This serious Android VPN bug can leak your internet traffic – here's what you need to know
A serious bug in Android 16 has been discovered that can leak internet traffic from VPNs, potentially exposing users' real IP addresses. This vulnerability affects all VPN applications and allows malicious apps to bypass VPN protections. Mullvad VPN has highlighted the issue and is working to inform users about the risks involved.
- ▪The bug allows apps to leak traffic outside VPN tunnels, even with protections like Always-On VPN enabled.
- ▪The flaw is rooted in how Android 16 manages QUIC connection shutdowns, affecting all VPN apps.
- ▪Mullvad VPN reported the issue to Google's Android Security Team, but the report was closed as 'Won't Fix (Infeasible).'
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| Original publisher | Tom's Guide |
| Canonical URL | https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/vpns/this-serious-android-vpn-bug-can-leak-your-internet-traffic-heres-what-you-need-to-know |
| Publication time | Thu, 21 May 2026 09:37:19 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-21T09:41:10.460Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-21T09:41:10.460Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | akhg2MMHX9Tz |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
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| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Computing Internet VPNs This serious Android VPN bug can leak your internet traffic – here's what you need to know News By Zoran Danilovic published 21 May 2026 Mullvad VPN highlighted the issue, but all VPNs are affected When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: NurPhoto / Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Reddit Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter A newly discovered Android 16 bug could allow apps to leak traffic outside VPN tunnels, potentially exposing users' real IP addresses even when Always-On VPN and Android's built-in kill switch are enabled.The flaw affects all the best VPNs, and was highlighted by…
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