running openvpn consumes 10 to 15% of CPU non stop

asia

hi,

I'm having a very important issue with openvpn, which is CPU usage, on windows 7 sp1 x64
I've only recently started to use openvpn, dropping pptp, and ever since noticed my CPU was overheating even after hours of inactivity

I checked the process manager and it turns out while openvpn is running (and only when it is running) one svchost.exe thread CONTINOUSLY consumes 10-15% of CPU power, even while not running any active program at all (in that state my computer normally doesn't consume more than 1%)

I checked the details of the related services and here they are:
wscsvc / Windows Security Center
lmhosts / LAN Manager Hosts
HomeGroupProvider
Dhcp
AudioSrv

terminating the thread consequently terminates the vpn connexion, as well as terminating audio support entirely (why openvpn would be tied to audio support baffles me...)

this is a major issue to me because this will lead to a premature death of my computer

is this a known issue and how can I fix this please?

thank you very much

asia

nobody can help here

because we have a critical issue here 🙁

Traffic

asia wroteone svchost.exe thread CONTINOUSLY consumes 10-15% of CPU power

Which one ?

OpenVPN requires Windows DHCP client service but none of the others .. if that helps.

asia

As I said the thread is tied to 5 services I've listed in a single PID
For the record I have disabled all those services except Dhcp, and this issue is persistent.

I really would like to understand why openvpn behaves like a Cryptocurrency mining malware on my system :x

Traffic

What version of openvpn is it ?

asia

openvpn-install-2.3.4-I603-x86_64.exe

sha256 : a809bc028b1ace409cec288e0fcee8e38608b8fd1fc962888169289801198bd9

https://www.virustotal.com/fr/file/a809bc028b1ace409cec288e0fcee8e38608b8fd1fc962888169289801198bd9/analysis/

Traffic

Perhaps your openvpn log or config will show some information .. ?

asia

in programs/openvpn/log ?
there's nothing in particular, some lines are written during connection and that's all
no error message, just a bunch of "ok" & "success" which don't appear relevant to my issue

Pippin

Add

verb 4

to your config file.

asia

it's writing more data during connection but that's it

still nothing explaining why it uses 1/8 of my cpu power non stop :x

and this is what happens when I disconnect openvpn :x

can we have an explanation from the developers please?

I keep a backup of the log file and config file which I can send to a developer if needed

Pippin

This is
Community Support Forum
Could you keep your :x ?

You`re using free software and users here are helping users, capiche?

Traffic

Looks normal to me ..

asia

Traffic wroteLooks normal to me ..

could you elaborate please?

where does it say in the docs openvpn needs 1/8 of cpu power non stop?
what that cpu power is used for
and why is it required even when no application is connected ?

thank you

Traffic

asia wrotewhere does it say in the docs openvpn needs 1/8 of cpu power non stop?

check exactly what is being sent over the VPN ..

asia

Traffic wrote
asia wrotewhere does it say in the docs openvpn needs 1/8 of cpu power non stop?
check exactly what is being sent over the VPN ..

how am I supposed to do that, I'm no network expert and I don't understand much about wireshark logs

is there a way to contact openvpn developers to let them know about this issue?

Traffic

If this was a problem for a lot of people we would have a lot of complaints.

I suggest you figure out exactly what is happening on your computer first.

As this is a forum for the support of openvpn I suggest you post your
openvpn config files and log files (server and client) ..

asia

so there's no way to contact developers about this?

openvpn pretty much acts like a crypto currency mining malware and at this point I consider going back to pptp, better a less secure protocol, than a malicious one, what's going wrong with this?

Traffic

asia wroteopenvpn pretty much acts like a crypto currency mining malware

No it does not .. you either have a virus or a configuration problem ..

asia

that's what I thought too, but I did run a full malware scan with malwarebytes and kaspersky and none returned any detected threat

besides if it's a malware, it only affects openvpn because I don't have any similar issue with pptp or raw internet connection

I would like to know what's going on too but I can't figure out threats that security solutions can not, all I know is my cpu is being used for something while I run an openvpn connection, and only when I run it

the cpu process is hidden except if you chack as administrator, and it's limited to 1/8 of total cpu power available
that's precisely the behavior a crypto malware trying to fly under the radar would have

I can send my config file and logs to developers, but not publish them as they include private data

please help me with this or I'll have to give up on openvpn, how to contact developers?

Traffic

Trying not to sound patronising ..

If you use OpenVPN to transfer data .. then OpenVPN will consume considerable CPU.

The devs can be contacted any time you want.