Always On VPN Device Tunnel Operation and Best Practices

Always On VPN Device Tunnel Operation and Best PracticesUnlike DirectAccess, Windows 10 Always On VPN settings are deployed to the individual user, not the device. As such, there is no support for logging on without cached credentials using the default configuration. To address this limitation, and to provide feature parity with DirectAccess, Microsoft later introduced the device tunnel option in Windows 10 1709.

Device Tunnel Use Cases

The device tunnel is designed to allow the client device to establish an Always On VPN connection before the user logs on. This enables important scenarios such as logging on without cached credentials. This feature is crucial for organizations who expect users to log on to devices the first time remotely. The device tunnel can also be helpful for remote support, allowing administrators to manage remotely connected Always On VPN clients without having a user logged on. In addition, the device tunnel can alleviate some of the pain caused by administrators resetting remote worker’s passwords, or by users initiating a Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR).

Device Tunnel Requirements

The device tunnel requires Windows 10 Enterprise edition 1709 or later, and the client device must be joined to the domain. The device tunnel must be provisioned in the context of the local system account. Guidance for configuring and deploying a Windows 10 Always On VPN device tunnel can be found here.

Device Tunnel Authentication

The device tunnel is authenticated using a certificate issued to the client device, much the same as DirectAccess does. Authentication takes place on the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) VPN server. It does not require a Network Policy Server (NPS) to perform authentication for the device tunnel.

Always On VPN Device Tunnel Operation and Best Practices

CRL Checking

Eventually an administrator may need to deny access to a device configured with an Always On VPN device tunnel connection. In theory, revoking the client device’s certificate and terminating their IPsec Security Associations (SAs) on the VPN server would accomplish this. However, Windows Server RRAS does not perform certificate revocation checking for Windows 10 Always On VPN device tunnel connections by default. Thankfully an update is available to enable this functionality. See Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate Revocation for more details.

Configuration Best Practices

As the device tunnel is designed only to support domain authentication for remote clients, it should be configured with limited access to the on-premises infrastructure. Below is a list of required and optional infrastructure services that should be reachable over the device tunnel connection.

Required

  • All domain controllers
  • Enterprise DNS servers (if DNS is running on servers other than domain controllers)

Optional

  • All issuing certification authority (CA) servers
  • All certificate services online HTTP responders
  • All certificate services Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) servers
  • System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) distribution point servers
  • Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) servers
  • Management workstations

Limiting Access

Limiting access over the Always On VPN device tunnel can be accomplished in one of the following two ways.

Traffic Filters

The administrator can configure traffic filters on the device tunnel to restrict access only to those IP addresses required. However, be advised that when a traffic filter is enabled on the device tunnel, all inbound access will be blocked. This effectively prevents any remote management of the device from an on-premises system over the device tunnel.

Host Routes

An alternative to using traffic filters to limit access over the device tunnel is using host routes. Host routes are configured with a /32 prefix size and define a route to a specific individual host. The following is an example of host route configuration in ProfileXML.

Always On VPN Device Tunnel Operation and Best Practices

Note: A PowerShell script that enumerates all enterprise domain controllers and outputs their IP addresses in XML format for use in ProfileXML can be found here.

Caveats

Some organizations may have hundreds or even thousands of domain controllers, so creating individual host route entries for all domain controllers in profileXML may not be practical. In this scenario it is recommended to add host routes only for the domain controllers that belong to the Active Directory site where the VPN server resides.

Supportability

Do not use the <DomainNameInformation> element in ProfileXML or enable force tunneling for the device tunnel. Neither of these configurations are supported.

Tunnel Coexistence

The device tunnel can be safely deployed in conjunction with the user tunnel whenever its functionality is required.

DNS Registration

If the device tunnel and user tunnel are both deployed, it is recommended that only one of the tunnels be configured to register in DNS. If the device tunnel is configured to register its IP address in DNS, be advised that only those devices with routes configured in the device tunnel VPN profile will be able to connect remotely to Always On VPN clients.

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel with Azure VPN Gateway

Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate Revocation

Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Configuration with Microsoft Intune

Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Does Not Connect Automatically

Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Missing in Windows 10 UI

Deleting a Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel

Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Configuration using PowerShell

Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate Revocation

Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate RevocationRecently I wrote about denying access to Windows 10 Always On VPN users or computers. In that post I provided specific guidance for denying access to computers configured with the device tunnel. To summarize, the process involved exporting the device certificate from the issuing Certification Authority (CA) server and placing it in the Untrusted Certificates certificate store on each VPN server. In theory, simply revoking the device certificate should be all that’s required to prevent device tunnel connections.

Revocation Check Failure

As it turns out, a bug in Windows Server Routing and Remote Access prevents this from working as expected. Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016, and 2019 all fail to check the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) for IKEv2 VPN connections using machine certificate authentication (for example an Always On VPN device tunnel).

Updates for Windows Server

Microsoft has released fixes to support device tunnel certificate revocation for the following operating systems.

Windows Server 2019 – KB4505658 (build 17763.652)

Windows Server 2016 – KB4503294 (build 14393.3053)

Windows Server 2012/R2 – Will not be updated.

Enable Revocation Check

Additional configuration is required to enable support for CRL checking. Microsoft published guidance for configuring CRL revocation checks for IKEv2 VPN connections using machine certificate authentication here. Specifically, administrators must enable the RootCertificateNameToAccept parameter and set a registry key to enable this functionality.

Open an elevated PowerShell window and run the following commands to enable CRL checking for IKEv2 VPN connections using machine certificate authentication.

$Thumbprint = ‘Root CA Certificate Thumbprint’
$RootCACert = (Get-ChildItem -Path cert:\LocalMachine\root | Where-Object {$_.Thumbprint -eq $Thumbprint})
Set-VpnAuthProtocol -RootCertificateNameToAccept $RootCACert -PassThru

New-ItemProperty -Path ‘HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RemoteAccess\Parameters\Ikev2\’ -Name CertAuthFlags -PropertyTYpe DWORD -Value ‘4’ -Force

Restart-Service RemoteAccess -PassThru

Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate Revocation

A PowerShell script to update the RootCertificateNameToAccept parameter on multiple VPN servers can be found here.

Revoking Certificates

To prevent a Windows 10 Always On VPN device tunnel connection, the administrator must first revoke the certificate on the issuing CA. Next, open an elevated command window an enter the following commands. Repeat these steps on each VPN server in the enterprise.

certutil -urlcache * delete
certutil -setreg chain\ChainCacheResyncFiletime @now

Additional Information

Denying Access to Windows 10 Always On VPN Users or Computers

Blocking VPN Clients that use Revoked Certificates

PowerShell Script to Configure RootCertificateNameToAccept on GitHub

 

 

Denying Access to Always On VPN Users or Computers

Denying Access to Always On VPN Users or ComputersOnce Windows 10 Always On VPN has been deployed in production, it may be necessary at some point for administrators to deny access to individual users or computers. Commonly this occurs when an employee is terminated or leaves the company, or if a device is lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised. Typically, this means that user accounts and computer accounts in Active Directory are disabled, and any issued certificates are revoked. However, additional steps may be required to disconnect current VPN sessions or prevent future remote connections.

Certificate Revocation

When certificates are used for authentication, for example when a device tunnel is deployed, or a user tunnel is configured to use Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) with user certificate authentication, immediately revoking issued user and device certificates and publishing a new Certificate Revocation List (CRL) is recommended. However, this will not instantly prevent VPN access because revocation information is cached on the VPN and NPS servers, as well as any online responders. The process of flushing certificate revocation caches is challenging and time consuming as well.

Blocking Users

To immediately prevent users from accessing the VPN, a security group must be created in Active Directory that contains users that will be denied access. In addition, a Network Policy must be created on the Network Policy Server (NPS) that denies access to users belong to this security group.

NPS Configuration

Once the security group has been created, open the NPS management console (nps.msc) and perform the following steps.

  1. Expand Policies.
  2. Right-click Network Policies and choose New.
  3. Enter a descriptive name for the policy in the Policy name field.
  4. Select Remote Access Server (VPN-Dial up) from the Type of network access server drop-down list.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Click Add.
    1. Select User Groups.
    2. Click Add.
    3. Click Add Groups.
    4. Select the security group create for denied users.
    5. Click Ok twice.
  7. Click Next.
  8. Select Access denied.
  9. Click Next four times and click Finish.

Denying Access to Always On VPN Users or Computers

Denying Access to Always On VPN Users or Computers

Once complete, move the deny access policy so that it is before the policy that allows VPN access.

Denying Access to Always On VPN Users or Computers

Device Tunnel Considerations

Since device tunnel connections don’t use the NPS for authentication, blocking devices from establishing Always On VPN connections requires a different technique. Once again, revoking the computer certificate and publishing a new CRL is recommended, but isn’t immediately effective. To address this challenge, it is recommended that the computer certificate issued to the client be retrieved from the issuing CA and placed in the local computer’s Untrusted Certificates store on each VPN server, as shown here.

Note: The certificate must be imported on each VPN server in the organization.

Terminating Connections

Once the guidance above is put in to place, any user or device that is denied access will be unable to connect to the VPN. However, if a user or device is currently connected when these changes are implemented, additional steps must be taken to proactively terminate their existing session. When using Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) as the VPN server, uUser sessions can be proactively terminated using RRAS management console or PowerShell.

GUI

To terminate an established Always On VPN connection, open the RRAS management console (rrasmgmt.msc), highlight Remote Access Clients, then right-click the client connection and choose Disconnect. Repeat the process for any additional connections established by the user or device.

Denying Access to Always On VPN Users or Computers

PowerShell

Alternatively, Always On VPN connections can also be terminated programmatically using PowerShell. To identify currently connected users on a VPN server, open an elevated PowerShell command window and run the following command.

Get-RemoteAccessConnectionStatistics | Format-Table -AutoSize

Next, to disconnect a user tunnel, identify the User Principal Name (UPN) of the user to disconnect and include it in the following PowerShell command.

Disconnect-VpnUser -UserName “[email protected]

To disconnect a device tunnel, identify the Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the device to disconnect and include it in the following PowerShell command.

Disconnect-VpnUser -UserName “client1.corp.example.net”

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN Hands-On Training