DNS Leak Protection

DNS leak protection is a feature set that prevents DNS queries from bypassing the VPN tunnel. A typical VPN app pushes its own DNS servers, blocks off-tunnel DNS traffic, and handles network transitions so DNS doesn’t fall back to your ISP. This is crucial because DNS can reveal your browsing destinations even if your web traffic is encrypted. Good DNS leak protection also accounts for modern OS behaviors like “happy eyeballs,” multiple resolvers, and IPv6 routing. Some clients implement leak protection by adding firewall rules, while others modify system settings - firewall-based approaches tend to be more robust. Users should test for leaks after installation and after updates: connect the VPN and run a DNS leak test to confirm only VPN-associated resolvers appear. If you use split tunneling, be extra careful: app exclusions can unintentionally exclude DNS resolution too. In DVPN systems, routes may shift across nodes, so the client must enforce DNS policies consistently across path changes. DNS leak protection isn’t optional for privacy-focused VPN use; it’s foundational. Without it, your ISP or hotspot can still infer which sites you visit, even if they can’t read the content.

Related DVPN Resources

Related resources