Proxy set via WebKit? Answer is no

Proxy set via WebKit? Answer is no

Resolved: As it turns out, Charles does indeed change those settings, but for some reason didn’t revert them when it closed. Leaving the Network dialog box open will show an alert message that the settings are changed and then will show those 2 boxes checked/un-checked depending on whether Charles is running or not.

Update: Mark (in the comments of this post) has informed me this could in fact be caused by Charles “Web Debugging Proxy” tool, so I will be investigating this further.

Has anyone else noticed that WebKit installed using a nightly build tends could be to add adding a 127.0.0.1 web proxy? This essentially means the computer is linked to itself. This was a common “attack” in the IRC days that script kiddies played on each other, but is it possible a legitimate piece of software is doing this?

See the attached screenshot to understand the problem.

webkit_proxy_error.png

Simply un-checking that box stops the error, but it will make you scratch your head if your not aware of it.

6 Comments

  • Mark Rowe

    Reply May 9, 2008 7:12 pm

    I think you’re mistaken in saying that the WebKit nightly builds configure a proxy server. WebKit itself doesn’t interact with proxy servers in any manner, and it certainly does not configure new ones. The settings that you show look very similar to those used by the Charles Web Debugging Proxy: https://www.charlesproxy.com/. Had you run Charles, or a similar sort of application, recently?

  • Mark Rowe

    Reply May 9, 2008 7:30 pm

    The way Charles works is that it configures the system to use proxy servers for HTTP and HTTPS traffic when it begins recording. This allows it to see the contents of each request, around which most of its functionality is built. https://www.charlesproxy.com/wiki/mac_os_x_proxy_settings talks a little about how it does auto-configuration of proxy settings on Mac OS X. I can’t find anywhere that it documents which ports it uses, but I did a quick test and verified that it points it at port 8888 which matches the screenshot in your post.

  • your cousin

    Reply May 10, 2008 3:39 pm

    here’s your paycheck 😛

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