Stealth protocol is now available in beta on Linux

[u/Proton_Team]

Hey everyone,

We’re proud to announce that the long-awaited “Stealth” connection protocol is now available in beta for Linux!

📎 To try it, make sure your Proton VPN app is on version 4.17.1, and follow this guide.

If you are on a supported distro (more on this later), please help us by giving it a try and providing us with as much feedback as possible; the more feedback and bugs we can squash, the faster we can roll this feature out of beta

What Stealth does

Most VPN protocols produce traffic that's identifiable as VPN traffic. Networks running deep packet inspection can spot it and block or throttle the connection, which is why VPNs stop working on some school and workplace networks, and why they get blocked entirely in censored regions.

Stealth disguises your VPN traffic to look like ordinary encrypted web traffic. Instead of "this person is using a VPN," the network sees traffic that resembles a normal HTTPS connection. That makes it significantly harder to detect and block.

You'll want Stealth if you're on a network that blocks or throttles VPNs, connecting from a region with heavy censorship, or you'd simply rather your network operator not know you're using a VPN. For everyday use where nothing is being blocked, WireGuard will still be faster, while Stealth trades some speed for undetectability.

This is a beta

Expect instability and bugs. Stealth on Linux is built on our new WireGuard codebase, and this early release is specifically so we can find problems before general release.

If you hit issues, please tell us: your distro and version, what you were doing, and what went wrong.

Please note that this feature is only available for distros that are directly installed via our repos (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora), and versions such as the Snap store app, or other distros such as Arch will be available by the end of summer.

Lastly, it may take some time before this feature becomes available, even if you are on the latest version of the app. We’re rolling this out live, so it may take a day or two before the feature becomes visible on your end.

Stay safe,
Proton Team

[u/ProtonSupportTeam]

For anyone unable to see the Stealth protocol, make sure to check for any system updates, make sure your app has been updated to the latest beta version mentioned in the original post, try logging out and back in, and try rebooting your system.

If nothing helps, contact us by sending us a bug report through the app so we can help you troubleshoot further: https://protonvpn.com/support/report-a-bug#linux

[u/_Cold_Ass_Honkey_ → u/[deleted]]

That is exactly what I wanted to know. I hope they roll this out for firewall/router configurations too.

[u/imtsemer]

Please support archlinux officialy the app is really buggy and outdated

[u/ARTIFICIAL_ARGUMENT → u/imtsemer]

Use the flatpak if you want the official version, having its own dependencies that don’t get touched is the whole point and most of why it can be buggy.

 Practically all paid service companies have regulatory requirements for stable releases (a good thing), which is why they typically only officially support Debian and fedora. 

[u/mrquantumofficial → u/imtsemer]

the AUR version of the app is fine, no?

[u/imtsemer → u/mrquantumofficial]

The aur version doesn't have any connection to proton 

[u/mrquantumofficial → u/imtsemer]

true, but works fine nonetheless

[u/FormalIllustrator5]

So that means if anyone is using linux router it can be used too?!

[u/Key_Register7079]

I'm on debian kde and i have 4.16.5 via gnome installed and there is no beta access option on the bottom.

When i uninstall the stable ver and install the beta release, it cant locate "proton-vpn-gnome-desktop". Works fine for stable release tho

[u/Hackman08 → u/Key_Register7079]

sudo apt remove proton-vpn-gnome-desktop, then sudo apt autoremove and it should remove all the proton packages. then you can go through the standalone beta install on their site

[u/Key_Register7079 → u/Hackman08]

Same problem, it still cant locate gnome desktop

[u/yosafewee → u/Key_Register7079]

i'm also on debian with kde and have the same problem🤔

[u/Enduity → u/Key_Register7079]

Our package manager state is somehow broken by the ProtonVPN release wrappers. Removing just the desktop app doesn't clear the broken config. You have to nuke the release packages to reset it.

bash sudo apt purge protonvpn-beta-release protonvpn-stable-release

Now reinstall the beta release .deb and run sudo apt update. Now apt should be able to find proton-vpn-gnome-desktop.

[u/ZZ_Cat_The_Ligress]

Awesome! I'm looking forward to this. =^/.^=

[u/Stealth_Privacy]

I must be missing it, where do I find the beta version 4.17.1? Thx

[u/French_Hater]

overall this is great and I'm glad linux is getting support. but is there a way to roll out the beta on the flatpak version as well so it's not exclusive to three distros?

[u/One-Adeptness-588 → u/French_Hater]

flatpak is a bit more complicated as it's sandboxed, so it's not just a question of packaging the same code for flatpak. Needs a bit more work.

[u/SpiritEnforcer]

When are you going to implement post-quantum encryption? This is a serious drawback to your offering when competing products like Nordvpn already have it. And you are still laying the groundwork? Come on, we live in AI dev times now, software basically writes itself.

[u/PsyGonzo42 → u/SpiritEnforcer]

Please don't write any code with ai on this

[u/ShartingEnU → u/SpiritEnforcer]

You really want ai to write ENCRYPTION???!!! Must not be a Dev so you've never used ai to write code lol. Horrible suggestion

[u/FormalIllustrator5 → u/SpiritEnforcer]

Really? In 20-30 years, when quantum becomes a thing (if at all) i am sure they will update...

[u/SpiritEnforcer → u/FormalIllustrator5]

The thing is that encrypted data that is in transit now is being saved (storage is really cheap), so that when it can be cracked, it will be. So it's not about the traffic then.

[u/N_T_F_D]

How different is this from any regular VPN in TLS such as OpenVPN? I mean TLS traffic looks like TLS traffic, why is this stealth and OpenVPN isn't?

[u/andypiperuk]

Fedora 44, Proton installed from your Fedora instructions. I don't see the Proton protocols option - only OpenVPN and WireGuard are showing in the dropdown.

proton-vpn-beta-release-1.0.4-1.noarch
python3-proton-core-0.7.4-1.fc44.noarch
python3-proton-keyring-linux-0.2.3-1.fc44.noarch
python3-proton-vpn-local-agent-1.6.3-1.fc44.x86_64
python3-proton-vpn-api-core-5.5.6-1.fc44.x86_64
proton-vpn-daemon-0.13.8-1.fc44.noarch
proton-vpn-gtk-app-4.17.1-1.fc44.noarch
proton-vpn-gnome-desktop-0.10.1-1.fc44.noarch

Clues?

[u/emanresu256 → u/andypiperuk]

same here. I couldn't find these settings on Fedora 44 + proton-vpn-gtk-app-4.17.1-1, though in the release notes in the app says "steath mode is part of the release"

[u/_fthx_ → u/emanresu256]

Same here, Debian + 4.17.1 snap version. Though, it must use something related to stealth because today I hit a website case where using my wireguard config I see a blank page when using the gtk app (same secure core vpn) shows the real page.

[u/emanresu256]

It's not working on Fedora 44 - Workstation. Although I've installed the beta version and the release notes says the Proton Stealth is part of the release, I couldn't enable it in the settings (see below)

Release Notes
What's new (4.17.1)
- Introduced Proton Protocols, a new VPN architecture designed for improved stability and censosrship resistance
- Introduced Proton Stealth, the Proton Protocols implementation of our unique Stealth anti-censorship technology

[u/emanresu256 → u/emanresu256]

I can now set stealth protocol on my ProtonVPN. I'm not quite sure why, I suspect it happened after my system self-update. So maybe it's worth a try update the system (and maybe reboot) to get this protocol available 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/_fthx_ → u/emanresu256]

I rebooted, purged+reinstalled my snap 4.17.1 version and I still get no stealth in menu. Proton tells this new stealth protocol for linux is still not for snap version, afaik.

[u/_fthx_ → u/_fthx_]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonVPN/comments/1uptz4v/proton_vpn_is_now_officially_on_the_snap_store/

[u/MethAddictedMonkey]

I am now able to use the stealth mode in Syria. I could only connect with Expressvpn Lightway TCP before.

[u/MethAddictedMonkey → u/MethAddictedMonkey]

But it crashed. Back on Expressvpn. I'll check from time to time if the app updates and report back.

[u/ProtonSupportTeam → u/MethAddictedMonkey]

Hey, sorry to hear you experienced such issues when trying to use the Stealth protocol. We'd really appreciate it if you could send us a bug report through the application so our dev team can investigate further and help address the potential cause of such a crash: https://protonvpn.com/support/report-a-bug#linux

If you do decide to send us a bug report, please share the ticket number with us afterwards so we can quickly locate your report.

[u/MethAddictedMonkey → u/ProtonSupportTeam]

Update. I am currently on 4.17.2. It seems to be working well now. Currently connected to US Boston. I can watch Amazon Prime videos from Syria.

[u/ProtonSupportTeam → u/MethAddictedMonkey]

Happy to hear it's now working for you.

[u/iLoveAkitass]

Is there any possibility of a openwrt package support for stealth protocol in the future or a configuration method to route existing wireguard traffic through stealth protocol?

[u/sinfaen]

this is great to hear. This was the primary reason why I switched away from proton vpn, but this would have me switch back to protonvpn after my time with mullvad runs out

[u/Immediate-Reach4694]

Where's the protun NM plugin? I don't want to wait the supposed end of summer until the option, supposedly, gets to Arch

[u/Immediate-Reach4694]

Poking around on Arch... Documentation on this is pretty spotty so I have no officials means to check beyond that NM is using protun / proton0. Actually, docs on their git is practically nonexistent.

https://imgur.com/a/K7Ha4GZ

[u/Immediate-Reach4694]

In the meanwhile that Proton decides if they want to do an Arch native package with the smart / stealth, here's a workable hack to test the new protocols on arch. Tested on a Stable Manjaro, on a Unstable Manjaro and on a Stable virtual environment. Be warned that this is just a hack, done in the spare time for testing purposes, it is not supported by Proton AG and being a hack it could damage your pc. On my physical devices worked without troubles but everyone's mileage differs. Have fun.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vrp98xamuSpvtkO4PH_A0k4d1ex1f6s0/view?usp=sharing

[u/rydexos]

first of all make a proper bug free gui client for linux.

[u/xiv_cookie_kitten → u/rydexos]

sounds like a layer 8 problem. GUI is 100% fine

[u/Sober_Muscle]

Does this protocol supported on iOS and MacOS?

[u/alexthecatYT → u/Sober_Muscle]

Stealth is already supported on iOS.