{"id":91856,"date":"2018-10-09T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T19:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=91856"},"modified":"2025-08-13T00:43:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T07:43:30","slug":"voracle-openvpn-attack-what-consumers-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/privacy-identity-protection\/voracle-openvpn-attack-what-consumers-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"The VORACLE OpenVPN Attack: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us know that using a VPN<\/a> (Virtual Private Network) adds an extra layer of security to our Wi-Fi networks. But VORACLE,<\/a> a recently discovered vulnerability that was announced at a security conference by security researcher Ahamad Nafeez, is making some people reconsider this this steadfast safety tip. Let\u2019s look under the hood at this vulnerability to understand what was impacted and why, and what we should do in the future when it comes to safely connecting to Wi-Fi.<\/p>\n

Under the Hood of a VPN<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A VPN is a connection between a secure server and your mobile device or computer. Through the VPN your activity and information on the internet is encrypted, making it difficult for anyone else to see your private information. Many of us use a VPN for work when we travel,<\/a> some of us use them to watch videos online, and more and more of us use them as a best practice to help keep our information safe any time we want to use a Wi-Fi connection that we\u2019re not sure about.<\/p>\n

About the VORACLE VPN Vulnerability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At a high level, VORACLE leverages a vulnerability found in the open-source OpenVPN protocol. OpenVPN is an open-source protocol used by the majority of VPN providers, meaning many VPN products are affected.<\/p>\n

The VORACLE attack can recover HTTP traffic sent via encrypted VPN connections under certain conditions, the first being that the VPN app in use enables compression via the OpenVPN protocol. A \u00a0hacker must be on the same network and able to lure you to an HTTP (not HTTPS) site with malicious code through phishing or a similar other tactic. The attack can happen on all web browsers but Google Chrome, due to the way in which HTTP requests are made.<\/p>\n

Luckily the McAfee Safe Connect<\/a> VPN was not built on the vulnerable OpenVPN code. That said, I want to take this opportunity to remind you of something we talk about a lot in the security industry: relying on only one layer of security is simply not enough today. Here are some tips and best practices to stay safe.<\/p>\n