Error with SurfShark VPN - ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER MISMATCH

RayvenUK

I've been getting the same error when trying to access the bbc website now for several months at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news. Very occasionally it will load only to return again after clicking a news link. I do use a VPN (Surfshark) which is permanently connected, and if I pause the connection then the BBC website will load. Re-establish the connection and it fails. What is very strange is that this is only affecting Vivaldi on the desktop (I have the latest version). If I run Safari, Chrome, Edge, Firefox etc., they all work perfectly with the VPN connected. Also if I use Vivaldi on Android phones or tablets whilst connected to the Surfshark VPN, that runs perfectly too.

Whatever the error is, it only seems to affect Vivaldi desktop on the Mac for me. I always get the error on https://www.bbc.co.uk and am having to start using Safari.

I only have Bitwarden and Honey installed as extensions, and removing those does not resolve the issue either.

The issue is affecting both the Intel dekktop and the M1 MacBook

Quick update, occasionally the error changes to

The site can't provide a secure connection
www.bbc.co.uk uses an unsupported protocol.
ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER MISMATCH
Unsupported protocol
The client and server don't support a common SSL protocol version or cipher suite.

Not sure if that additional information helps any.

Vivaldi	6.8.3381.48 (Stable channel) (x86_64) 
Revision	79dc6e3dc75f1ca82759568b8aaa16287cbeedb4
OS	macOS Version 14.5 (Build 23F79)
JavaScript	V8 12.6.228.28
User Agent	Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/126.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Command Line	/Applications/Vivaldi.app/Contents/MacOS/Vivaldi --flag-switches-begin --disable-quic --flag-switches-end --disable-smooth-scrolling --save-page-as-mhtml
Executable Path	/Applications/Vivaldi.app/Contents/MacOS/Vivaldi
Profile Path	/Users/colinwilson/Library/Application Support/Vivaldi/Default
Linker	lld

modedit: triplicate sys info

RayvenUK

I've just update the post with a fuller error message.

It doesn't matter which VPN server or country I connect to, I'm usually connected to Manchester, Gladgow or London, but frequently use Isle Of Man and Netherlands too.

The VPN is all I use and in it's basic form as well. I don't use antivirus, firewalls or any other internet security suites.

And like I mentioned, it's just Vivaldi, I can have Safari open side by side with it and it's browsing perfectly!

DoctorG

@RayvenUK Do you use Surfshark systemwide as VPN proxy or with a extension in Vivaldi?

I have no account for Surfshark and can not test.

I suggest report issue to Vivaldi bug tracker. Once that is done, share the bug number (beginning with VB-) you got by bug report mail. Thanks for helping us making Vivaldi better.

RayvenUK

I use Surfshark as a systemwide VPN so that it covers all internet traffic.

I'll report the error on the bug tracker VB-108258

Pathduck

@RayvenUK You posted in the "Vivaldi for Linux" category. Even if the generic error message might be the same, doesn't mean it's the "same error" and the user reported their issue no longer happened. Please don't dig up old solved topics just because you think it might be related.

Their error message was ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR
Yours is ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER MISMATCH
This is not the same error.

Also I messed up the fork so I lost @DoctorG 's reply, stuff happens

yngve

This sounds like the VPN is messing with the protocol handshake. The TLS handshake contains several means of protecting against version rollback attacks or other MITM activity (such as removing the more secure cipher suites), and the rule is to report a handshake error in those cases.

Or maybe to put it another way: It sounds like the Shark takes a bite out of the TLS messages.

I suspect that you will see the same in Chrome 126 (Extended Stable), too.

It sounds like you should report this to the VPN provider instead.

RayvenUK

@yngve said in Error with SurfShark VPN - ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER MISMATCH:

Chrome 126

Just tested it with Chrome 127 and you're right, the same issue occurs. I've reported it to Surfshark as well, I'm awaiting their response.