Recently, security researchers from the Sapienza University of Rome and Queen Mary University of London have released a whitepaper detailing the possible security risks of leaking personally identifying information via IPv6 when using Virtual Private Networks. While this vulnerability has been known for years, the researchers found that many of the today’s “top” VPN providers (TorGuard excluded) leak IPv6 requests in plain sight. In this post we will discuss exactly how an IPv6 leak occurs, and show you how to take extra measures to prevent any private IPv6 requests from leaking.

What the heck is IPv6? IPv6 stands for “Internet Protocol Version 6”, and is currently known as tomorrow’s Internet protocol indented to replace the currently used IP Version 4. Today, everyone who connects to the internet is assigned an IPv4 address, and as more people come online, the demand for additional IP’s goes up. One day in the not so distant future, the world will run out of IPv4 allocations and we will be all forced to transition to an IPv6 internet.

How to protect against IPv6 Leaks over VPN

As IPv6 rolls out among Internet Service Providers and Websites, it may be possible for a third party or malicious attacker to trace user’s requests even when connected to an IPv4 VPN. This can happen quietly while surfing a website by downloading an advertisement, image, or css file from an IPv6 URL, and it can even occur over Bittorrent. In this way it would be possible to spy on the user’s website browsing history or online activity simply from leaked IPv6 requests.

TorGuard software has always blocked most IPv6 leaks by default, and we have now added a new feature that specifically forces all IPv6 traffic into the VPN; thus blocking any potential leak at the source. To activate this new feature on TorGuard’s OpenVPN software, click “More Settings” on the main screen, then on the Network tab click the “Prevent IPv6 Leak” checkbox:

Click Save, then connect to the any VPN server to activate the IPv6 Leak protection over VPN! Any IPv6 queries generated when surfing the web or accessing Bittorrent swarms will be now be forced into the VPN tunnel. You can rest assured that your personal IP address will not be leaked to the outside world via any un-authorized IPv6 requests.

It is important to ensure your VPN service provides the necessary tools to keep you safe online. In addition to an IPv6 Leak Block feature, TorGuard’s secure OpenVPN app protects against WebRTC leaks, DNS leaks, and offers a secure App killswitch and a full connection killswitch when needed. More TorGuard VPN features include: