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VPN will not connect! Help!


nvpmotha
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It has been a long journey, but my support ticket has gotten all of nowhere. I am hoping there might be some suggestions here. 

At a random point in time, my Malwarebytes VPN stopped working. I created a support ticket to address this issue and was told the standard "make sure no other VPNs are connected, make sure you are connected to the internet, turn on auto connect, make sure local devices is enabled, ensure the VPN connection configuration is installed and is enabled, make sure Malwarebytes is checked under settings -> general -> login items and extensions -> endpoint security extensions, etc". All of those were already configured properly. I sent support my logs and all I got back from them was "We see you have expressvpn installed. That could affect Malwarebytes from connecting. We also see that you have Wireshark installed. That can also prevent the VPN from connecting." ExpressVPN is installed because I wanted to do some testing between MalwarebytesVPN and ExpressVPN to decide which one I liked better, I just haven't had the time. ExpressVPN doesn't even have its configuration installed, so it can't possibly be affecting MalwarebytesVPN's connection.

After about 5 emails back and forth with support, I restored my MacBook from a Time Machine backup. I reinstalled MalwarebytesVPN, ExpressVPN, and Wireshark and MalwarebytesVPN connected just fine. Fast forward about a week and it's having the exact same issue. I reopened the ticket with support and am getting the exact same advice about what should be configured. 

I first noticed this was an issue after my router lost internet connectivity one night. I had killswitch enabled on the MalwarebytesVPN console, and much like the feature is supposed to do when it can't connect to VPN services, I couldn't access the internet. I disabled killswitch and my internet came back (go figure). I tried reconnecting to the VPN service and I get connected for about two seconds, the console says "rerouting", and then it goes back to disconnected.

Looking at the logs, it gives the following error in the com.malwarebytes.mbam.engine.sys.ext.log: 

"Error   [337:c6644] Failed to start tunnel. Error: failedToConnect(reason: Optional(Handshake failed.)) @ EngineSysExt.Vpn.PacketTunnelProvider (116)
Warning [337:c66af] Failed to connect. Error: Handshake failed. @ MbAppleVpn.PacketTunnelExtension.Controller (289)"

There's also this in the RTProtectionDaemon.log 

"Warning [21f:c6b8f] Triggering connect to VPN (includeAllNetworks=true). @ RTProtectionDaemon.Vpn.Controller.Impl (1433)"

As well as the following in the Malwarebytes-501.log

"Warning [565c:c6b6e] Ignoring unknown payload Payload(rawValue: "", head: "", rawTail: "", urlComponents: Optional()). @ FrontendAppKit.MB5.Preferences.MenuPage.VM (146)
Warning [5da1:d0234] Host is undefined or has wrong format (url='malwarebytes://?source=agentMenu.buttonOpenMalwarebytes'). @ FrontendAppKit.AppModel.RouteEvent (205)"

The logs are really vague, so I can't infer much from them aside from what appears to be a TLS negotiation problem. 

What I have tried:

Using public DNS addresses (8.8.8.8, 1.1.1.1, etc)

Uninstalling all network programs ExpressVPN, Wireshark, etc

Restarting my router

Connecting to a completely different network

Uninstalling, rebooting, and reinstalling Malwarebytes

 

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

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4 minutes ago, nvpmotha said:

It has been a long journey, but my support ticket has gotten all of nowhere. I am hoping there might be some suggestions here. 

At a random point in time, my Malwarebytes VPN stopped working. I created a support ticket to address this issue and was told the standard "make sure no other VPNs are connected, make sure you are connected to the internet, turn on auto connect, make sure local devices is enabled, ensure the VPN connection configuration is installed and is enabled, make sure Malwarebytes is checked under settings -> general -> login items and extensions -> endpoint security extensions, etc". All of those were already configured properly. I sent support my logs and all I got back from them was "We see you have expressvpn installed. That could affect Malwarebytes from connecting. We also see that you have Wireshark installed. That can also prevent the VPN from connecting." ExpressVPN is installed because I wanted to do some testing between MalwarebytesVPN and ExpressVPN to decide which one I liked better, I just haven't had the time. ExpressVPN doesn't even have its configuration installed, so it can't possibly be affecting MalwarebytesVPN's connection.

After about 5 emails back and forth with support, I restored my MacBook from a Time Machine backup. I reinstalled MalwarebytesVPN, ExpressVPN, and Wireshark and MalwarebytesVPN connected just fine. Fast forward about a week and it's having the exact same issue. I reopened the ticket with support and am getting the exact same advice about what should be configured. 

I first noticed this was an issue after my router lost internet connectivity one night. I had killswitch enabled on the MalwarebytesVPN console, and much like the feature is supposed to do when it can't connect to VPN services, I couldn't access the internet. I disabled killswitch and my internet came back (go figure). I tried reconnecting to the VPN service and I get connected for about two seconds, the console says "rerouting", and then it goes back to disconnected.

Looking at the logs, it gives the following error in the com.malwarebytes.mbam.engine.sys.ext.log: 

"Error   [337:c6644] Failed to start tunnel. Error: failedToConnect(reason: Optional(Handshake failed.)) @ EngineSysExt.Vpn.PacketTunnelProvider (116)
Warning [337:c66af] Failed to connect. Error: Handshake failed. @ MbAppleVpn.PacketTunnelExtension.Controller (289)"

There's also this in the RTProtectionDaemon.log 

"Warning [21f:c6b8f] Triggering connect to VPN (includeAllNetworks=true). @ RTProtectionDaemon.Vpn.Controller.Impl (1433)"

As well as the following in the Malwarebytes-501.log

"Warning [565c:c6b6e] Ignoring unknown payload Payload(rawValue: "", head: "", rawTail: "", urlComponents: Optional()). @ FrontendAppKit.MB5.Preferences.MenuPage.VM (146)
Warning [5da1:d0234] Host is undefined or has wrong format (url='malwarebytes://?source=agentMenu.buttonOpenMalwarebytes'). @ FrontendAppKit.AppModel.RouteEvent (205)"

The logs are really vague, so I can't infer much from them aside from what appears to be a TLS negotiation problem. 

What I have tried:

Using public DNS addresses (8.8.8.8, 1.1.1.1, etc)

Uninstalling all network programs ExpressVPN, Wireshark, etc

Restarting my router

Connecting to a completely different network

Uninstalling, rebooting, and reinstalling Malwarebytes

 

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

I should also add that, as a test, I reinstalled ExpressVPN, configured it, and tested. ExpressVPN connects just fine and my traffic is routed through their VPN services. This tells me that it's not an issue with my router or my network, but something relative to Malwarebytes Privacy VPN. 

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  • Solution

Have you tried the following?

Download and run the Mac uninstall tool to fully remove the app from your device. At a minimum, your device must be running macOS Yosemite 10.10 to run the tool.

  1. Click HERE to download the tool.
  2. Open your Downloads folder and double-click the MB-Mac-Uninstall file.
  3. Click Open to confirm that you want to open the file.
  4. A window asks if you wish to proceed with removing all Malwarebytes software from your Mac. Click Yes to consent.
  5. Enter your Mac password, then click OK.
  6. After the tool removes the files, delete the MB-Mac-Uninstall file.
  7. Try reinstalling the app.
Link to post
17 minutes ago, 1PW said:

Please let the forum know what was the final solution.

This is what seems to work.

4 hours ago, Porthos said:

Have you tried the following?

Download and run the Mac uninstall tool to fully remove the app from your device. At a minimum, your device must be running macOS Yosemite 10.10 to run the tool.

  1. Click HERE to download the tool.
  2. Open your Downloads folder and double-click the MB-Mac-Uninstall file.
  3. Click Open to confirm that you want to open the file.
  4. A window asks if you wish to proceed with removing all Malwarebytes software from your Mac. Click Yes to consent.
  5. Enter your Mac password, then click OK.
  6. After the tool removes the files, delete the MB-Mac-Uninstall file.
  7. Try reinstalling the app.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/12/2024 at 3:30 PM, nvpmotha said:

I should also add that, as a test, I reinstalled ExpressVPN, configured it, and tested. ExpressVPN connects just fine and my traffic is routed through their VPN services. This tells me that it's not an issue with my router or my network, but something relative to Malwarebytes Privacy VPN. 

The error logs suggest a TLS negotiation issue, possibly linked to the killswitch after your router lost internet. To troubleshoot, try uninstalling all network tools (like ExpressVPN and Wireshark), rebooting, and reinstalling Malwarebytes VPN. Use public DNS (like 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1), reset your router, and test on a different network to rule out local conflicts. Temporarily disable the killswitch to see if it’s causing the issue. If it still doesn’t work, you might consider trying an alternative

Edited by AdvancedSetup
Advertising removed - against forum rules
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