Random VPN Disconnect Notification

[gsture]

Is it a bug?

• I know this is an issue with the app, and contacting Mullvad support is not relevant.

I have checked if others have reported this already

• I have checked the issue tracker to see if others have reported similar issues.

Current Behavior

The os randomly says "disconnected from always on VPN" and start blocking connections. It seems like the app is not aware that the vpn is disconnected or the os just thinks the vpn is disconnected while it's not. The mullvad app notification still says the vpn is connected. This seems to happen randomly although internet connection is till fine. If i press the notification / open the mullvad vpn app the vpn seems to reconnect and the notification goes away. The app is allowed to run in background.

Expected Behavior

The vpn should stay connected or reconnect when it's disconnected. It's now like the app is not aware that the vpn is disconnected or the os just thinks the vpn is disconnected while it's not.

Steps to Reproduce

The error seems to happen randomly a few times a day with mullvad on pixel 8/8a with latest grapheneos release. The error only happens with memory tagging enabled. If you disable memory tagging the vpn stays connected.

Failure Logs

Failure log 1 (This log has been captured right after opening the disconnect notification, which sends me to the vpn app, which then seems to reconnect.)

Android version

GrapheneOS 14 (AP2A.240605.024)

Device model

2 x Pixel 8 and 1 x Pixel 8a

Mullvad VPN app version

2024.2

Additional Information

I also reported this to grapheneos but they say it's not an os bug. They say it could be due to a network error occurring but in case of a network error the vpn should reconnect.

[gsture]

This issue is now happening multiple times a day. Makes the vpn kind of unusable. Am i the only one that is experiencing this issue? I have added a failure log.

[MrChocolatine]

Same issue as #6292 that you closed. (just for the record)

[albin-mullvad]

Thanks for the report, we'll look into this! We are aware of some strange behavior when running the app on GrapheneOS and/or Work Profiles but haven't been able to pinpoint the exact problem.

[gsture]

For what it's worth: I never encountered this issue on pixel 5 with grapheneos. It could have something to do with memory tagging feature on newer pixels with grapheneos but that's just me guessing. I will disable it for the mullvad app and test if it makes any difference.

[gsture]

Thanks for the report, we'll look into this! We are aware of some strange behavior when running the app on GrapheneOS and/or Work Profiles but haven't been able to pinpoint the exact problem.

After disabling memory tagging (for mullvad vpn app only) I have not experienced this issue so far. I left it enabled on another pixel 8 and there the error did occur. So it might be worth looking into this.

It might be a coincidence so I will report back at the end of this week but I think the app might not work well with memory tagging enabled (might point to a memory bug) at the moment.

[gsture]

Ok so after switching back and forth between memory tagging on and memory tagging off for the last 3 weeks I can almost confidently say that the problem might point to a memory bug. The app functions fine with memory tagging disabled. And when enabled I get random disconnects.

Let me know if you need anything else.