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

 

 

Always On VPN Load Balancing Deployment Guide for Kemp Load Balancers

Always On VPN Load Balancing Deployment Guide for Kemp Load BalancersI’m pleased announce that Kemp has released their Load Balancing Deployment Guide for Windows 10 Always On VPN. Authored by yours truly, this guide provides detailed, prescriptive guidance for configuring the Kemp LoadMaster load balancer to provide important scalability and eliminate critical points of failure in Always On VPN deployments.

Configuration Guidance

Included in the guide are configuration steps for load balancing VPN servers using IKEv2 and SSTP using Kemp LoadMaster. Crucial details for IKEv2 load balancing as well as SSL offload for SSTP are covered in detail. In addition, the guide includes information about load balancing important supporting infrastructure services such as the Network Policy Server (NPS). Finally, guidance is included for enabling active/passive or active/active load balancing as well as geographic load balancing for multisite Always On VPN deployments.

Always On VPN Load Balancing Deployment Guide for Kemp Load Balancers

Download

You can download the Windows 10 Always On VPN load balancing deployment guide for Kemp LoadMaster load balancers here.

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN Load Balancing Deployment Guide for Kemp LoadMaster Load Balancers

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with the Kemp LoadMaster Load Balancer

 

 

Always On VPN IKEv2 Features and Limitations

Always On VPN IKEv2 Features and LimitationsThe Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) VPN protocol is a popular choice for Windows 10 Always On VPN deployments. IKEv2 is a standards-based IPsec VPN protocol with customizable security parameters that allows administrators to provide the highest level of protection for remote clients. In addition, it provides important interoperability with a variety of VPN devices, including Microsoft Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) and non-Microsoft platforms such as Cisco, Checkpoint, Palo Alto, and others.

IKEv2 Limitations

IKEv2 is clearly the protocol of choice in terms of security. It supports modern cryptography and is highly resistant to interception. It’s not without some operational challenges, however. Consider the following.

Firewalls

IKEv2 uses UDP ports 500 and 4500 for communication. Unfortunately, these ports are not always open. Often, they are blocked by network administrators to prevent users from bypassing security controls or attackers from exfiltrating data.

Fragmentation

IKEv2 packets can become quite large at times, especially when using client certificate authentication with the Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP). This can result in fragmentation occurring at the network layer. Unfortunately, many firewalls and network devices are configured to block IP fragments by default. This can result in failed connection attempts from some locations but not others.

Load Balancing

Load balancing IKEv2 connections is not entirely straightforward. Without special configuration, load balancers can cause intermittent connectivity issues for Always On VPN connections. Guidance for configuring IKEv2 load balancing on the Kemp LoadMaster and the F5 BIG-IP can be found here:

IKEv2 Fragmentation

IKEv2 fragmentation can be enabled to avoid IP fragmentation and restore reliable connectivity. IKEv2 fragmentation is supported in Windows 10 and Windows Server beginning with v1803. Guidance for enabling IKEv2 fragmentation on Windows Server RRAS can be found here. Support for IKEv2 fragmentation on non-Microsoft firewall/VPN devices is vendor-specific. Consult with your device manufacturer for more information.

IKEv2 Security and RRAS

Be advised that the default security settings for IKEv2 on Windows Server RRAS are very poor. The minimum recommended security settings and guidelines for implementing them can be found here.

IKEv2 or TLS?

IKEv2 is recommend for deployments where the highest level of security and protection is required for remote connections. In these scenarios, the sacrifice of ubiquitous availability in favor of ultimate security might be desired.

SSTP or another TLS-based VPN protocol is recommended if reliable operation and connectivity are desired. SSTP and TLS VPNs can be configured to provide very good security by following the security and implementation guidelines found here.

IKEv2 with TLS Fallback

In theory, preferring IKEv2 and falling back to the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP) or another TLS-based VPN protocol when IKEv2 is unavailable would seem like a logical choice. This would ensure the highest level of protection, while still providing reliable connectivity. Unfortunately, the Windows VPN client doesn’t work this way in practice. Details here.

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with F5 BIG-IP

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with Kemp LoadMaster

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Fragmentation

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 and SSTP Fallback

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Security Configuration

Windows 10 Always On VPN Certificate Requirements for IKEv2

Windows 10 Always On VPN Protocol Recommendations for Windows Server RRAS