Cybersecurity researchers have identified a critical bug in the Android 16 operating system that negatively affects the functionality of most VPN services. The issue impacts devices from various manufacturers and causes difficulties in connecting to the Internet through VPN providers after the system update.
This is reported by Finway
Impact of the Bug on VPN Users
After installing the Android 16 update on some smartphones, VPN applications fail to connect to the Internet while they are active. At first glance, it seems that the malfunction originates from the VPN app itself; however, the actual cause is a failure in Android’s operation. Proton VPN explains that this bug corrupts the system’s network stack after the VPN update, leading many users to mistakenly blame their VPN provider for the issues.
Possible Solutions and Google’s Response
According to experts, a standard device restart does not resolve the failure. The only effective solutions remain a complete reboot of the smartphone or reinstalling the VPN application. It is noted that not all users have encountered this problem, but affected devices have yet to receive the necessary fix.
Experts emphasize that Google has been aware of this bug, which causes disruptions in VPN applications on Android 16, for over seven months. They urge anyone experiencing similar difficulties to report the bug directly to Google to expedite its resolution.
“After 7 months of waiting, we are now publicly asking: Google, when will you fix this?” — stated Proton VPN.