QB leaks IP bypassing VPN

[stk33]

I activated PrivadoVPN, which hides my IP, then checked ipleak.net, which showed Privado's IP address as expected. However, when I also tried "torrent address detection" at ipleak.net, it showed both IP addresses, including my real one. I'm not sure if this is Privado's problem or QB's problem

[LilTroy]

I activated PrivadoVPN, which hides my IP, then checked ipleak.net, which showed Privado's IP address as expected. However, when I also tried "torrent address detection" at ipleak.net, it showed both IP addresses, including my real one. I'm not sure if this is Privado's problem or QB's problem

I've heard of Privado but never used it. I assume it has a kill switch? Make sure it's enabled. Then go into your qBittorrent settings and bind it to your VPN's network interface. Optionally you can even bind to a specific IP address on the interface, which is what I do, but it isn't necessary.

bind.png (37.67 KiB) Viewed 2550 times

After you've done this rerun the torrent address detection leak test.

More here → How to fully leakproof your VPN

[stk33]

I see - there's even an issue for this:

https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/13661

I wonder though why QB is different in this from all other applications. I.e. when I activate the VPN, all other applications are sending the traffic to the VPN immediately without any extra efforts, i.e. VPN automatically intercepts everything else - rather than becomes "yet another" interface that may or may not be used.

[LilTroy]

I see - there's even an issue for this:

https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/issues/13661

I wonder though why QB is different in this from all other applications. I.e. when I activate the VPN, all other applications are sending the traffic to the VPN immediately without any extra efforts, i.e. VPN automatically intercepts everything else - rather than becomes "yet another" interface that may or may not be used.

By default (full tunnel mode) the VPN is supposed to intercept all outbound internet traffic regardless of the app or its settings. The only exception is if you've configured it to operate in split tunnel mode. It then reroutes all of this traffic to the VPN server. I checked out your provider's site and it has a kill switch as it should. Check that it's enabled. If any torrent traffic leaks then it's on them not qBittorrent.

To solve this problem, the PrivadoVPN team recommends using the Kill Switch function. This option blocks all active network interfaces except the VPN, leaving qBittorrent with only one choice — the VPN interface. After enabling the Kill Switch, you can be sure that qBittorrent will not leak your data.

Torrent Leaks Prevention | PrivadoVPN

Note that you don't have to bind qBittorrent to your VPN's network interface if its kill switch actually works properly. I always advise torrenters to do it anyway just in case their VPN client's kill switch ever fails to protect all of their traffic when engaged (or worse, fails to engage in the first place).

[Peter]

... all other applications are sending the traffic to the VPN immediately without any extra efforts

Or you think so.