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How to Disable WebRTC Firefox & WebRTC Mozilla IP Leaks

Think of WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) as a built-in Skype inside a browser. With WebRTC, you can now do audio and video chat through a browser without the need to install special plug-ins, or experience poor connections. This technology is supported by Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera and also by popular apps like Google Hangouts and Facebook Messenger. However, due to the issue of WebRTC IP leaks, many users disable webRTC in Firefox and other browsers.

How to disable WebRTC Firefox

Like most browsers, Firefox’s WebRTC function is “on” by default. To surf the Internet anonymously, while using a VPN which hasn’t compensated for this leak, you may choose to disable WebRTC in Firefox as the browser is one of those affected by WebRTC leak.

If you want to disable WebRTC Firefox, you have two ways: through browser settings or by using an add-on.

Through browser settings

If you don’t need the functions of WebRTC, you can manually disable it through Firefox’s browser settings:

  1. Type about.config in the address bar. Press Enter.

Disable WebRTC Firefox Browser Settings Step 1

  1. A warning screen will appear. Click “I accept the risk!”

Disable WebRTC Firefox Browser Settings Step 2

  1. A search box will appear below the address bar along with a long list of preference names. Type media.peerconnection.enabled to get this specific name.

Disable WebRTC Firefox Browser Settings Step 3

  1. Right-click on this search result then select “Toggle.”

Disable WebRTC Firefox Browser Settings Step 4

  1. The Status column should change from “default” to “modified” and the Value column from “true” to “false.” (Double-clicking will also give the same result.)

By following these steps, you now have disabled WebRTC in your Firefox browser. Should you need to enable WebRTC again, perform steps 1-4 then in step 5, bring back the final Status to “default” and Values to “true.” This method will work for both desktop and mobile versions of Firefox.

Through add-ons

An add-on is another way to disable WebRTC Firefox issues. You can find lots of add-on choices in Firefox’s Add-ons Manager page.

To install an add-on, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the menu tool at the top-right corner of Firefox. Click “Add-ons.”

Disable WebRTC Firefox Add-on Step 1

  1. A new tab for Adds-on Manager will open. On the search bar, type “WebRTC” to bring up a list of WebRTC-related add-ons. Press Enter.

Disable WebRTC Firefox Add-on Step 2

  1. A new tab with the search results will open. For illustration, let’s choose WebRTC Control.

Disable WebRTC Firefox Add-on Step 3

  1. This will bring you to the add-on’s page. Click “Add to Firefox.”

Disable WebRTC Firefox Add-on Step 4

  1. A pop-up window will appear, asking if you want to add the extension. Click “Add.”

Disable WebRTC Firefox Add-on Step 5

  1. Once the add-on is added, an icon will appear at the top section of the browser. Toggle this icon on/off to disable/enable WebRTC. (Note: different add-ons may vary in their disabling/enabling mechanism.)

Disable WebRTC Firefox Add-on Step 6

This process will guide you in disabling WebRTC through an add-on. The good thing with an add-on is that it’s quicker than to tinker with the browser settings we described above. Oftentimes, all you need to do is click the add-on’s icon to disable WebRTC Firefox.

Why do people disable WebRTC in Firefox?

As mentioned, the main reason users are disabling WebRTC in browsers is the WebRTC IP leak. This is a serious flaw in terms of online privacy and security, despite the functionality and convenience brought forth by WebRTC. Once WebRTC is left on, your real IP address can be exposed, even with a VPN or a proxy.

Security researcher Daniel Roesler first revealed this ‘bug’ which affects browser-based WebRTC. The ‘bug’ was investigated further by another researcher that goes by the name of VoidSec. It was later discovered that the WebRTC leak issue had affected around 20% of tested VPNs. This means not all VPN providers can hide their users’ IP addresses. The issue became a significant concern among VPN users.

On Github, there’s an in-depth explanation of why the WebRTC IP leak happens. To summarize:

  • The WebRTC leak has nothing to do with the VPN. Instead, the flaw lies within the browser.
  • WebRTC exposes a user’s IP address when the browser communicates with an Internet-based server called STUN (Session Traversal Utilities for NAT). STUN lets devices inside a network know each other’s IP addresses. Also, a VPN uses STUN as well to turn a user’s local IP address into the VPN’s public IP address.
  • If the browser’s WebRTC is enabled, it will accept queries from STUN and will reply with the local and public IP address details.
  • Unfortunately, the data of the IP addresses can be easily accessed by a small program called JavaScript.

With the IP leak, VPN users are vulnerable to hackers and trackers. Certain benefits associated with using a VPN—like hiding the user’s real IP address and getting anonymity during torrenting or streaming—have become questionable. Windows-based desktop browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Opera are mainly affected by this issue.

Can a VPN protect you from WebRTC leaks?

As mentioned, WebRTC IP has affected roughly 20% of tested VPNs. The names of the affected ones can be found here. If you want to personally check if the VPN you’re using is leaking your IP address, one way to do so is to do leak tests with sites like BrowserLeaks or IPLeak. Do two tests while connected to a VPN server: one with WebRTC enabled and another one with WebRTC disabled. If there’s no IP leak, the results should display the VPN’s IP address and not yours both times.

In the end, we know that the WebRTC leak is linked to browsers and not to VPNs. Based on our leak tests, we found out that a capable VPN can handle WebRTC leaks. Still, we recommend that you disable WebRTC Firefox settings first, and do not rely alone on your VPN.

The two methods we described above—through browser settings and add-ons—should let you disable WebRTC Firefox easily. Once you have disabled WebRTC in your Firefox browser, strengthen your online privacy further by choosing one of these VPNs we have tested and reviewed. You’ll notice that none of our top 5 were on the list of those who leaked!

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