All posts tagged network load balancing

Always On VPN July 2023 Security Updates

Hello, Always On VPN administrators! It’s the second Tuesday of the month, so you know what that means. Yes, it’s Patch Tuesday! This month’s security updates include several fixes for vulnerabilities potentially affecting Microsoft Always On VPN deployments.

RRAS Vulnerabilities

Microsoft’s July 2023 security updates include fixes affecting Windows Servers with the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) role installed. Security vulnerabilities CVE-2023-35365, CVE-2023-35366, and CVE-2023-35367 are all Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerabilities with a Critical security rating and a CVSS score of 9.8. These security vulnerabilities in Windows Server RRAS are particularly troublesome due to the nature of the workload. RRAS servers are, by design, exposed to the public Internet. Although there are no known exploits in the wild at this time, this attack requires no special privileges other than network access. Administrators running Windows Server with RRAS installed are encouraged to update as soon as possible.

AD CS Vulnerabilities

Most Always On VPN implementations leverage enterprise PKI certificates for user and device authentication. Administrators commonly deploy Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) to support this. This month there are two security vulnerabilities in AD CS marked as Important. CVE-2023-35350 and CVE-2023-35351 address RCE vulnerabilities that exploit a race condition on the server. However, AD CS servers are not exposed to untrusted networks. In addition, attackers would require administrative rights on the server to exploit these vulnerabilities.

Network Load Balancing

Finally, of importance to Always On VPN administrators using Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB) to provide load balancing for their RRAS servers, there is a vulnerability in the NLB service. CVE-2023-33163 addresses an RCE vulnerability in NLB identified as Important.

Additional Information

Microsoft July 2023 Security Updates

Windows Server 2022 KB5028171 (Build 20348.1850)

Windows Server 2019 KB5028168 (Build 17763.4645)

Windows Server 2016 KB 5028169 (Build 14393.6085)

Windows 11 22H2 KB8028185 (Build 22621.1992)

Windows 11 21H2 KB5028182 (Build 22000.2176)

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by Richard M. Hicks on July 11, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in Active Directory, Active Directory Certificate Services, AD CS, administration, Always On VPN, AOVPN, Certificate Services, certificates, CVE, Deployment, Device Management, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, Hotfix, Infrastructure, Load Balancing, Microsoft, Mobility, Operational Support, PKI, public key infrastructure, Remote Access, routing and remote access service, RRAS, Security, Security Update, Update, VPN, Vulnerability, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on July 11, 2023

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2023/07/11/always-on-vpn-july-2023-security-updates/

Always On VPN April 2023 Security Updates

Heads up, Always On VPN administrators! This month’s patch Tuesday includes fixes for critical security vulnerabilities affecting Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS). Crucially there are remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) (CVE-2023-28232), the Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) (CVE-2023-28219, CVE-2023-28220), the Point-to-Point over Ethernet (PPPoE) protocol (CVE-2023-28224), and the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol (CVE-2023-28238). The vulnerabilities in PPTP and L2TP are especially urgent as they allow an unauthenticated attacker to exploit them. There is also a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability (CVE-2023-28234) in the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP) protocol.

Exposure and Risk

The RCEs in PPTP, L2TP, and PPPoE should present limited risk as these protocols aren’t commonly used for Always On VPN (PPPoE and PPTP aren’t supported for Always On VPN, in fact). However, organizations may be using these protocols for other purposes. In addition, improperly configured edge firewalls could allow these connections even though administrators may not be actively using them. An attacker could also exploit these vulnerabilities with access to the RRAS server from the internal network.

Attack Surface Reduction

Always On VPN administrators are advised to ensure that only protocols and ports for VPN protocols in use are allowed through the edge firewall. Also, administrators should disable any unused protocols and services in RRAS to reduce the attack surface on their RRAS servers. To do this, open an elevated PowerShell command window on the RRAS server and run the following commands to disable support for the PPTP, L2TP, and PPPoE protocols.

netsh.exe ras set wanports device = “WAN Miniport (L2TP)” rasinonly = disabled ddinout = disabled ddoutonly = disabled maxports = 0

netsh.exe ras set wanports device = “WAN Miniport (PPTP)” rasinonly = disabled ddinout = disabled ddoutonly = disabled maxports = 1

netsh.exe ras set wanports device = “WAN Miniport (PPPOE)” ddoutonly = disabled

Restart-Service RemoteAccess -PassThru

Additional Vulnerabilities

This month’s update also includes fixes for other vulnerabilities that may impact Always On VPN deployments. Specifically, there are RCEs in Windows Network Address Translation (NAT) (CVE-2023-28217) and Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB) (CVE-2023-28240), and a DoS vulnerability in Windows Transport Layer Security (TLS) (CVE-2023-28234).

Update Now

Administrators should patch their RRAS servers as soon as possible to avoid potential compromise of the RRAS server in their environments.

Additional Information

Always On VPN SSTP Security Configuration

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by Richard M. Hicks on April 12, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in administration, Always On VPN, AOVPN, authentication, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, Hotfix, Infrastructure, Microsoft, Mobility, Operational Support, PowerShell, Remote Access, routing and remote access service, RRAS, Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol, SSL, SSL and TLS, SSTP, TLS, Update, VPN, Vulnerability, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 12, 2023

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2023/04/12/always-on-vpn-april-2023-security-updates/

Always On VPN Load Balancing for RRAS in Azure

Always On VPN Load Balancing for RRAS in AzurePreviously I wrote about Always On VPN options for Microsoft Azure deployments. In that post I indicated that running Windows Server with the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) role for VPN was an option to be considered, even though it is not a formally supported workload. Despite the lack of support by Microsoft, deploying RRAS in Azure works well and is quite popular. In fact, I recently published some configuration guidance for RRAS in Azure.

Load Balancing Options for RRAS

Multiple RRAS servers can be deployed in Azure to provide failover/redundancy or to increase capacity. While Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB) can be used on-premises for RRAS load balancing, NLB is not supported and doesn’t work in Azure. With that, there are several options for load balancing RRAS in Azure. They include DNS round robin, Azure Traffic Manager, the native Azure load balancer, Azure Application Gateway, or a dedicated load balancing virtual appliance.

DNS Round Robin

The easiest way to provide load balancing for RRAS in Azure is to use round robin DNS. However, using this method has some serious limitations. Simple DNS round robin can lead to connection attempts to a server that is offline. In addition, this method doesn’t accurately balance the load and often results in uneven distribution of client connections.

Azure Traffic Manager

Using Azure Traffic Manager is another alternative for load balancing RRAS in Azure. In this scenario each VPN server will have its own public IP address and FQDN for which Azure Traffic Manager will intelligently distribute traffic. Details on configuring Azure Traffic Manager for Always On VPN can be found here.

Azure Load Balancer

The native Azure load balancer can be configured to provide load balancing for RRAS in Azure. However, it has some serious limitations. Consider the following.

  • Supports Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP) only.
  • Basic health check functionality (port probe only).
  • Limited visibility.
  • Does not work with IKEv2.
  • Does not support TLS offload for SSTP.

More information about the Azure Load Balancer can be found here.

Azure Application Gateway

The Azure Application Gateway can be used for load balancing RRAS SSTP VPN connections where advanced capabilities such as enhanced health checks and TLS offload are required. More information about the Azure Application Gateway can be found here.

Load Balancing Appliance

Using a dedicated Application Delivery Controller (ADC), or load balancer is a very effective way to eliminate single points of failure for Always On VPN deployments hosted in Azure. ADCs provide many advanced features and capabilities to ensure full support for all RRAS VPN protocols. In addition, ADCs offer much better visibility and granular control over VPN connections. There are many solutions available as virtual appliances in the Azure marketplace that can be deployed to provide RRAS load balancing in Azure.

Summary

Deploying Windows Server RRAS in Azure for Always On VPN can be a cost-effective solution for many organizations. Although not a formally supported workload, I’ve deployed it numerous times and it works quite well. Consider using a dedicated ADC to increase scalability or provide failover and redundancy for RRAS in Azure whenever possible.

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN Options for Azure Deployments

Windows 10 Always On VPN and RRAS in Microsoft Azure

Windows 10 Always On VPN with Microsoft Azure Gateway

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by Richard M. Hicks on October 28, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Always On VPN, AOVPN, application delivery controller, Azure, Azure Application Gateway, Azure Load Balancer, Azure Traffic Manager, Azure VPN, Azure VPN Gateway, cloud, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, High Availability, Load Balancing, Mobility, public cloud, Remote Access, routing and remote access service, RRAS, SSL, SSL and TLS, TLS, VPN, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on October 28, 2019

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2019/10/28/always-on-vpn-load-balancing-for-rras-in-azure/

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