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Assume the onion service identity is compromised as soon as its private key may have leaked. Take the affected system offline, preferably in read-only mode for forensic work; investigate how the key was exposed; generate a new onion-service key; obtain a new HTTPS certificate; update Onion-Location and other controlled references; and tell users the replacement address through an independently trusted, preferably cryptographically signed channel.
A replacement key creates a replacement onion address. Do not treat deleting a client-authorization credential as a fix for a stolen service identity key: those are separate controls with different effects.
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Why a leaked onion-service key is an identity compromise
An onion address is derived from the service’s public identity key. The corresponding private key signs the service descriptor, which lets Tor clients associate the published service with that identity. If someone obtains the private key, they can present themselves as the service rather than merely access one account.
Tor’s setup guide puts the risk plainly: “If your keys leak, other people can impersonate your Onion Service, deeming it compromised, useless, and dangerous to visit.” The service keys are kept in the directory configured by HiddenServiceDir; the hostname file in that directory contains the v3 onion hostname. Treat both the key material and the host that held it as sensitive evidence. Tor Project setup guide
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What an attacker can do
- Impersonate the service to users who reach the attacker’s infrastructure.
- Generate a fresh TLS certificate for the impersonated service, so a certificate alone cannot establish that the replacement is genuine.
- Publish bogus descriptors that can keep the legitimate service offline or make it difficult to reach.
These capabilities are why a suspected leak is handled as an incident involving the service’s identity, not as an ordinary password reset. Tor Project incident-response checklist
What to do first: contain the system without destroying evidence
- Record what triggered the suspicion. Preserve relevant alerts, access records, deployment history, administrator reports, and the time window in which the key may have been readable or copied. Keep an incident timeline, but do not continue normal operation on a host you may need to examine.
- Take the affected system offline. Tor’s checklist recommends bringing it offline, preferably in read-only mode while forensic work is performed. The aim is to prevent further misuse and reduce changes to evidence. Use an incident-response or digital-forensics specialist if your team cannot safely acquire and preserve evidence.
- Protect related systems. Identify machines that could have exposed the key, including the onion-service host, deployment systems, administrative workstations, storage, backups, and the backend application server. Isolate them according to your incident process rather than assuming the onion-service process was the only possible entry point.
- Warn internal operators. Tell administrators not to trust the old onion address for sensitive recovery actions. Move coordination to a channel whose authenticity does not depend on the compromised onion identity.
The Tor checklist gives this as general forensic guidance, not as a universal evidence-retention protocol or a prescribed tool list. Your environment, operating system, hosting arrangement, and legal obligations determine the exact acquisition and preservation steps. Tor Project incident-response checklist
Investigate how the key could have been exposed
Before rebuilding, determine whether the attacker may still have access. Review the host and the paths Tor identifies as likely attack surfaces:
- The backend application server and its credentials.
- The web server, reverse proxy, deployment files, and service account permissions.
- The web application framework, plugins, dependencies, and upload or administration features.
- Build, backup, monitoring, and configuration systems that may have copied
HiddenServiceDiror its contents. - Administrator endpoints and credentials used to manage the service.
Look for unauthorized accounts, persistence, unexpected processes, modified application files, unusual outbound connections, and access to the directory containing the service keys. Keep the original evidence available for analysis; deleting files or reinstalling immediately can erase clues about the entry point. The official checklist intentionally leaves the forensic sequence and tooling to the operator because deployments differ.
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When the cause is still uncertain
Uncertainty is not a reason to keep serving under the old identity. If you cannot establish that the key was protected throughout the relevant period, continue with identity replacement while the investigation proceeds. A new key limits future impersonation by the known leaked key, but it does not by itself remove malware or an attacker’s access to the host. Remediate the suspected entry point before placing the replacement service into production.
Replace the service identity, not just a credential
After containment and remediation, generate a completely new onion-service identity key. Do not copy the old key directory into the rebuilt service, and do not attempt to “repair” the old identity by changing unrelated application secrets. Tor specifically recommends generating a new onion-service key after a suspected leak. Tor Project incident-response checklist
Because the onion address encodes the public identity key, the new private key necessarily produces a new onion address. There is no supported way to keep the old address while replacing the identity key. The Tor overview explains the relationship between the address, public key, and descriptor signatures. Tor Project onion-service overview
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Tor also recommends obtaining a new HTTPS certificate. A certificate tied to the old deployment or issued while the identity was under an attacker’s control should not be carried into the replacement service. Complete certificate issuance and installation as part of the rebuilt deployment, then check that the certificate presented by the new service matches the intended hostname and certificate policy.
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The checklist does not prescribe a single rebuild workflow. Follow the certificate authority’s current validation requirements and your organization’s key-management procedures, while keeping the new onion-service private key restricted to the service that needs it.
Publish and verify the replacement onion address
Users need a way to distinguish the legitimate replacement from an attacker’s announcement. Publish the new address through an official channel that users can authenticate independently of the compromised onion identity: for example, a previously established public site, organizational account, mailing list, or other channel whose signing key or account ownership users already know how to verify.
Tor recommends notifying users through an official communication channel, preferably with a cryptographically signed message. State that the former identity was compromised, give the replacement onion address, identify the date of the change, and explain exactly how users can verify the signature or announcement source. Do not ask users to trust a message delivered only through the old onion service; an attacker controlling that identity can imitate it.
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- The old onion address, clearly labeled as unsafe after the compromise.
- The complete new onion address, copied exactly.
- The reason for the change in plain language: the service identity key may have been exposed.
- Instructions for verifying the announcement’s cryptographic signature or the independent channel carrying it.
- The date and time from which the replacement service is authoritative.
- Any user action required, such as replacing a saved bookmark or updating an Onion-Location entry.
A signed message authenticates the announcement only when users can obtain and verify the correct signing key independently. Publish the verification method alongside the announcement rather than assuming that seeing a familiar name or logo is sufficient.
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Update Onion-Location and every controlled reference
If the service uses Onion-Location, change it to the new onion address. Also update links, documentation, application settings, QR codes, pinned posts, support scripts, monitoring checks, and any client configuration that your organization controls. Tor’s incident checklist specifically calls out Onion-Location; the same principle applies to other references that could send users back to the compromised identity. Tor Project incident-response checklist
Keep the old address out of normal navigation after the change. A notice explaining the incident can remain on an independently trusted channel, but continuing to direct users to the old identity creates an opportunity for impersonation and confusion.
Do not confuse service-key replacement with client authorization
Client authorization is an access-control feature for restricted onion services. The service stores an authorized client’s public key, while the client holds the corresponding private credential. Removing a client’s .auth file revokes that individual authorization, and Tor’s guide says the revocation takes effect only after the Tor process restarts. It does not replace the service’s identity key or change the onion address. Tor Project client-authorization guide
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| Control | What it addresses | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Generate a new onion-service key | Compromise of the service identity | Creates a new onion address and prevents the leaked identity key from remaining the service’s authoritative identity. |
Remove a client’s .auth file |
One client’s authorization credential | That client loses authorization after the Tor process restarts; the service identity and onion address remain unchanged. |
If both kinds of compromise are possible, handle them separately: replace the service identity for the key leak and revoke affected client credentials for unauthorized client access.
Harden the rebuilt deployment
Once the replacement service is working, review the operational weaknesses that allowed the exposure. Restrict read and backup access to HiddenServiceDir, remove unnecessary administrator access, rotate credentials that may have been present on the compromised host, and ensure deployment tooling does not copy private keys into logs, artifacts, or broadly readable storage. Test restoration procedures with a newly generated identity rather than reusing the old key.
Review whether the web server or application reveals information that can identify or locate the underlying host. Tor’s operational-security guidance discusses this broader class of risks and recommends Vanguards as protection against advanced attacks. Apply the guidance appropriate to your threat model and deployment. Tor Project operational-security guidance
Checks before reopening
- Confirm the rebuilt service is using only the newly generated identity files.
- Verify the new onion address from the generated
hostnamefile and compare it with the address in your signed announcement. - Install and validate the new HTTPS certificate.
- Check Onion-Location and other links for stale references.
- Confirm that monitoring, backups, and access controls do not expose the replacement key.
- Document who can authorize future key rotation and how users will verify an emergency announcement.
Questions about legal and user notification duties
The Tor materials do not specify legal notification deadlines or duties. Those requirements depend on jurisdiction, the type of information handled, the people affected, contractual commitments, and whether the incident involved personal or regulated data. Obtain qualified legal and incident-response advice for those questions; do not infer a deadline from Tor’s technical checklist.
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Tell users not to enter credentials, download files, or disclose information through the old onion address after the compromise. Explain that the address itself represents the old service identity and cannot be made trustworthy merely by installing a new certificate or restarting Tor. Direct users to the independently authenticated announcement and provide the new address there.
Keep internal records of the old and new identities, the containment time, investigative findings, certificate change, notification date, and verification method. This record supports later technical review and any jurisdiction-specific reporting without exposing private key material.
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