What is WebRTC?

Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) is a set of open-source protocols for peer-to-peer web communication. It uses HTML5 and other web standards to facilitate audio and video communication, file sharing, and screen viewing.

Potential leak with WebRTC

If you set up a proxy in your browser, basically all traffic goes through it. Unfortunately, websites can use WebRTC technology to request your real private and real public IP address so your real IP address can leak despite you are using a proxy.

Public and Private IP Addresses

You can check here your public and private IP addresses: https://browserleaks.com/webrtc

Your public IP should match your real (or Proxy’s/VPN’s) IP address. The private IP is the one used within your internal network. The IP you receive from your router is 192.168.x.x in most cases, but nowadays modern browsers mask it automatically and show a value like: 09bc1faf-2c6d-4d89-9f9e-8b3b2ba58043.local

What does WebRTC Public IP Exposure Mean

WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is a technology built into modern browsers that enables direct, peer-to-peer communication. It’s used for things like:

• Audio and video calls (e.g., video chat apps in the browser)
• Screen sharing
• File transfers

To set up these connections, WebRTC uses a process that relies on STUN (Session Traversal Utilities for NAT) servers. These servers help your browser discover both your public IP address (the one visible to the internet) and your local IP address (the one inside your home or office network).

Why This Matters: Public IP Exposure

Here’s the problem: Even if you’re connected to a proxy, WebRTC may still expose your real public IP address during this discovery process. This is known as a WebRTC leak.

• A website can use simple JavaScript code to trigger WebRTC and read these IP addresses.
• If the real IP is revealed, it bypasses your proxy and shows your true location or network.
• This undermines anonymity and allows websites, advertisers, or even trackers to correlate multiple browsing sessions to the same real-world identity.

How WebRTC Leaks Are Used in Fingerprinting

• Correlation across sessions: If two different profiles or visits reveal the same public IP, they can be linked.
• Proxy detection: A mismatch between the Proxy IP (in the HTTP request) and the WebRTC IP (real ISP address) is a clear sign of tunneling.
• Local network identification: Exposure of private IPs (like 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x) can add extra uniqueness to a fingerprint.

This makes WebRTC leaks one of the strongest privacy risks in modern browsers.

How to Prevent WebRTC Public IP Exposure

1. ‍Disable WebRTC in the browser (possible in Firefox, some Chromium forks, but not in all browsers).‍
2. Use browser extensions that block or restrict WebRTC requests.‍
3. Rely on anti-fingerprinting tools that specifically prevent WebRTC from leaking real IPs.

In Short: WebRTC Public IP Exposure (or WebRTC leak) is when your browser reveals your real IP address - even while on a proxy - due to the way WebRTC discovers network routes. This is a major privacy risk because it bypasses network-level protections and can expose your real identity to websites and trackers.

How Can Kameleo Prevent WebRTC Leak

Kameleo prevents WebRTC public IP leaks with configurable WebRTC spoofing. Kameleo makes sure your real IP address isn’t accidentally revealed through WebRTC, a browser feature that websites can use to detect your network. You can choose whether Kameleo hides, replaces, or adjusts these signals so they match your proxy, keeping your online identity consistent and harder to track.