- Amnezia VPN releases version 4.8.18.0 to thwart recent Russian blocking
- The update fixes a bug that exposed the VPN to alleged targeted attacks
- Targeted VPN attacks continue to rise in Russia
If you’re looking for the best VPN that’s truly committed to fighting censorship, Amnezia VPN’s latest update might point you in the right direction.
In its latest release, the open source VPN says it has fixed a bug in its AmneziaWG protocol that left its infrastructure vulnerable to a recent coordinated cyberattack, allegedly carried out by Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN).
Available on all platforms, version 4.8.18.0 can be downloaded from the Amnezia website, GitHub, and the Android and iOS app stores.
Critical security fixes
Last week, Amnezia reported that Russian media regulatory authorities had attacked their VPN infrastructure, causing the system to completely shut down.
The incident prevented users of Amnezia’s Free and Premium services from changing servers and prolonged the recovery process for several days.
According to the company, the latest update patches the vulnerability that RKN likely exploited to carry out the attack.
Mazay Banzaev, founder of Amnezia VPN, told TechRadar that RKN had likely developed a high-level protocol identification system capable of detecting and blocking Amnezia VPN traffic.
The regulator then allegedly used the filter to identify a specific vulnerability in Amnezia’s software and launch targeted attacks against its infrastructure.
⚡️We have released a new version of the Amnezia VPN app, 4.8.17.0, and we recommend that you update it on all your devices. This is an important release, as it will allow us to adapt the AmneziaWG protocol to the new blocking conditions. You can download the update from GitHub, our…June 10, 2026
“The key challenge lies precisely in the RKN’s new blocking approach,” Banzaev tells TechRadar. “Whereas before they simply blocked protocols, they now use protocol fingerprinting to identify servers and automatically block them on a case-by-case basis.”
According to Banzaev, RKN’s new approach makes debugging protocols much more difficult: the system continues to work, but after a few hours or days the server can completely crash. Therefore, even a single user running an outdated version of the protocol can compromise the entire server and cause it to fail.
Therefore, the VPN service says it remains focused on improving the long-term resilience of the service and announced that it will soon publish deeper technical analyzes on its blog.
“At this point we can confirm that AmneziaWG’s progress continues; we have no intention of giving in to difficulties,” says Banzaev.
A continuous fight
The founder calls the recent incident “one of the most serious in the history of the project.” The alleged coordinated RKN attacks occurred on multiple sides: from changes in approaches to restricting VPN traffic, searches for VPN protocol signatures, DDoS attacks, phishing and API scanning.
“We had to adapt many technical components to the new operating conditions,” he explains. “But the pressure on our services continues to grow.”
AmneziaVPN is not the only service facing these challenges. Russian users have recently reported problems with Telegram’s cryptographic protocol to avoid blocking, while other VPN services, such as BlancVPN, also claim to have suffered outages in May. Although Russian authorities recently extended the deadline for imposing fees for VPN use, they are instead increasing their restrictions on VPNs.
In Amnezia’s case, its custom AmneziaWG 2.0 protocol was specifically created to mimic normal traffic and evade censorship detection in unrestricted regions. However, its very nature and purpose mean that it requires continuous updates and fixes to maintain its resilience.
“This is a difficult path that we have consciously chosen,” admits Banzaev. “These principles allow us to operate effectively in countries with strict restrictions on access to information and to stay technologically on par with censors,” he says.
The good thing is that her perseverance seems to have been rewarded by her followers: Amnezia claims to have received a large number of comments and messages of support after the incident.
“For us this is no less important than the technical results of the team’s work, and it is precisely this that gives us confidence that we are going in the right direction,” says Banzaev.
