Controlport behavior changed in 0.2.2.32 - CookieAuthentication now required to access control port
Current and previous versions of the torrc file states that either a HashedControlPassword OR CookieAuthentication may be used to access tor's controlport.
From torrc
If you enable the controlport, be sure to enable one of these
authentication methods, to prevent attackers from accessing it.
#HashedControlPassword 16:872860B76453A77D60CA2BB8C1A7042072093276A3D701AD684053EC4C #CookieAuthentication 1
After upgrading from 0.2.1.26 to 0.2.2.32, tor now requires that CookieAuthentication be enabled to access the ControlPort. Upon starting Vidalia after the tor upgrade, an error message was received asking for the location of the authentication cookie even when a HashControlPassword was specified in the torrc file.