Aug 18, 2022 12:45:00

Researchers point out that iOS's VPN function has been broken for more than two years

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a mechanism to protect the contents of communication by encrypting the network connection, but security researchers have found that iOS's VPN function has been broken for more than two years, VPN that protects data It points to data leaking outside the tunnel.

VPNs on iOS are a scam

https://www.michaelhorowitz.com/VPNs.on.iOS.are.scam.php

iOS VPNs have leaked traffic for more than 2 years, researcher claims | Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/08/ios-vpns-still-leak-traffic-more-than-2-years-later-researcher-claims/

According to security researcher Michael Horowitz, when establishing a secure communication using a VPN tunnel, a VPN client normally disconnects all existing communication and re-establishes communication via the VPN tunnel.

However, since the VPN function of iOS cannot ``disconnect existing communication'', communication that does not go through the VPN tunnel is performed even though the VPN is connected. 'This is a data leak, not a legacy DNS leak,' Horowitz said.

Proton VPN is the first to point this out.

A bug that can not encrypt the VPN connection on the iPhone is discovered, a simple workaround is also released at the same time - GIGAZINE

The Proton VPN issue was confirmed in iOS 13.3.1, and Apple added a function to block existing connections to address the issue, but Horowitz's verification has resolved the issue. I know not.

Mr. Horowitz verified using multiple VPN providers and VPN clients and confirmed that the problem was in iOS. I contacted Apple on May 19, 2022, but there was no response for a week. However, according to Horowitz, Apple did not disclose whether it tried to reproduce the problem, nor did it mention whether the pointed out problem was a bug.

It was confirmed that this issue was not resolved in iOS 15.6 released in July 2022, so Mr. Horowitz contacted the technical support of Windscribe , a VPN provider. Windscribe co-founder Yegor Sak said he was aware of the issue and had sent multiple reports to Apple.

In response to this situation, Mr. Horowitz commented that if you want to use a VPN connection on an iOS device, you should use a VPN client on your router. I don't recommend using a VPN connection with only one router, so I recommend setting up a VPN connection dedicated router, and if you use it, pcWRT is good.