and bring all the changelogs into master too

ChangeLog

@@ -1,6 +1,120 @@
 Changes in version 0.2.6.1-alpha - 2014-??-??
 
 
+Changes in version 0.2.5.6-alpha - 2014-07-28
+  Tor 0.2.5.6-alpha brings us a big step closer to slowing down the
+  risk from guard rotation, and fixes a variety of other issues to get
+  us closer to a release candidate.
+
+  o Major features (also in 0.2.4.23):
+    - Make the number of entry guards configurable via a new
+      NumEntryGuards consensus parameter, and the number of directory
+      guards configurable via a new NumDirectoryGuards consensus
+      parameter. Implements ticket 12688.
+
+  o Major bugfixes (also in 0.2.4.23):
+    - Fix a bug in the bounds-checking in the 32-bit curve25519-donna
+      implementation that caused incorrect results on 32-bit
+      implementations when certain malformed inputs were used along with
+      a small class of private ntor keys. This bug does not currently
+      appear to allow an attacker to learn private keys or impersonate a
+      Tor server, but it could provide a means to distinguish 32-bit Tor
+      implementations from 64-bit Tor implementations. Fixes bug 12694;
+      bugfix on 0.2.4.8-alpha. Bug found by Robert Ransom; fix from
+      Adam Langley.
+
+  o Major bugfixes:
+    - Perform circuit cleanup operations even when circuit
+      construction operations are disabled (because the network is
+      disabled, or because there isn't enough directory information).
+      Previously, when we were not building predictive circuits, we
+      were not closing expired circuits either. Fixes bug 8387; bugfix on
+      0.1.1.11-alpha. This bug became visible in 0.2.4.10-alpha when we
+      became more strict about when we have "enough directory information
+      to build circuits".
+
+  o Minor features:
+    - Authorities now assign the Guard flag to the fastest 25% of the
+      network (it used to be the fastest 50%). Also raise the consensus
+      weight that guarantees the Guard flag from 250 to 2000. For the
+      current network, this results in about 1100 guards, down from 2500.
+      This step paves the way for moving the number of entry guards
+      down to 1 (proposal 236) while still providing reasonable expected
+      performance for most users. Implements ticket 12690.
+    - Update geoip and geoip6 to the July 10 2014 Maxmind GeoLite2
+      Country database.
+    - Slightly enhance the diagnostic message for bug 12184.
+
+  o Minor bugfixes (also in 0.2.4.23):
+    - Warn and drop the circuit if we receive an inbound 'relay early'
+      cell. Those used to be normal to receive on hidden service circuits
+      due to bug 1038, but the buggy Tor versions are long gone from
+      the network so we can afford to resume watching for them. Resolves
+      the rest of bug 1038; bugfix on 0.2.1.19.
+    - Correct a confusing error message when trying to extend a circuit
+      via the control protocol but we don't know a descriptor or
+      microdescriptor for one of the specified relays. Fixes bug 12718;
+      bugfix on 0.2.3.1-alpha.
+
+  o Minor bugfixes:
+    - Fix compilation when building with bufferevents enabled. (This
+      configuration is still not expected to work, however.)
+      Fixes bugs 12438, 12474, 11578; bugfixes on 0.2.5.1-alpha and
+      0.2.5.3-alpha. Patches from Anthony G. Basile and Sathyanarayanan
+      Gunasekaran.
+    - Compile correctly with builds and forks of OpenSSL (such as
+      LibreSSL) that disable compression. Fixes bug 12602; bugfix on
+      0.2.1.1-alpha. Patch from "dhill".
+
+
+Changes in version 0.2.4.23 - 2014-07-28
+  Tor 0.2.4.23 brings us a big step closer to slowing down the risk from
+  guard rotation, and also backports several important fixes from the
+  Tor 0.2.5 alpha release series.
+
+  o Major features:
+    - Clients now look at the "usecreatefast" consensus parameter to
+      decide whether to use CREATE_FAST or CREATE cells for the first hop
+      of their circuit. This approach can improve security on connections
+      where Tor's circuit handshake is stronger than the available TLS
+      connection security levels, but the tradeoff is more computational
+      load on guard relays. Implements proposal 221. Resolves ticket 9386.
+    - Make the number of entry guards configurable via a new
+      NumEntryGuards consensus parameter, and the number of directory
+      guards configurable via a new NumDirectoryGuards consensus
+      parameter. Implements ticket 12688.
+
+  o Major bugfixes:
+    - Fix a bug in the bounds-checking in the 32-bit curve25519-donna
+      implementation that caused incorrect results on 32-bit
+      implementations when certain malformed inputs were used along with
+      a small class of private ntor keys. This bug does not currently
+      appear to allow an attacker to learn private keys or impersonate a
+      Tor server, but it could provide a means to distinguish 32-bit Tor
+      implementations from 64-bit Tor implementations. Fixes bug 12694;
+      bugfix on 0.2.4.8-alpha. Bug found by Robert Ransom; fix from
+      Adam Langley.
+
+  o Minor bugfixes:
+    - Warn and drop the circuit if we receive an inbound 'relay early'
+      cell. Those used to be normal to receive on hidden service circuits
+      due to bug 1038, but the buggy Tor versions are long gone from
+      the network so we can afford to resume watching for them. Resolves
+      the rest of bug 1038; bugfix on 0.2.1.19.
+    - Correct a confusing error message when trying to extend a circuit
+      via the control protocol but we don't know a descriptor or
+      microdescriptor for one of the specified relays. Fixes bug 12718;
+      bugfix on 0.2.3.1-alpha.
+    - Avoid an illegal read from stack when initializing the TLS
+      module using a version of OpenSSL without all of the ciphers
+      used by the v2 link handshake. Fixes bug 12227; bugfix on
+      0.2.4.8-alpha.  Found by "starlight".
+
+  o Minor features:
+    - Update geoip and geoip6 to the July 10 2014 Maxmind GeoLite2
+      Country database.
+
+
 Changes in version 0.2.5.5-alpha - 2014-06-18
   Tor 0.2.5.5-alpha fixes a wide variety of remaining issues in the Tor
   0.2.5.x release series, including a couple of DoS issues, some

ReleaseNotes

@@ -3,6 +3,54 @@ This document summarizes new features and bugfixes in each stable release
 of Tor. If you want to see more detailed descriptions of the changes in
 each development snapshot, see the ChangeLog file.
 
+Changes in version 0.2.4.23 - 2014-07-28
+  Tor 0.2.4.23 brings us a big step closer to slowing down the risk from
+  guard rotation, and also backports several important fixes from the
+  Tor 0.2.5 alpha release series.
+
+  o Major features:
+    - Clients now look at the "usecreatefast" consensus parameter to
+      decide whether to use CREATE_FAST or CREATE cells for the first hop
+      of their circuit. This approach can improve security on connections
+      where Tor's circuit handshake is stronger than the available TLS
+      connection security levels, but the tradeoff is more computational
+      load on guard relays. Implements proposal 221. Resolves ticket 9386.
+    - Make the number of entry guards configurable via a new
+      NumEntryGuards consensus parameter, and the number of directory
+      guards configurable via a new NumDirectoryGuards consensus
+      parameter. Implements ticket 12688.
+
+  o Major bugfixes:
+    - Fix a bug in the bounds-checking in the 32-bit curve25519-donna
+      implementation that caused incorrect results on 32-bit
+      implementations when certain malformed inputs were used along with
+      a small class of private ntor keys. This bug does not currently
+      appear to allow an attacker to learn private keys or impersonate a
+      Tor server, but it could provide a means to distinguish 32-bit Tor
+      implementations from 64-bit Tor implementations. Fixes bug 12694;
+      bugfix on 0.2.4.8-alpha. Bug found by Robert Ransom; fix from
+      Adam Langley.
+
+  o Minor bugfixes:
+    - Warn and drop the circuit if we receive an inbound 'relay early'
+      cell. Those used to be normal to receive on hidden service circuits
+      due to bug 1038, but the buggy Tor versions are long gone from
+      the network so we can afford to resume watching for them. Resolves
+      the rest of bug 1038; bugfix on 0.2.1.19.
+    - Correct a confusing error message when trying to extend a circuit
+      via the control protocol but we don't know a descriptor or
+      microdescriptor for one of the specified relays. Fixes bug 12718;
+      bugfix on 0.2.3.1-alpha.
+    - Avoid an illegal read from stack when initializing the TLS
+      module using a version of OpenSSL without all of the ciphers
+      used by the v2 link handshake. Fixes bug 12227; bugfix on
+      0.2.4.8-alpha.  Found by "starlight".
+
+  o Minor features:
+    - Update geoip and geoip6 to the July 10 2014 Maxmind GeoLite2
+      Country database.
+
+
 Changes in version 0.2.4.22 - 2014-05-16
   Tor 0.2.4.22 backports numerous high-priority fixes from the Tor 0.2.5
   alpha release series. These include blocking all authority signing