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    Working OpenVPN (PIA) just stopped working?!

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved OpenVPN
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    • M
      M_Devil
      last edited by

      Today PIA (Private Internet Access) VPN stop working after years of trouble free operation. Log file show: "AUTH: Received control message: AUTH_FAILED". Does your log file show this also?

      On the site of PIA I can login with credentials.
      Warnings about cipher are there for a long time and seems unrelated.
      Also I did not update pfSense today, so problem seems to be at PIA side. Maybe related to new OpenVPN vulnerability, https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=132534.0.

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      • P
        pfBasic Banned
        last edited by

        I do have that message in my logs.

        Are you on pfSense 2.4.0 BETA?

        I can connect (connected as I type this) to a PIA tunnel via their windows app using the same server, encryption, SHA & RSA settings as my pfSense uses. So I'm not sure what trouble PIA would be having, it looks like their end is working just fine?

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        • M
          M_Devil
          last edited by

          Yes, I am using 2.4 Beta.

          I don't think their end is working fine because last week I did't changes anything to my configuration (Beta update, configuration change).

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          • B
            Biscuitsntea
            last edited by

            • Tried VPN user/pass in auth file (how it was originally) & in GUI fields

            • Disabled IDS/IPS & cleared snort2c table to ensure it wasn't blocking anything

            • Scrubbed my zpool to ensure no corruption

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            • M
              M_Devil
              last edited by

              Hmm, when I try to submit an ticket on the site of PIA, it shows:

              High Volume Queues
              
              We are currently experiencing higher than average ticket queues due to recent Customer Support and network changes. Please be assured we will answer your ticket.
              

              So it seems they changes something and working on it.

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              • B
                Biscuitsntea
                last edited by

                At the time I noticed the issue I was still on beta release that was more than a week old. May have been a June 13 release… I made no changes to the config or update before the connection went down.

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                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                  last edited by

                  You shouldn't have to neg a cipher - you should set your client to use the cipher they are using..  This is going to prevent a shitton of problems..

                  Its possible they changed their config so before they had multiple ciphers possible, and now they only have the BF.. Change your client to use BF and see if you can connect.

                  edit:  I just upgraded mine to the latest build, remotely even. built on Wed Jun 21 01:52:48 CDT 2017

                  It rebooted and I am back on the vpn from work without any changes having to be done.  Currently running 2.4.3 on work machine, and my phone can connect in just fine as well.  And the vpn client I have from pfsense to my VPS is up and running as well, so clearly latest 2.4 build did not break openvpn ;)

                  I like the new blue login screen btw… And openpvn on this build is
                  Jun 21 14:18:01 openvpn 45809 OpenVPN 2.4.3 amd64-portbld-freebsd11.0 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [MH/RECVDA] [AEAD] built on Jun 21 2017

                  My previous build was
                  Jun 21 14:17:02 openvpn 46849 OpenVPN 2.4.2 amd64-portbld-freebsd11.0 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [MH/RECVDA] [AEAD] built on May 12 2017

                  Since you did not change anything - I would think they broke something on their end.  I can connect to pfsense from multiple devices, and my pfsense can as a client connect to a server I run..

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                  • P
                    pfBasic Banned
                    last edited by

                    My client is configured in a known working configuration. It's setup using the correct certificate on the correct port for the cipher and authentication that I'm using.

                    PIA made a post (I linked it a few posts earlier) stating that all those warnings are saying is that I'm requesting to use a cipher, auth, etc. that is non-default, but it will still work and connect in the method requested by the client. They are warnings not errors.

                    I did try changing my end to match the warnings, it doesn't do anything except fail with the same error sans those warnings.

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                    • P
                      pfBasic Banned
                      last edited by

                      It looks like it was on PIA's side. My desktop connection cycled, then my pfSense connection came back up with 0% packet loss. It looks like they fixed whatever it was on their end!

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                      • B
                        Biscuitsntea
                        last edited by

                        It is working again.

                        PIA instructions here https://helpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com/hc/en-us/articles/218984968-What-is-the-difference-between-the-OpenVPN-config-files-on-your-website- state:

                        "connect over UDP port 1198 with AES-128-CBC+SHA1, using the server name to connect."

                        And instructions here https://helpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com/hc/en-us/articles/225274288-Which-encryption-auth-settings-should-I-use-for-ports-on-your-gateways-

                        confirm using UDP port 1198 with AES-128-CBC and SHA1

                        This was my working config on a 2.4.0 beta release a week old. I did not make a change in the router config nor did I perform an update; it simply stopped working. However, I have a Tomato router that is using the same credentials, .crt, and username/password and it connects.

                        Strange that it was functional on a Tomato router during this 4 hour period but not on pfSense.

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                        • B
                          Biscuitsntea
                          last edited by

                          I spoke too soon. Down again on pfSense but still working on Tomato.

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                          • M
                            M_Devil
                            last edited by

                            Now working on UDP port 1197 with AES-256-CBC and SHA256

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                            • P
                              pfBasic Banned
                              last edited by

                              @Presbuteros:

                              Strange that it was functional on a Tomato router during this 4 hour period but not on pfSense.

                              Yeah that's really weird, or maybe not weird I just don't know the technical details to explain the reason why. My desktop client also never had an issue connecting on the same settings to the same server that pfSense was trying to.

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                              • P
                                pfBasic Banned
                                last edited by

                                @Presbuteros:

                                I spoke too soon. Down again on pfSense but still working on Tomato.

                                Mine is still up on pfSense.

                                I wonder what's going on.

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                                • M
                                  M_Devil
                                  last edited by

                                  Working for 8 hours without issues on UDP port 1197 with AES-256-CBC and SHA256.
                                  Seems it was an issue on the PIA side.

                                  Update: No issues since

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