Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

IPv6 leak from a VPN, is this a problem ?

  • 15-05-2021 3:32pm
    #1
    ZoZoZo
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭


    Hi,

    I was testing the effectiveness of a VPN provider. I went to one of the standard 'what's my ip address' type sites.
    With the VPN disabled they list my ip address here in Dublin and my ISP correctly
    With the VPN enabled they list my ip address as being in Holland and the VPN's ISP
    A lot of these sites only check for DNS leaks and IPv4 address though. When I tried one that specifically checks IPv6 it lists my address as being in Dublin and correctly identifies my personal ISP whether or not I have the VPN enabled.

    So to me it looks like the VPN is completely ineffective; its purpose is to keep my location and IP address private but all any website has to do is check the IPv6 address rather than IPv4 and I am easily identifiable, no protection whatsoever.
    I sent an email describing the problem to the VPN provider and their initial response was to direct me to a site that only checks DNS leaks (which only checks IPv4 addresses) and it seems their attitude is that if there's no DNS leak then there's no problem with the VPN, it's as if they don't understand, or want to acknowledge the concept of an IPv6 leak.

    Now, I'm no expert in this area so I'd like to get some other opinions, are IPv6 leaks a problem ? I mean I assumed that the way a VPN worked was that it intercepted all network traffic from my machine then forwarded them to the website I am trying to access with the sender address changed to the VPN provider's address. It looks to me like they are only doing this for IPv4 packets but when IPv6 traffic is sent they just forward it without modifying the sender address so any website I'm accessing can easily see who I am.

    Have I misunderstood ? Or are IPv6 leaks a problem ?

    Thanks,


    Zozo


Comments

  • #2
    horgan_p
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,603 Mod ✭✭✭✭horgan_p


    IP V6 leaks can be an issue.
    If you're of a technical mind, this article explains it, but its pretty technically dense.

    https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/researchers-demonstrate-how-ipv6-can-easily-be-used-perform-mitm-attacks/


    Theres also a quite scary video around of someone pwning an active ddirectory domain using IP V6 and responder.


    Easiest thing to do is just to disable it on your network card.


  • #3
    TheValeyard
    Registered Users Posts: 12,198 ✭✭✭✭TheValeyard


    Pretty sure you can disable it in your router settings if you are with VM

    Fcuk Putin. Glory to Ukraine!



  • #4
    ZoZoZo
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭ZoZoZo


    Yes, I can disable it on the command line but I'm more concerned about the fact that the VPN provider don't block all IPv6 traffic if they don't support it. It is completely by chance that I discovered this, I wonder how many of the users of this VPN have IPv6 enabled and are completely oblivious to the fact that they are totally unprotected. I don't expect to have to double-check that a service provider is doing their job properly.


  • #5
    carasco_rasco
    Registered Users Posts: 14 ✭carasco_rasco


    any leaks can be an issue.

    what vpn provider was it?


Advertisement