What is a WebRTC Leak?

A WebRTC leak occurs when the WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) protocol in your browser exposes your real IP address, bypassing the proxy or VPN you are using. WebRTC establishes peer-to-peer connections that can reveal local and public IPs through STUN server requests.

How WebRTC Bypasses Your Proxy

WebRTC is built into modern browsers for real-time audio, video, and data communication. To establish peer connections, WebRTC uses STUN/TURN servers to discover the client's public IP address. This discovery process happens at the browser level, outside the proxy connection, meaning the STUN request can bypass the proxy and reveal the user's real public IP. JavaScript on any web page can trigger WebRTC IP discovery through the RTCPeerConnection API, making it a common fingerprinting and de-anonymization technique.

You might be routing all HTTP traffic through gate.hexproxies.com:8080 with a clean residential IP, but a target website runs a simple JavaScript snippet that queries WebRTC. The STUN request goes directly to a Google STUN server, bypassing the proxy entirely, and returns your real public IP to the page's script.

Mitigating WebRTC Exposure

WebRTC leaks are one of the most overlooked privacy vulnerabilities when using proxies. Even with a high-anonymity elite proxy, a WebRTC leak reveals your true IP to any website that checks. Hex Proxies users should disable WebRTC in their browser settings or use browser extensions that block WebRTC when operating through proxy connections.