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PSA: Your torrent client (even with a VPN) could be leaking your IP

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,288
So I was browsing the internet one night and I suddenly get forcibly redirected to a page stating my ISP has received notices of DMCA violations. Except I regularly use a VPN... At first I thought it was a phishing attempt and called up my ISP to confirm it. Yep, it was valid. Next came the question of how in the fuck the RIAA lawyers got a hold of my IP. I did the usual IP leak checks. Nope. No problems there whatsoever. I then did a torrent leak check with ipleak.net. And there it is! My true IP right there along with the VPN IP.



I don't even want to know how long this has been going on for. I should probably thank the RIAA lawyers for the free security bulletin, but even so... What the hell is causing the fucking leak??? I tried reinstalling both the VPN and the torrent client completely from scratch. Nope. Still leaking. I then went into my MX Linux dual boot to test a theory. No leak there though. All clean. Ok, so whatever this is, it's a Windows problem of some kind. I then did a bit of searching and then quickly found out that... WHOOPSY, you need to set the torrent client to explicitly use the TAP adapter connection. And right after I set that, no more leaks...

Fucking hell...

TL;DR then. Be warned if you use a torrent client and a VPN as you need to set the torrent client to EXPLICITLY use the Windows TAP adapter connection so it doesn't accidentally bypass the VPN.
 
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Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
Sanctuary legend
Messages
937
IPLeaks.net shows the same VPN adress for me. I don't have Tap on my comp. Maybe it depends on your torrent program/setup and your VPN program or company.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,288
IPLeaks.net shows the same VPN adress for me. I don't have Tap on my comp. Maybe it depends on your torrent program/setup and your VPN program or company.
This is probably why Linux doesn't leak either. There's no separate connection to leak from.
 

Paco Smithereens

Outlander
Messages
17
Occupation
Mechanic
Before I set up a dedicated Linux box (VPN always on) to do this, I used to do all of my torrenting from within a Linux VM running on Windows 10. Wonder if I would have had the same problem. At this point - not just for this reason but for about two dozen others - I'm thinking of just going back to Linux, with a dual boot into Windows for the software I need to run on rare occasions. I was really pleased with the idea that Windows would become a rolling release thing, with Windows 10 as the last version. When they announced Windows 11, I just got dyspepsia. Then that thing leaked about trying to put ads in the File Explorer.

Currently my torrent box boots up and immediately runs Firefox and connects to a site like ipleak to prove to me I'm on VPN before anything else runs.
 

Paco Smithereens

Outlander
Messages
17
Occupation
Mechanic
Trust me. That wasn't a good thing. lol Not that it matters any longer though... As you've noticed, Windows has really gone to shit.
The problem is because they keep iterating versions they never complete the previous version. Windows 10 is a wildly unfinished project - settings dialogs are still all over the place (some of the dialogs still look like holdovers from Windows 95), the design language is inconsistent, and my hope was in time the OS would "rez in" slowly via rolling releases, becoming more and more solid, and instead they said, "Nope that's done, time to move on to 11."

They'll do it again, too. They'll keep putting out half-assed releases and never crossing the finish line.

I haven't even had a chance to use Windows 11 yet, my PC not being eligible for it, but nothing I've seen online about it really makes me want to.

In fact, I don't think I've heard a single person rave about it in a positive sense.
 
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