The release of OpenVPN 2.6.7 is prepared, a package for creating virtual private networks that allows for establishing an encrypted connection between two client machines or operating a centralized VPN server for simultaneous use by multiple clients. This new version is notable for its re-licensing. The project's code has transitioned from using the pure GPLv2 license to a combined license, where the GPLv2 text has been extended with an exception allowing linkage with code under the Apache 2.0 license, which is generally not possible without re-licensing the code due to the incompatibility between GPLv2 and Apache 2.0 licenses.
The exception allows linking OpenVPN code with code from libraries distributed under the Apache 2.0 license and distributing the combined derivative product without adhering to the GPLv2 requirement of distributing linked libraries under the same license, while maintaining the effectiveness of all other conditions, such as providing source code for the derivative work. Primarily, the change aims to enable linking with the OpenSSL library, which is provided under the Apache 2.0 license. All OpenVPN code that could not be transitioned to the new licensing conditions, for example, due to the inability to contact the authors, has been removed or completely rewritten.
Among the functional changes:
- Support for building with mbedTLS 3.x has been added.
- The option "—force-tls-key-material-export" has been implemented, which allows operation only with clients supporting the export of TLS key parameters necessary for generating session keys.
- The implementation of the feature "—tls-export-cert" has been rewritten.
- Improved handling of TLS 1.0 PRF (Pseudo-Random Function) failures.
- Key examples have been updated, as the old keys will expire in October.
Source: opennet.ru
