VPN not working on MAC Sonoma 14.2 - Error Code 99 & 12

Hi @Mo88,

I'm sorry to hear this, it seems that your inquiry was further escalated to Tier 3 Technical and it may take a bit longer to find a resolution here, since more information is currently being gathered and analyzed in order to correct this behavior.

You may of course request compensation in the form of a validity extension to cover the period in which the service could not be used.

I hope the situation will be resolved soon.

Best regards and may the new year bring you peace, joy, and happiness.

Alex

I wanted to let people know that in my case the issue was that after my upgrade the I realized that the clock did not have a correct date time. So the errors I was getting was ssl cert errors. Once I reset the clock everything started to work.

@cwilliam52 so it's working as expected now?

Hello @ham6381,

For VPN errors encountered on macOS, there are a couple of troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Restart your Mac

Usually, if you’re having trouble with Bitdefender VPN, just turning your Mac off and then back on again can fix the problem. This works when macOS or other services don’t start up properly.

If you restart the Mac and are still experiencing VPN errors, continue with the steps below.

2. Uninstall other VPNs

Other VPN applications such as Kaspersky VPN, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, etc. may generate connection errors if installed on the same Mac as Bitdefender VPN.

Therefore, make sure to uninstall other VPNs if Bitdefender VPN encounters connection errors. Consult the manufacturer’s documentation to find out how you can uninstall their VPN application if the standard uninstall instructions don’t work.

3. Change your DNS

Are you using the standard DNS (Domain Name System) from your internet provider? If so, you might want to consider using a third-party DNS server that could be faster and more reliable. We’ve got two short videos that show you how to change your Mac’s DNS server on macOS Ventura respectively on older macOS versions, or you can read the steps below.

1. Click the Apple logo  > System Preferences (‘System Settings’ on macOS Ventura) > Network > Wi-Fi / Ethernet > Advanced (‘Details’ for Ventura) > DNS
2. Click the + button under DNS Servers and enter 8.8.8.8
3. Click + again and enter 8.8.4.4
4. Click OK, then Apply if prompted.

4. Disable Proxy

If the errors persist, check if you have enabled any Proxy settings. To disable Proxies:

1. Click the Apple logo  > System Preferences (‘System Settings’ on macOS Ventura) > Network > Wi-Fi / Ethernet > Advanced (‘Details’ for Ventura) > Proxies
2. Disable all options, including Auto Proxy Discovery.
3. Click OK.

5. Check if Bitdefender VPN is installed correctly

Search for “Bitdefender VPN.app” on Mac to check if the Bitdefender VPN app exists in other locations besides:

/Applications/Bitdefender/Bitdefender VPN.app

/Library/Bitdefender/Central/Modules/com.bitdefender.vpn/Bitdefender VPN.app

If you find Bitdefender VPN.app in other paths than the Applications and Library folders mentioned above, delete those extra Bitdefender VPN entries.

Also eject mounted volumes and disks on which Bitdefender VPN may still reside, to ensure they do not impact the VPN connection.

6. Reinstall Bitdefender VPN

If you’re still having issues, reinstall Bitdefender VPN to make sure all the VPN files are intact, and you have the latest version:

1. Uninstall Bitdefender VPN using the instructions provided here.
2. Then, reinstall Bitdefender VPN with a new kit downloaded from here.

7. Repair Keychain Access

Keychain Access from macOS is a password management system. Force Bitdefender VPN to repair the information stored there in case of data corruption:

1. Click on an empty area of your desktop or click the Finder icon 

 in the Dock.

1. After that, click on Go at the top left of the screen and select Utilities in the menu.
2. Inside the Utilities folder double-click on Keychain Access.
3. A new window will pop up. Select All items on the sidebar, under Category.
4. Use the search bar located in the upper right-hand corner of the window and type in the word VPN.
5. Look at the Kind column and delete all entries that include the word IPSec […].
6. Next, click the Bitdefender VPN icon from the top menu bar, open the small cogwheel button, and choose Quit.
7. Then click again the Finder icon and click on Go → Applications → Bitdefender → Bitdefender VPN → connect to VPN.

8. Try a different network

If the VPN errors persist after going through the previous steps, something on your local network is most likely still blocking the connection to the Bitdefender servers.

Check if you can use Bitdefender VPN after connecting your Mac to another network (Wi-Fi, hotspot, Ethernet cable, etc.).

• To learn how to set up a hotspot on your iPhone or iPad access this link.
• Go here to learn how to set up a hotspot on Android phones.

If Bitdefender VPN is working when the Mac is using another internet connection contact your network administrator or your Internet provider to determine which network or router settings may be blocking the VPN connection.

If nothing helps, I would recommend to contact the Bitdefender Support teams for a more in-depth investigation. You can get in touch with our engineers by choosing one of the contact channels listed here:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

State your contact reason, then choose from the available contact channels, chat, phone and email/ticket. Chat would be the fastest way to reach them.

Let us know how it goes and what worked for you.

Regards,

Alex