Hello,

i own a Linksys WRT 3200ACM router that supports openvpn server out of the box.

i've been running that said server for the past 5 years.

Today, out of the blue, i received the above error and i cannot connect to the server. Researching online and on openvpn forums, it seems that the server certificate has expired (https://forums.openvpn.net/viewtopic.php?t=32568)

i checked the configuration that gets generated by the router's interface, as you will see it has a 10-year validity and expires today:

<cert>
Certificate:
Data:
Version: 3 (0x2)
Serial Number: 2 (0x2)
Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption
Issuer: C=US, ST=CA, L=Irvine, O=Linksys, OU=Belkin, CN=Mamba/name=BlackMamba/emailAddress=support@linksys.com
Validity
Not Before: Oct 11 06:00:52 2012 GMT
Not After : Oct 9 06:00:52 2022 GMT
Subject: C=US, ST=CA, L=Irvine, O=Linksys, OU=Belkin, CN=client/name=BlackMamba/emailAddress=support@linksys.com
Subject Public Key Info:
Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
Public-Key: (1024 bit)
Modulus:

i tried changing the date in the configuration file, but that didn't work - assuming it is embedded in the actual certificate.

I contacted linksys for this issue; however they asked me to raise a ticket with openvpn. below is the transcript of my conversation with them.

99.9% this is an issue with linksys and not with openvpn. but i would really appreciate it if you can give me some guidance on what to tell them or what needs to be done from their end.

If there's something that can be done by myself, more than happy to try it. i already tried deleting all configurations etc on the router and reissuing new ones. but i still get same error across all devices.

thanks

Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:50:18 PM): Hello Minas. Welcome to Linksys Chat! My name is Jeziah, is this your first time with us?
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:50:40 PM): Hello, yes first time
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:51:00 PM): Can you tell me more about it?
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:51:43 PM): So, i purchased this router, and i was using open vpn server fine for the past 4-5 years without an issue. today i receive an error on the client side that the certificate has expired
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:52:25 PM): i researched a bit, and it seems that those openvpn server certificates do expire over time. there are some instructions on how to update them, but those are for openvpn servers not sitting on linksys routers
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:52:33 PM): i have no idea how these get updated on linksys
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:52:36 PM): im reading your messages
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:53:22 PM): our device is just vpn pass through and vpn is actually not supported
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:53:31 PM): it should be on a 3rd party Minas
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:53:33 PM): no that's wrong
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:53:39 PM): what do you mean
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:53:56 PM): WRT ac3200ACM has an openvpn server on the router
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:54:02 PM): it's supported out of the box
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:54:06 PM): it's not a pass-through
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:54:07 PM): it is a vpn passthrough the WRT3200
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:54:21 PM): what is the problem are you getting
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:54:35 PM): https://www.linksys.com/support-article?articleNum=270535
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:54:41 PM): you can check how to set up the vpn here
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:54:54 PM): i am getting an expired certificate error when the client connects
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:55:09 PM): let me see what we can do for this concern you have hold on
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:56:00 PM): If you do not have an .ovpn file or account credentials, you need to contact the administrator of the OpenVPN server. If you are the admin of your server, contact OpenVPN.
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:57:34 PM): https://forums.openvpn.net/viewtopic.php?t=32568
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:57:43 PM): Jeziah you are not getting it
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:57:52 PM): i am the administrator
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:57:54 PM): i own the router
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:58:04 PM): i enabled the server through the router's interface
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:58:12 PM): oh i see
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:58:18 PM): im reading your messages
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:58:47 PM): this router is one of the very few linksys routers that support openvpn server out of the box
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:58:51 PM): are we clear so far?
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:59:08 PM): Yes I understand
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:59:11 PM): great
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:59:24 PM): that is the only router yes that supports openvpn
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:59:36 PM): now, it seems that the certificates on the server (inside the router) have expired
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:59:46 PM): there are no instructions from linksys on how to update them
Minas (10/9/2022, 5:59:55 PM): and there's no information available online
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 5:59:57 PM): I would like to know when did you get the error? was that opebVPN server works before?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:00:15 PM): it was working fine till yesterday. today i cannot connect after 5+ years
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:00:25 PM): https://forums.openvpn.net/viewtopic.php?t=32568
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:00:55 PM): there's this thread on openvpn. it explains what to do when the certificates expire. but obviously, it's no help for me as those instructions aren't meant for linksys routers
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:02:15 PM): when i enabled the server 4-5 years ago, apparently those certificates that got issued within the router had an expiration date. i assume that not even linksys was aware of that. now, 5 years later, those certificates expired. and i cannot connect to my router.
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:02:35 PM): Alright, we would like to know if you have gone some changes lately on your router?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:02:39 PM): nothing
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:02:49 PM): and i am running the latest firmware
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:03:08 PM): have you been able to configure VPN right?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:03:12 PM): yes
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:03:15 PM): your problem is just the devices?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:03:20 PM): everything was working fine for the past 5 years
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:03:21 PM): client devices?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:03:26 PM): today none of my devices/clients work
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:03:32 PM): copy
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:03:38 PM): one moment
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:03:39 PM): because the certificate (on the server) has expired
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:05:12 PM): alright
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:05:34 PM): ⏎[Oct 9, 2022, 18:04:24] Transport Error: OpenSSLContext::SSL::read_cleartext: BIO_read failed, cap=7040 status=-1: error:1416F086:SSL routines:tls_process_server_certificate:certificate verify failed
⏎[Oct 9, 2022, 18:04:24] EVENT: CERT_VERIFY_FAIL OpenSSLContext::SSL::read_cleartext: BIO_read failed, cap=7040 status=-1: error:1416F086:SSL routines:tls_process_server_certificate:certificate verify failed⏎[Oct 9, 2022, 18:04:24] EVENT: DISCONNECTED ⏎[Oct 9, 2022, 18:04:25] Raw stats on disconnect:
BYTES_IN : 2365
BYTES_OUT : 339
PACKETS_IN : 4
PACKETS_OUT : 3
SSL_ERROR : 1
CERT_VERIFY_FAIL : 1
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:05:35 PM): let us see what we can recommend for that since issue is with the devices
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:05:59 PM): this is the error i get - because it cannot verify the certificate
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:07:01 PM): openvpn on the mac says: Connection Failed. There was an error attempting to connect to the selected server. Error message: Peer certificate verification failure.
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:07:17 PM): if you google this, the first thread you get is the one i shared with you
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:07:26 PM): I got you
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:07:26 PM): https://forums.openvpn.net/viewtopic.php?t=32568
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:07:29 PM): hold on
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:07:32 PM): thanks
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:08:35 PM): 2nd page describes the actual problem and the solution
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:09:33 PM): alright one moment
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:11:17 PM): https://www.linksys.com/support-article?articleNum=157327 have you tried this one?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:12:04 PM): obviously, these are the instructions on how to setup the server and the clients
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:12:19 PM): i wouldn't be using the server for 5 years now hadn't i done this
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:12:32 PM): and after that you are still getting the error?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:12:44 PM): i don't think you understand me man
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:12:59 PM): the instructions you shared are not the solution to my problem
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:13:08 PM): they are the generic instructions to set up the server
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:13:13 PM): i've done this, 5 years ago
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:13:20 PM): and was working fine till today
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:13:40 PM): can you please escalate this to someone more senior?
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:14:06 PM): can you hold on sir? we are doing our best to assist you with this
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:14:16 PM): we understand your concern
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:14:20 PM): yes but you are not listening to me
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:14:25 PM): we keep spinning around the same thing
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:14:31 PM): i pinpointed the exact issue
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:14:38 PM): I understand
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:14:40 PM): i am telling you exactly what's wrong
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:14:45 PM): and you are sending me generic instructions
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:14:53 PM): please escalate it
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:15:54 PM): let me see what we can do thanks
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:16:05 PM): thanks
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:17:50 PM): alright
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:26:01 PM): hello sir/maam , we apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Since you have configured the VPN and as you have said it was working fine for 5 years and all of a sudden it stopped. What linksys do is to configure the VPN, making sure the username and password is correct you have is correct. Beyond that about the certification error you are getting , we will advised you to contact openvpn.net
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:26:33 PM): this is an issue with the router, openvpn will ask me to contact linksys
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:26:38 PM): within*
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:27:11 PM): if you fail to realize what the issue is, you will keep giving me wrong advise
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:27:35 PM): linksys build a router that supports openvpn server
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:27:52 PM): they didnt say "buy this router, and when you have issues with openvpn, contact them"
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:29:12 PM): the openvpn code that linksys added to this router to support openvpn server, clearly is not MAINTANTED through firmware updates. if there are dependencies that need to be updated WITHIN the router, this is linksys responsibility, not openvpn
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:29:46 PM): sir there is a 3rd party involve for this and we have no visibility on where to check or get the update of certificate since that is the issue you were having right now and the only way we can figure it out is to contact openvpn
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:30:43 PM): this is why it needs to be escalated to the engineering team withing linksys that enabled openvpn server for this router
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:30:59 PM): i don't expect you to have a solution to this
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:31:07 PM): i expect you to escalate it to the concerned team
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:31:40 PM): we will raise this concern you have sir
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:31:54 PM): this is not a concern. this is a problem i am facing.
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:32:10 PM): and i need you to raise a ticket so we can have proper follow up
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:32:20 PM): for now what we can do is for you to contact openvpn.net and if they will advised you to contact us back then we can provide you a case number
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:32:44 PM): yes we can give you a ticket / case number 15120913
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:32:52 PM): I will open a ticket with them now
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:33:10 PM): we apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:33:22 PM): how can i follow up to the case number?
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:33:32 PM): i just come to the chat here and give it to the agent?
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:33:53 PM): just provide it to the next agent or call us with this hotline number 1-800-326-7114
Minas (10/9/2022, 6:34:01 PM): thank you, Jenziah
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:34:42 PM): We apologize once again Minas but thank you for your feed back and for addressing your concern
Jeziah May L (10/9/2022, 6:35:24 PM): Should you need further assistance with your Linksys device, feel free to chat with us again anytime. We are at your service 24/7 or call our hotline : 800-326-7114
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