Apple has just released its latest iOS 13 for Apple devices. However, it seems that the new operating system has a lot of kinks in its armour.
It has been found that an unpatched security vulnerability in iOS13.3.1 or later prevents virtual private networks (VPN) from encrypting data traffic which leads to some internet connection bypassing the connection to expose user’s data and leak their IP addresses.
This bug was discovered by Proton VPN.
Apple hasn’t provided any fix for the issue. However, you can be certain that an update will be rolled out soon which will resolve the issue.
The problem occurs as Apple’s new iOS doesn’t sever the connection with the internet when the user is connected via a VPN. It somehow automatically reconnects to the destination server after a connection has been established.
A VPN is used to encrypt data traffic on a network and once you enable a VPN its operating system shuts any existing connections and then re-establishes it through the VPN. However, the bug that has been discovered in the recent iOS is not allowing the VPN OS from terminating all connections.
Most internet connections are short-lived and are likely to re-establish connection via VPN, but there are also some connections that are long-lasting and can remain active for long-durations outside the VPN. This vulnerability mostly affects such connections.
Proton VPN says that those at the highest risk because of this vulnerability are people in those countries where surveillance and civil rights abuses are common.
You can be sure that Apple is working on an update to fix this issue but in the meantime, you can bypass this bug on your devices by turning the Airplane Mode on and off after connecting to a VPN service.
This will re-establish connectivity with an existing connection through the VPN tunnel.
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