Always On VPN Error 853 on Windows 11

Recently I did some validation testing with Always On VPN on Windows 11, and I’m happy to report that everything seems to work without issue. However, a few readers have reported 853 errors when establishing an Always On VPN connection after upgrading to Windows 11.

Can’t Connect

After upgrading to Windows 11, an Always On VPN connection may fail 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 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 message.

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

Server Identity

This error will occur when using Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) authentication. Specifically, it can happen when the option to verify NPS server validity by its certificate is selected, and an explicit list of NPS servers is defined, as shown here.

Case Sensitive

In this specific scenario, Windows 11 now appears to be case-sensitive when it compares the NPS server name entered in the NPS configuration to the Subject Name on the certificate returned by the server. For example, if the Subject Name (or Subject Alternative Name, if present) entry on the NPS server certificate is nps.lab.richardhicks.net, using NPS.lab.richardhicks.net will not match and return an 853 error.

Windows 11

Case matching when validating the NPS server certificate is a change in behavior from Windows 10. Before Windows 11, this comparison was case-insensitive, and any combination of case would match if the entire hostname matched. Going forward, it appears Microsoft has also decided to require case matching to validate the server certificate.

Recommendations

Administrators should look carefully at the server certificate issued to the NPS server and ensure their client configuration accurately reflects the hostname in a case-sensitive manner to ensure a smooth migration from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Additional Information

Troubleshooting Windows 10 Always On VPN Error 853

Windows 10 Always On VPN Network Policy Server (NPS) Load Balancing

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 Windows Server RRAS Service Does Not Start

Always On VPN Windows Server RRAS Service Does Not StartAdministrators configuring a Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) server to support Windows 10 Always On VPN connections may encounter an issue where the RemoteAccess service fails to start. Attempts to start the service might seem to work at first, but the service immediately stops again.

Troubleshooting

On the RRAS server, the Services management console (services.msc) or PowerShell Get-Service command shows the RemoteAccess service as being stopped. Attempts to start the service result in failure.

Always On VPN Windows Server RRAS Service Does Not Start

Event Log

Looking at the System event log on the RRAS server shows an error with event ID 7024 from the Service Control Manager source indicating “The Routing and Remote Access service terminated with the following service-specific error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Always On VPN Windows Server RRAS Service Does Not Start

Resolution

This issue is commonly caused when IPv6 is disabled on the server via the registry. To verify, open the registry editor on the RRAS server and navigate to the following location.

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters

If the DisabledComponents value is present and set to anything other than 0, set it to 0 or simply delete the DisabledComponents value completely and reboot the server.

Always On VPN Windows Server RRAS Service Does Not Start

The following PowerShell command can be used to remove the DisabledComponents value.

Remove-ItemProperty HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters -Name DisabledComponents

Additional Information

IPv6 Recommended Reading for Always On VPN and DirectAccess Administrators

Guidance for Configuring IPv6 in Windows for Advanced Users (Microsoft)

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