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Supercookie: Browser Fingerprinting via Favicon (2021)

(github.com)
357 points vxvrs | 20 comments | 16 Nov 25 19:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.213s | source | bottom
1. breppp ◴[16 Nov 25 20:21 UTC] No.45948089[source]▶
I was sure this has been a thing for a while, either that or safari has a UI bug since forever.

I regularly get the wrong favicon in specific sites, for example ars technica favicon in reddit

replies(7): >>45948097 #>>45948671 #>>45949522 #>>45949581 #>>45950046 #>>45950748 #>>45951573 #
2. robotnikman ◴[16 Nov 25 20:23 UTC] No.45948097[source]▶
I get the same bug in Firefox as well sometimes.
3. goodells ◴[16 Nov 25 21:41 UTC] No.45948671[source]▶
I thought I was the only one! Something in the UI cache is so horribly corrupted and it has been for years on my MacBook, I just gave up hope.
4. croes ◴[16 Nov 25 23:40 UTC] No.45949522[source]▶
I get the wrong for HN in mobile Chrome
replies(1): >>45953294 #
5. snailmailman ◴[16 Nov 25 23:48 UTC] No.45949581[source]▶
My hacker news icon has been stuck as the icon for a weather site that I sometimes check. It’s been stuck that way for close to a year now, and has survived an iOS update too.

It persists across profiles and into private browsing mode.

replies(5): >>45950086 #>>45950128 #>>45950175 #>>45950745 #>>45952664 #
6. prodigycorp ◴[17 Nov 25 01:17 UTC] No.45950046[source]▶
Safari has super long lived favicon caches too. The only way to force a rebuild is to set your system clock forward a few years.
replies(1): >>45950635 #
7. mycall ◴[17 Nov 25 01:25 UTC] No.45950086[source]▶
Could site icons be connected somehow to iCloud?
8. ◴[17 Nov 25 01:36 UTC] No.45950128[source]▶
9. grugagag ◴[17 Nov 25 01:47 UTC] No.45950175[source]▶
To me HN has been stuck as Facebooks icon for a really long time.
10. garrettgarcia ◴[17 Nov 25 03:32 UTC] No.45950635[source]▶
According to the Github page, you can just run `rm ~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/*`
replies(3): >>45950698 #>>45950787 #>>45954125 #
11. ◴[17 Nov 25 03:49 UTC] No.45950698{3}[source]▶
12. ◴[17 Nov 25 04:01 UTC] No.45950745[source]▶
13. throwup238 ◴[17 Nov 25 04:01 UTC] No.45950748[source]▶
For me the iOS HN icon changes between the reddit and github, depending on which one I've been using the most on my phone recently. This happens on both iOS Safari and Kagi's Orion.

I thought that this was just a bug in iOS but based on the comments in this thread, it seems to be common not only across OSes but browser vendors too (I assume iOS Orion uses the same engine as Safari)

14. ftchd ◴[17 Nov 25 04:09 UTC] No.45950787{3}[source]▶
yes, but time travel is cooler
15. supriyo-biswas ◴[17 Nov 25 07:35 UTC] No.45951573[source]▶
I have the same, the Youtube icon is the Hacker news icon, and the other way round. I have to assume this is some sort of race condition, data corruption, or something else, and it's quite widespread too given all these reports.
16. 1718627440 ◴[17 Nov 25 11:25 UTC] No.45952664[source]▶
You guys have favicons? I don't have any in my tabs, but maybe I have turned that of at some point. I'm using Mozilla Firefox.
replies(1): >>45953896 #
17. cubefox ◴[17 Nov 25 13:19 UTC] No.45953294[source]▶
So a similar favicon bug exists in Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. Impressive!
18. dewey ◴[17 Nov 25 14:32 UTC] No.45953896{3}[source]▶
Firefox and Safari both have favicons in the tabs.
replies(1): >>45954818 #
19. prodigycorp ◴[17 Nov 25 14:56 UTC] No.45954125{3}[source]▶
iOS
20. 1718627440 ◴[17 Nov 25 16:03 UTC] No.45954818{4}[source]▶
Yes, I also have them in general, e.g. on about:newtab, but for HN, there isn't any shown on the tab (there is if I make a bookmark). Maybe I messed something up.