IRC fail. Anyone help me out?
reddit / irc

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ifailedatirc · 2015-09-12 00:22

Ok, so I have a Bouncer running on a VPS that I use, but before
connecting to my bouncer I always start my VPN. I've noticed that when
i log into it on multiple computers the "*status" window comes up with
this:


      <*status> Another client authenticated as your user. Use the
'ListClients' command to see all 2 clients.
      <ifailedatirc> listclients
      <*status> +================+==========+============+
      <*status> | Host           | Network  | Identifier |
      <*status> +================+==========+============+
      <*status> | 111.11.111.11 | freenode |            |
      <*status> +----------------+----------+------------+
      <*status> | 111.11.111.11 | freenode |            |
      <*status> +================+==========+============+



Can someone explain to a n00b how the "listclients" command is still
showing my real IP even though I'm going through a VPN & bouncer
before connecting?

Also, what would be more secure for anonymity sake between the
following 2?

1) VPN > Local Client > VPS Bouncer > IRC

2) VPN > Web Client > IRC

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Dijit · 2015-09-12 10:50

that message is coming from your bouncer.

you're default route isn't going via the VPN, you're connecting
directly to the VPS with your bouncer.

freenode only see's your Bouncers IP.

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tilpner · 2015-09-12 12:08

You did not provide information on what bouncer you're using, so I'm
going to assume ZNC.

*status is a part of your ZNC, and not accessible to other freenode
users. The ZNC can of course show you the IPs of incoming connections.

From your *diagram*, it should show the IP of "Local Client", but I'm
not convinced your diagram is correct.

What's more secure? Hard to say from here. If someone can just ask who
that VPS belongs to... it didn't protect you.

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MuffinMedic · 2015-09-12 16:31

This. Connecting to your bouncer via VPN doesn't change what the IRC
network is going to see. If you want your bouncer's IP address hidden
on IRC, your best option would be to [route ZNC through
Tor](http://wiki.znc.in/Tor) with SSL. Unfortunately, [freenode's Tor
service is down](https://freenode.net/irc_servers.shtml#tor).

You may be able to route ZNC through your VPN to hide your VPS IP as
well. ZNC doesn't have any sort of native support for this, although
you can set a bindhost (may be able to connect your VPS to your VPN
and set ZNC's bindhost accordingly). If that doesn't work, the other
option is to setup the server to route all the ZNC traffic through the
VPN, either by iptables & default routes, or setting up a network
namespace and running ZNC inside of it.

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largepanda · 2015-09-16 22:47

`*status` is a fake user you use to interact with ZNC with. Freenode
still only sees your bouncer's IP.