Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error 853

Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error 691 and 812 – Part 2

Using Windows Server Network Policy Server (NPS) servers is a common choice for authenticating Microsoft Windows 10 Always On VPN user tunnel connections. The NPS server is joined to the domain and configured with a Network Policy that defines the authentication scheme used by clients for authentication when establishing an Always On VPN connection. Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) using client authentication certificates recommended for most Always On VPN deployment scenarios.

Experiencing error 853 on Windows 11? Click here for more information.

Can’t Connect

Users establishing an Always On VPN user tunnel connection using PEAP and client authentication certificates may encounter a scenario in which a VPN connection attempt fails with the following error message.

“The remote access connection completed, but authentication failed because the certificate that authenticates the client to the server is not valid. Ensure that the certificate used for authentication is valid.”

Error 853

In addition, the Application event log records an event ID 20227 from the RasClient source that includes the following error message.

“The user <username> dialed a connection named <connection name> which has failed. The error code is 853.”

Missing NTAuth Certificate

Error code 853 is commonly caused by a missing issuing Certification Authority (CA) certificate in the NTAuth store on the NPS server. The NPS server must have the issuing CA certificate included in this store to perform authentication using client certificates. You can see the contents of the NTAuth certificate store by opening an elevated command window on the NPS server and running the following command.

certutil.exe -enterprise -viewstore NTAuth

Install Certificate

To install the issuing CA server’s certificate into the NTAuth store, copy the CA certificate to the NPS server, open an elevated command window, then run the following command.

certutil.exe -enterprise -addstore NTAuth <issuing CA certificate>

Once complete, view the store again, and you’ll see the issuing CA certificate listed in the NTAuth certificate store.

Additional Information

Always On VPN Error 853 on Windows 11

Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error Code 858

Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error Code 864

Always On VPN and Windows Server 2019 NPS Bug

Always On VPN Network Policy Server (NPS) Load Balancing

Microsoft Network Policy Server (NPS) Reason Codes

Always On VPN Traffic Filters and IPv6

Always On VPN Windows Server RRAS Service Does Not Start

Using Traffic Filters with Always On VPN provides administrators the option to configure a true Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solution for their field-based users and devices. By enabling traffic filtering, network access over the Always On VPN connection can be controlled using fine-grained policies. Traffic Filter rules can be configured to restrict access based source and destination IP addresses, protocols, and source and destination ports. Administrators can further restrict access based on the application generating the traffic.

IPv6

While testing these features recently, I learned that the Microsoft Endpoint Manager (formerly Intune) user interface does not appear to support IPv6 when configuring traffic filter rules. As you can see here, the UI explicitly asks for an IPv4 address and complains when entering an IPv6 address in the address field, as shown here.

Interestingly, it is possible to add IPv6 addresses in XML, as follows.

<TrafficFilter>
   <App>
      <Id>Microsoft.RemoteDesktop_8wekyb3d8bbwe</Id>
   </App>
   <Protocol>6</Protocol>
   <RemotePortRanges>3389</RemotePortRanges>
   <RemoteAddressRanges>2001:470:f109::/48</RemoteAddressRanges>
</TrafficFilter>

Connection Failure

Unfortunately, after loading the XML on a test client, the Always On VPN connection fails with the following error message.

“Can’t connect to <ConnectionName>. Catastrophic failure.”

In addition, the Application event log records an event ID 20227 from the RasClient source with the following error.

“The user <UserName> dialed a connection name <ConnectionName> which has failed. The error code returned on failure is -2147418113.”

Workaround

At this time, the only known workaround is to update the configuration on the RRAS server to use IPv4 addressing for VPN clients.

Summary

Unfortunately, IPv6 is still a second-class citizen when it comes to Always On VPN. Although enabling IPv6 works well in most common deployment scenarios, the Microsoft Endpoint Manager management console often fails to accept IPv6 entries in IP address fields. In addition, some advanced features such as traffic filtering are incompatible with IPv6.

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Windows 10 Always On VPN Windows Server RRAS Service Does Not Start

Always On VPN Updates for RRAS and IKEv2

Always On VPN Updates for RRAS and IKEv2

Many users have reported connection stability issues using Windows Server 2019 Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) and the IKEv2 VPN protocol. Specifically, there have been reports of random disconnects for which the connection cannot be re-established for an extended period. At the same time, other VPN connections may work without issue.

KB5003703

Microsoft has identified an issue in RRAS where the RemoteAccess service enters DoS protection mode, limiting incoming IKEv2 connection attempts. They released an update on June 15 (OS Build 17763.2028) that addresses this issue. Previously, the only workaround was to restart the IKEEXT service, which was highly disruptive if performed during peak hours.

No More Files

In addition, this update includes another Always On VPN-related fix for Windows 10 1809 clients. An Always On VPN user tunnel connection may fail, with an error message stating, “There are no more files.” The problem can occur after an existing user’s certificate is automatically renewed.

Additional Information

Microsoft Update June 15, 2021 KB5003703 (OS Build 17763.2028)