WebRTC Leak on Android
from tatoko556@reddthat.com to privacy@lemmy.ml on 21 Jan 2026 07:49
https://reddthat.com/post/58605623

Can Android apps use WebRTC, or is WebRTC only available in browsers?

If Android apps can use WebRTC, how can it be blocked per app or system-wide to prevent IP or network leaks?

#privacy

threaded - newest

pylapp@programming.dev on 21 Jan 2026 08:08 next collapse

WebRTC is a protocol, you can use it in both web apps and mobile apps.

If I remember well it was used as a trick from Facebook to leak personal data using the SDP.

tatoko556@reddthat.com on 21 Jan 2026 09:29 collapse

Thanks. WebRTC-related IP leaks can occur when using a proxy. I’m searching for a method to disable WebRTC per application or across the entire system when using VPN

Onyx376@lemmy.ml on 31 Jan 01:11 collapse

I am not a technical person so at the end of search please share with us. Until then, I thought that this leak could only happen through the browser.

tatoko556@reddthat.com on 31 Jan 02:35 collapse

reddthat.com/post/59164025

WebRTC isn’t magic. WebRTC does not bypass a VPN, nor is it the only–or even most common–way that software on your phone, Android or otherwise, can exfiltrate potentially sensitive information, intentionally or unintentionally. The way WebRTC on your phone might leak an IP is that during ICE, which is used by more than just WebRTC, the phone’s local IP addresses may be sent, and IPv6 addresses on your WiFi or cell connection may be globally unique. IPv4 local addresses will almost certainly be meaningless, private addresses due to IPv4 address space exhaustion, and any non-local address will be from your VPN gateway.

You cannot block ICE per app or system wide because it is not a system facility, and the permissions required to implement it on Android are not very specific.

I think what @i_am_not_a_robot@discuss.tchncs.de meant is block connections without vpn is enough. though I’m not quite sure

Onyx376@lemmy.ml on 01 Feb 03:01 collapse

Thank you for being kind enough to share with us

tatoko556@reddthat.com on 01 Feb 04:59 collapse

check that comment there’s new response

[deleted] on 22 Jan 2026 16:48 collapse

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