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Request to add ability to open integrated browser for specific proxy

Gerben | Last updated: May 31, 2023 09:15AM UTC

At the moment it does not seem possible to open up the integrated browser for a specific proxy. Under proxy settings, it's possible to add another proxy and have two running at the same time. One on port 8080 and one on port 8081, for example. But when opening the integrated browser, it just opens one without asking which proxy it should direct to. Usually this is the default proxy on port 8080 but I found that it is possible to open the integrated browser for a different port: If the browser is closed and the proxy for port 8080 is stopped, then opening the browser seems to open it for the proxy on port 8081 (the only one running). But then if I wanted to open up another browser for port 8080 this is not possible. Even if I stop the proxy on port 8081, start the one on port 8080, and open another browser, it will still open for port 8081 (I am assuming this is because it's just copying another instance of the already open browser; the one that is directing to port 8081). I have not found a way to have two proxies running and have two browsers open with each directing to its own proxy. It would be great to have the ability to choose the proxy to which the browser should direct traffic, at least when more than one proxy is configured.

Michelle, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: May 31, 2023 12:30PM UTC

Hi How often do you find yourself needing to use this kind of setup? Can you provide some examples to help explain why this would be useful for you and how this would help your workflow? The proxy setting is set at a general level within the browser. Do you have a particular method to achieve this with an external browser (e.g., are you using different profiles or a browser extension)?

Gerben | Last updated: Oct 20, 2023 08:46PM UTC

Sorry for the late response. I must have missed that my question received an answer. In response to how often I need to use this kind of setup; not necessarily often but it would be a possible method to test with two users logged in to an application at the same time. In firefox there are extensions that allow you to have two tabs open which are completely separated in terms of cookies and storage. One such extension is "multi-account containers". To the best of my knowledge, no such extension/add-on exists for chrome/chromium based browsers. In the past, one method I have used to simulate a similar setup is to have two proxies running in Burp, direct one browser instance to proxy A and the other to proxy B, and then it's even possible to color-code requests and responses in the HTTP history based on which proxy they came through. With the integrated browser this is not possible since I can't direct them to different proxies. I thought I would suggest this as a possible future feature. I am also open to hear suggestions that accomplish the same without the need to run two proxies side by side.

Michelle, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Oct 23, 2023 10:00AM UTC

When you stop the proxy on one port to force the use of the other port, are you closing all existing embedded browser windows and launching a new browser? This should be enough to make the embedded browser use the other proxy port. You could then use this in conjunction with the Multi-Browser Highlighting extension from the BApp Store (https://portswigger.net/bappstore/29fb77b2611d4c27a9a0b8bc504d8ca2) to highlight entries in the proxy history based on which proxy port has been used. Would this help?

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