Google has known about a bug that breaks VPN apps for 7 months, leaving users exposed with no warning or error, just a VPN app that stopped working in the background.

[protonprivacy@mastodon.social]

The bug corrupts Android's network stack at the system level after a VPN update, causing users to blame their VPN provider.

Restarting the app doesn't help, with the only fix being a full device reboot or VPN app reinstall, something which most users never figure out.

This affects several VPN providers on Android 16, and only Google has the access to diagnose it properly.

After 7 months of waiting, we're now asking publicly: Google, when are you fixing this?

[protonprivacy@mastodon.social]

Issue Tracker Links:

Google Issue Tracker

(issuetracker.google.com)

Google Issue Tracker

(issuetracker.google.com)

[semitones@tiny.tilde.website]

@protonprivacy Will Proton ever create / sponsor a cell phone OS to be a true google replacement?

[protonprivacy@mastodon.social]

@semitones https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/21033-second-donation-to-grapheneos-by-the-proton-foundation

[semitones@tiny.tilde.website]

@protonprivacy I thought grapheneos still depends on google to fix bugs in the underlying AOSP, I'm talking a Linux OS that can run android apps

[ojocle_olonam@mastodon.social]

@protonprivacy @mullvadnet is this an issue in @GrapheneOS too or was it fixed there?

[abhiyantrik@mastodon.social]

@protonprivacy @semitones That was 2 years back as per the link. They need regular support. Please prioritize this.

[raisondetredev@mastodon.de]

@protonprivacy @mullvadnet Since you are saying that only Google can inspect the issue, can one correctly assume that in projects as @GrapheneOS VPNs are not affected?

Because on personal anecdote, I cannot recall an issue forcing a reboot in the last months regarding VPN use.

[rapsneezy@mastodon.social]

@protonprivacy @mullvadnet

are you guys still Trump supporters?

[blueluma@mastodon.social]

@protonprivacy @mullvadnet thanks for stepping in and telling us 🫶

[bayo@me.dm]

@protonprivacy @mullvadnet
Who gets hurt most:
Not the average user streaming Netflix. The people most exposed are exactly the people VPNs exist to protect i.e. journalists in hostile environments, activists, whistleblowers, people in countries where unencrypted traffic gets people killed. Silent VPN failure in those contexts isn't inconvenient. It's dangerous.

[okuna@social.tchncs.de]

@protonprivacy You could never rely on Google network stack.

And by the way, Apple is also bypassing VPN sometimes.

Warnung: Android leakt beim Connectivity-Check Daten an VPN-Verbindungen vorbei

Aktuell prüfe ich für die Artikelserie »Custom-ROMs« gerade das Datensendeverhalten bekannter Android-ROMs. Dabei ist mir etwas aufgefallen…

(www.kuketz-blog.de)

"We have looked into the feature request you have reported and would like to inform you that this is working as intended. We do not think such an option would be understandable by most users, so we don’t think there is a strong case for offering this."

And the arrogance Google is showing is not new as well and gives me the feeling this is not a bug but it works as designed

[okuna@social.tchncs.de]

@raisondetredev @protonprivacy @mullvadnet @GrapheneOS +1

[okuna@social.tchncs.de]

@semitones @protonprivacy as far as I know, not in AOSP, because this is open source and I have read or heard that gos is fixing things Google doesn't fix.

[splinux@mastodon.uno]

@raisondetredev @protonprivacy @mullvadnet @GrapheneOS happens very frequently. It's a real bug. And both reinstall and reboot are required.

[tehstu@hachyderm.io]

@protonprivacy I've had this happen to me on Mullvad, Proton, and my Wireguard link to my home router. And honestly, from the description, I think the issue may be even older, as I'm almost positive the DDG local tracker blocker used to do this.

I had no idea it was an known issue in Android itself.

Thanks for bringing it to light.

[apalrd@hachyderm.io]

@protonprivacy @mullvadnet

As someone who's done plenty of Android testing in IPv6-mostly/only environments, this is not even slightly surprising, Android's networking state machine is a huge mess

[funnymonkey@freeradical.zone]

@protonprivacy @mullvadnet

Making sure I'm reading this correctly:

If you're running Android (or an Android variant) and your VPN app updates, the only way to stop this issue is to:

1. Reboot your phone after the VPN update

OR

2. Keep the phone on, delete the VPN app, and reinstall the app

Am I correct in reading that one or the other approaches will fix this?

IE, restarting your phone after an update eliminates the need to delete and reinstall the app?

(and thank you, and Google wtaf)

[rusty__shackleford@mastodon.social]

@protonprivacy @semitones

Or we could stop the grift & circle jerk. Release your source code so we can make secure email a real standard. Stop releasing to the play store entirely & teach people to install their own apps safely.

Start initiatives to teach children about public private keys, identity verification, trust, & best practices.

Be a man proton.

Or are the normie dollars making you salivate? With fascism on their doorstep, you do have more customers, better bank on their ignorance…

[danamcfarland@mastodon.social]

@funnymonkey @protonprivacy @mullvadnet can confirm that the second worked for my Samsung phone, and not the first. Yes, wtaf.