this post was submitted on 09 May 2024
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~~The vulnerability doesn't work on Linux~~
You're still right in 99% of all use cases.
Nobody operates VPNs for privacy in split tunnel. So everyone running Linux that would be concerned about this is unaffected.
I thought TunnelVision applies to all VPN users that don't use firewall / network namespaces
A separate routing table that takes precedence over the one modified by DHCP should works as well I think. Oh, and of course you have to use a vpn that forces its own nameserver or set one manually to prevent redirections.
It doesn't apply to Linux unless you do split tunnel, which no commercial VPN configs use, because it doesn't make sense to
why is a split tunnel relevant? I thought all VPNs are vulnerable unless they use a firewall like I do, or network namespaces.
At least the way I understand it, a normal VPN redirects your internet traffic to instead go through a virtual network interface, which then encrypts and sends your traffic through the VPN. This attack uses a malicious DHCP server to inject routes into your system, redirecting traffic to the attacker instead of towards the virtual network interface.
Unfortunately Linux is affected https://github.com/leviathansecurity/TunnelVision
I read the Arstechnica article too where they say Linux isn't affected then link to the researchers video where they show Linux being affected...
Oh. It doesn't work with WireGuard then. It probably works with garbage. Thank you.
I am afraid you are still a bit misled; WireGuard is exactly what they use for the demo video. In general the underlying protocol does not matter, since the vulnerability is about telling the system to direct the packages to the attacker, completely bypassing the VPN.
That "vulnerability" seems more like a case of "people who use hostile networks have not considered which features that work as designed should be disabled in their use case".
Using untrusted networks is quite common, like coffee shop wifi or airport wifi.
Does it matter?
This is a vulnerability anyway and we should be take care of.
It does matter if people now advocate to routinely disable useful features by default because they are a problem for their particular use case.
what features are you talking about?
The ability to set static routes via DHCP server or for that matter the ability to remote boot systems via DHCP server which has similar problems if you can't trust the DHCP server.
I see what you mean now. I wouldn't advocate for people to disable DHCP features either. It should be the VPN provider's responsibility to provide a proper VPN client that mitigates attacks like these.