Hi @ASUSmy,

I recently updated my RT-N18U router to firmware 3.0.0.4.382_50018 and have since noticed that my username and password combination to the router's OpenVPN Server no longer works. I have tried rebooting, deleting the old username/password and added new ones but none work so far.

I also noticed that when I add a new username/password combination, it will add to the list in plain text but once I click Apply, the password will change to an encrypted hash, I think. This is new and didn't happen in the previous firmware.

I do use the OpenVPN for remote access quite frequently and would appreciate some help on the matter.

Thank you.



Edit:

I have since found that using the hash that replaced my password when I click Apply will allow me to log-in to the OpenVPN Server remotely but it is not possible to remember that hash and not desirable to write it down and carry it with me all the time. Is there a way to disable changing my chosen password with the hash?



This post has been edited by hackabyte: Feb 28 2018, 06:14 PM

I haven't been able to find a way to set the OpenVPN Server password properly since upgrading to this firmware. Would appreciate some help / ideas on what else I can try

I have read about that procedure but am afraid to do it because apparently it is not suitable for all routers and there is a risk of bricking. Do you know if it safe for this model?

Since everything else works fine, I am still rather hesitant to risk the 30/30/30 reset.

As for a normal hard reset, I never had to do it on any of the earlier firmware updates because it always worked fine after rebooting.

Thanks for the link, I will copy down the settings first then try it when I have some downtime.

I managed to copy down all the settings and first tried "Initialize" to Factory Default via the Administration page. Unfortunately, I found that the OpenVPN configuration pages have disappeared after that, only PPTP settings remain. So I thought I had nothing to lose and did the hardware reset as suggested.

After the hardware reset, the OpenVPN configuration page reappeared but the problem is still there, i.e. adding a username and password to log in via OpenVPN will still change the password to a weird hash (with plus signs and equal signs) when I press Apply. Not pressing apply will not add the new username/password combination.

Worse news came later when I realise that I am no longer able to connect to Unifi despite the exact same settings as before. Digging out the TM Dlink router, it is able to connect to Unifi without any problems. Since I cannot downgrade to the previous firmware (as per the website), I appear to be stuck.

Not only I was not able to resolve the OpenVPN password hash, I am now unable to use the router with Unifi at all with the System Log listing "Timeout waiting for PADO packets" every minute or so.

Would appreciate some more ideas as to what else I can try. So far, @ASUSmy hasn't shared their experience yet (fingers crossed)

Thank you for your suggestion. I tried to look into it but it seems to be a bit over my head at this time. I will need to understand it a bit better before trying it out.

In my desperation, since I needed both the Internet connection and OpenVPN server to work properly before tomorrow's workday, I managed to downgrade the firmware back to a working versions using the Asus Firmware Restoration Tool. It is not ideal, given that the latest firmware has some security fixes but I will have to try again when I have more downtime.

If anyone else has better success with the latest 3.0.0.4.382.50018 firmware for RT-N18U, I would appreciate it if you can share your experience.

Thanks for confirming the issue independently and providing a possible fix. I will try out the firmware below when I have some downtime and let you know how it goes.

Hi ASUSmy,

I have upgraded to this firmware and initially, the problem appeared to be the same. Passwords of existing OpenVPN accounts are turned into hashs. When I create a new username, the same thing happens. However, using the username/password combination that I used to create the account, it appears to be able to authenticate properly.

Is this how it is supposed to work?

Thank you.

Hi ASUSmy,

Thanks for your clarification. I wasn't sure if that was how it was supposed to work but luckily, I decided to test further and found that my OpenVPN username/password combination was working properly despite the hash.

And many thanks for fixing the firmware so quickly. Keep up the good work