OpenVPN / OpenVPN/openvpn

pkcs11 certificate dialog does not show certs, however openvpn.exe ... does.

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Description

The openvpn gui does not show any available certs from my yubikey 5, however on console, openvpn shows certs.

Install latest openvpn on windows 11, with latest patchlevel (25H2), load key to yubikey, start up GUI and hit connect. Dialog appears, that show "No certificates found. If you have a token insert it and press retry".

relevant config-part:

management 127.0.0.1 1201
management-hold
management-query-passwords
pkcs11-id-management
pkcs11-providers "C:\Program Files\OpenSC Project\OpenSC\pkcs11\opensc-pkcs11.dll"

However on console, it shows my cert:

C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\bin>openvpn.exe --show-pkcs11-ids "C:\Program Files\OpenSC Project\OpenSC\pkcs11\opensc-pkcs11.dll"
2026-05-02 11:52:19 PKCS#11: Adding PKCS#11 provider 'C:\Program Files\OpenSC Project\OpenSC\pkcs11\opensc-pkcs11.dll'

The following objects are available for use.
Each object shown below may be used as parameter to
--pkcs11-id option please remember to use single quote mark.

Certificate
DN: DC=ORG, DC=COMPANY, OU=Benutzer_Gruppen, OU=011_Benutzer_mit_MFA, CN=Stefan Bauer
Serial: 280000009F099063878A34A1F000000000009F
Serialized id: pkcs11:model=PKCS%2315%20emulated;token=Stefan%20Bauer;manufacturer=piv_II;serial=73f7e8a68e8cedca;id=%01

log shows on manual startup:

2026-05-02 12:06:10 WARNING: Using --management on a TCP port WITHOUT passwords is STRONGLY discouraged and considered insecure
2026-05-02 12:06:10 OpenVPN 2.7.4 [git:v2.7.4/8e9e91f4caff9a80] Windows [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [PKCS11] [AEAD] [DCO] built on Apr 30 2026
2026-05-02 12:06:10 Windows version: 10.0.26200,amd64
2026-05-02 12:06:10 library versions: OpenSSL 3.6.2 7 Apr 2026, LZO 2.10
2026-05-02 12:06:10 DCO version: 2.8.2
2026-05-02 12:06:20 PKCS#11: Adding PKCS#11 provider 'C:\Program Files\OpenSC Project\OpenSC\pkcs11\opensc-pkcs11.dll'

Expected behavior

Also show certs in GUI.

Version information (please complete the following information):
Windows 11 ENT (25H2)

  • OpenVPN version: 2.7.4-I001, 2.7.3-I001, 2.6.20-I001 (all tested with same result)

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

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  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No source file or test is named. Reproduce the Windows GUI flow with the supplied management and PKCS#11 provider settings, then compare its certificate enumeration with openvpn.exe --show-pkcs11-ids; done means the GUI lists the YubiKey certificate instead of reporting no certificates found.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
authentication, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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