Nonetheless, it’d be wise to disable WebRTC in Safari for privacy reasons. Here’s how:
Click “Safari” in the menu barThen click PreferencesClick on the “Advanced” tab, then at the bottom check the box for “Show Develop menu in menu bar”Now, click on “Develop” in the menu bar. Under the “WebRTC” option, if “Enable Legacy WebRTC API” is checked, click on it to disable this option (no check mark).
That should effectively disable WebRTC in Safari.
Opera and other Chromium browsers WebRTC
Just like with Chrome, the only way (as of now) to address the WebRTC vulnerability in Opera and other Chromium browsers is to use an extension.
First, download the extension “WebRTC Leak Prevent” to your Opera browser.
Then in the Advanced options for the WebRTC Leak Prevent extension, select “Disable non-proxied UDP (force proxy)” and then click Apply settings.
Again, because this is an extension solution, it may not be 100% effective.
Now verify you don’t have any WebRTC leaks
Now that you have disabled or blocked WebRTC in your browser, you should test to verify that it is working. Here are our favorite tools for identifying WebRTC leaks:
Perfect Privacy WebRTC TestBrowserLeaks WebRTC
Note: If you are seeing a local IP address, this is not a leak. A WebRTC leak will only be with a public IP address.
Here I’m running a test in the Firefox browser while also connected to ExpressVPN:
You can see the ExpressVPN client on the right, with the test results on the left. No leaks!
Note: ExpressVPN is currently our top VPN recommendation and they also have a discount for three months free, see our ExpressVPN coupon page for details.
Conclusion on WebRTC leaks and browser vulnerabilities
The WebRTC leak vulnerability highlights a very important concept for those seeking a higher level of online anonymity and security through various privacy tools.
The browser is usually the weak link in the chain.
The WebRTC issue also shows us that there may be other vulnerabilities that exist with your privacy setup, even if you are using a good VPN to hide your IP address and location. (The WebRTC issue was not publicly known until 2015. )
One other problem to be aware of is browser fingerprinting. This is when various settings and values within your browser and operating system can be used to create a unique fingerprint, and thereby track and identify users. Fortunately, there are effective solutions for this as well.
And lastly, there are many different secure and private browsers to consider, many of which can be customized for your own unique needs.
Stay safe!
About Sven TaylorSven Taylor is the founder of RestorePrivacy. With a passion for digital privacy and online freedom, he created this website to provide you with honest, useful, and up-to-date information about online privacy, security, and related topics. His focus is on privacy research, writing guides, testing privacy tools, and website Interactions
How to stop WebRTC leaks on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge
@pabischoff UPDATED: November 17, 2020
WebRTC is used by web browsers for voice and video chat applications like Skype for Web, Discord, and Google Hangouts. The free and open-source project lets apps set up peer-to-peer connections without the need for any extra plugins or applications, allowing for efficient real-time communication (the ‘RTC’ in WebRTC). Most modern web browsers now support and enable WebRTC by default, including desktop browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, as well as mobile browsers on Android and iOS.
The problem is that WebRTC compromises the security provided by VPNs, or virtual private networks. When a user connects to a VPN server, all of the internet traffic from their device should go through an encrypted tunnel to the VPN server. Among other benefits, this prevents websites and apps from determining the user’s real IP address, which is masked by that of the VPN server. An IP address is a string of numbers and decimals unique to every internet-connected device that can be used to determine location.
Whenever a VPN user visits a site that has WebRTC enabled, WebRTC can transmit data outside the encrypted tunnel. This exposes the user’s real IP address and location to the website, which means the user can be tracked by advertisers and other third parties.
In this article, we’ll explain how to prevent WebRTC leaks when using a VPN on all major browsers.
Preferred solution: Use a better VPN
Not all VPNs suffer from WebRTC leaks. Some have added security features to their apps that prevent WebRTC traffic from traveling outside the encrypted VPN tunnel. Of the many VPNs we’ve tested, two stand out:
ExpressVPN
NordVPN
While many VPNs claim to prevent leaks, many fail to live up to their promises. We’ve put both of these VPNs through rigorous leak tests to ensure they never allow WebRTC leaks to occur under any circumstances. ExpressVPN and NordVPN will both prevent WebRTC leaks on any web browser or app.
By signing up for and installing either of these VPNs, you don’t need to worry about WebRTC leaks. No further tweaks are required.
How do I know if WebRTC is leaking?
When you connect to a VPN, your WebRTC IP address should either change to that of the VPN or be disabled entirely.
As an example, here’s my connection info while connected to a VPN that suffers from WebRTC leaks:
Notice that my standard IP address and WebRTC address are different. That’s because my real IP address is being leaked through WebRTC and WebRTC traffic is not going through the VPN. While connected to the VPN, both addresses should both be identical.
You can run this test on your own using our VPN leak tester.
WebRTC leak severity depends on permissions granted
Before we get into other ways to prevent WebRTC leaks, we want to clarify that not all leaks are equal. When it comes to WebRTC leaks, we categorize them into two levels of severity:
Leaks when permissions granted – less severe
Leaks when permissions not granted – more severe
When you visit a website that uses WebRTC, your browser will usually ask your permission before allowing a website access to your camera or microphone.
If a VPN leaks your IP address before you’ve even granted that website permission to use your camera or microphone, that’s a big red flag. That means any website could use some simple javascript to monitor your IP address and expose your real location. We label this a “persistent vanilla leak, ” which is the most severe type. Most VPNs that claim to prevent WebRTC leaks can at least stop this from happening.
Except for the two mentioned above, almost all VPNs suffer from the less severe version of WebRTC leaks, in which your IP address is exposed to the website only after you grant it permission to use your microphone or camera. Even though this leak is less severe, it’s still cause for concern. A VPN user should be able to safely visit WebRTC-enabled sites without exposing their IP address.
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Chrome
Google Chrome requires a simple browser extension to disable WebRTC. WebRTC Network Limiter lets you choose how WebRTC network traffic is routed. You can easily configure it to use only your VPN’s public IP address.
See also: Best VPNs for Chrome
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Firefox
In Firefox, you can disable WebRTC in the browser settings:
In the URL bar, enter:
about:config
Run a search for:
erconnection. enabled
Double-click the entry to change it to False
Note that changes you make to the settings may not carry across updates, so you might need to re-adjust this setting again if your browser updates.
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge now supports both WebRTC plus its own proprietary version, dubbed ORTC. Unfortunately, Edge does not allow you to disable either. You merely get the option to hide your local IP address over WebRTC connections, but not your public IP address.
A “WebRTC Leak Shield” extension is available on the Microsoft app store, but given it has no user feedback at time of writing and sparse details about the developers, we would avoid it for now.
If you’re an Edge user and you want to prevent WebRTC leaks, ExpressVPN and NordVPN will both get the job done. Websites will only see your VPN server’s public IP address and not your own when connected through either of their respective apps.
See also: Best VPNs for Microsoft Edge
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Safari
Safari blocks sites from accessing your camera and microphone by default, so we’re really only concerned about the less severe type of WebRTC leak here. You can turn WebRTC off in the developer settings:
Open Safari and go to Safari > Preferences…
Go to the Advanced tab and check the box at the bottom that says Show Develop menu in menu bar
Close the preferences menu and go to Develop > Experimental Features
Check the option for Remove Legacy WebRTC API
See also: Best VPNs for Safari
How to stop WebRTC leaks on Android
In the latest version of Chrome for Android (tested with 8. 1. 0 Oreo), it is not currently possible to completely disable WebRTC. Many other tutorials on this subject instruct users to disable WebRTC Stun origin header in the flags menu, but in our experience this does not work. Even if we disable every WebRTC-related setting, our real IP address leaks.
Notably, ExpressVPN and NordVPN do prevent this leak when we connect through their Android apps. Websites can still see an IP address, but it’s the VPN server’s IP address and not our real IP address.
We will update this section of the tutorial if we find a way to disable WebRTC in Android 8 Oreo or, when it is released, Android 9 Pie.
See also: Best VPNs for Android
How to stop WebRTC leaks on iOS
You can only disable WebRTC in mobile Safari on iOS 11 or earlier. The setting to disable it was removed in iOS 12. For later versions of iOS (12+), you can use ExpressVPN’s or NordVPN’s iOS app to mask your real IP address and prevent WebRTC leaks.
Disabling WebRTC on the Safari browser in iOS 11 or earlier is fairly similar to the desktop version:
Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad
Scroll down and tap on Safari > Advanced > Experimental Features
Tap the switch next to Remove Legacy WebRTC API so it turns green
We will update this article if we come across a way to plug WebRTC leaks in iOS 12 and later.
See also: Best VPNs for iPhone
How to stop WebRTC leaks with uBlock Origin
uBlock Origin is a popular browser add-on/extension for Firefox and Chrome. It can prevent your browser from leaking your device’s local IP address, but not your public IP address. For this reason, we recommend uBlock Origin more as a supplement to the other solutions in this list, and not a standalone solution.
After installing it, just go into the Settings and check the box that says, Prevent WebRTC from leaking local IP address.
What about VPN browser extensions?
There’s no shortage of browser plug-ins that claim to work like VPNs by redirecting internet traffic through a secure proxy. The vast majority of VPN browser extensions won’t protect you from WebRTC leaks. The only standalone VPN add-on we know of that does stop WebRTC leaks is NordVPN. In addition to its native desktop and mobile apps, its browser extension for Chrome and Firefox protects against WebRTC leaks.
Disabling WebRTC won’t break VoIP apps
If you want to stop WebRTC leaks but like to use voice and video chat apps like Google Hangouts, Discord, and Skype, worry not. Disabling WebRTC doesn’t usually break those apps; they just have to fall back on a different method of communicating. While the call quality might suffer a bit, you can still use voice and video chat normally with WebRTC disabled.
Test for WebRTC leaks
Once you’ve applied a fix, you can check to make sure it’s working using Comparitech’s DNS leak test. This page runs a test in two parts: with the VPN connected and with the VPN disconnected. The results will show you in plain terms whether your VPN is leaking DNS, IPv6, or WebRTC traffic. You can even choose whether to allow or disallow microphone and camera permissions to determine leak severity.
Frequently Asked Questions about webrtc leak prevent
What is WebRTC leak prevent?
WebRTC Leak Prevent is the leading Chrome extension for preventing WebRTC leaks. As the developer has noted, this extension only changes WebRTC’s security and privacy settings – it doesn’t turn WebRTC off.
How do I stop a WebRTC leak?
On your Android device, open the URL chrome://flags/#disable-webrtc in Chrome. Scroll down and find “WebRTC STUN origin header” – then disable it. For safe measure, you can also disable the WebRTC Hardware Video Encoding/Decoding options, though it may not be necessary.
How do I stop a WebRTC leak in Firefox?
In Firefox, you can disable WebRTC in the browser settings:In the URL bar, enter: about:config.Run a search for: media.peerconnection.enabled.Double-click the entry to change it to False.Nov 17, 2020
