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

Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error Code 0x80092013

Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error Code 0x80092013Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) is commonly used for Windows 10 Always On VPN deployments because it is easy to configure and manage, and it includes Microsoft’s proprietary Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP). SSTP is a Transport Layer Security (TLS) VPN protocol that is firewall-friendly and ubiquitously available. However, a common configuration mistake can lead to failed connections.

Error 0x80092013

A Windows 10 Always On VPN client may fail to establish a VPN connection to an RRAS VPN server when using SSTP. The VPN client will return the following error message.

“Can’t connect to Always On VPN. The revocation function was unable to check revocation because the revocation server was offline.”

Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error Code 0x80092013

The event log will also include RasClient event ID 20227 with the following error.

“The user [domain\user] dialed a connection named [connection name] which has failed. The error code returned on failure is -2146885613.”

Troubleshooting Always On VPN Error Code 0x80092013

The Win32 error code –2146885613 converts to hexadecimal 0x80092013, which translates to CRYPT_E_REVOCATION_OFFLINE, indicating that the client was unable to successfully perform a check of the VPN server’s SSL certificate.

Revocation Checking

When the VPN client attempts to establish an SSTP connection to the Windows RRAS VPN, it will check the Certification Revocation List (CRL) using the information provided in the SSL certificate. If the CRL is unreachable for any reason, the client will not complete the connection.

Common Cause of Error 0x80092013

Certificate revocation failures for Windows 10 Always On VPN SSTP connections commonly occur when the RRAS VPN server is configured with an SSL certificate issued by an internal certification authority (CA) and the CRL is not publicly available.

Resolving Error 0x80092013

Making the internal CA’s CRL available publicly will of course resolve this error. However, best practice recommendations for the SSTP SSL certificate call for the use of a certificate issued by a public CA. For detailed information about SSL certificate requirements and recommendations, please see Always On VPN SSL Certificate Requirements for SSTP.

Additional Information

Always On VPN SSL Certificate Requirements for SSTP

Always On VPN ECDSA SSL Certificate Request for SSTP

Always On VPN Protocol Recommendations for Windows RRAS