VPN config failed to load with an error `Failed to write the VPN config`

[MadhaviSeelam]

Description

VPN config error is shown when tried to connect to VPN in following scenarios: Also noticed that rasphone entry disappears in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk folder when VPN config error is shown

1. After removing any previous configs, create a new VPN profile and connect to VPN for the first time
2. Switch to different region once VPN is successfully connected

Steps to Reproduce

Scenario 1: VPN connection fails first time login in a new profile

Pre-requisite: Remove any pre-existing VPN configs from Windows settings

1. Install 1.46.130
2. launch Brave
3. Enable brave://flags/#brave-vpn
4. click Relaunch
5. load account.bravesoftware.com
6. enter basic-auth creds for site
7. enter an email address and click Get login link
8. check your email inbox
9. click Log in to Brave or the link in the email
10. click on Browse plans
11. scroll down and click on Buy now for Brave VPN Subscription
12. enter payment details on https://checkout.stripe.com/pay/cs_test…
13. click Subscribe
14. Success screen is shown with YOU HAVE ACTIVE CREDENTIALS LOADED! message
15. Click VPN button in the toolbar and connect to VPN

Scenario 2: Switch to different region once VPN is successfully connected

• from scenario 1, switch from USA(Northwest) to Australia
• %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk - rasphone entry disappears

Actual result:

Got this below error:

• Failed to write the VPN config. This may happen if you don't have permission or if you haven't run Windows Update recently.
• %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk% - do not show rasphone entry

Work around for both scenarios is

• close the browser
• reboot the machine
• relaunch Brave
• Toggled ON to connect VPN in the VPN panel

Logs show this error: ERROR: failed to write "NumCustomPolicy" field to rasphone.pbk

Ex1	Ex2	scenario 2

Expected result:

VPN should be connected successfully without errors

Reproduces how often:

Easily

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave | 1.46.130 Chromium: 108.0.5359.62 (Official Build) (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 041930a89a990cfab0315a2d9f20d6429a4a67cf-refs/branch-heads/5359@{#938}
OS | Windows 11 Version 21H2 (Build 22000.1219)

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release? Yes
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel?
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel?

Other Additional Information:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields?
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards?
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome?

Miscellaneous Information:

@mattmcalister @rebron @bsclifton @simonhong cc: @brave/qa-team

[kjozwiak]

The above will require 1.46.141 or higher for 1.46.x verification 👍

[MadhaviSeelam]

Verification PASSED using

Brave | 1.46.141 Chromium: 108.0.5359.99 (Official Build) (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 410951fc34bb4b2cbf182231f9f779efaafaf682-refs/branch-heads/5359_71@{#9}
OS | Windows 11 Version 21H2 (Build 22000.1219)

Verified using STR from https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/27056#issue-1468905481

Scenario 1:

• Confirmed no config error displayed in the VPN panel when attempted to connect and VPN was successfully at the first try

Ex1	Ex2

Scenario 2:

• Confirmed successfully connected different region - USA (West) --> Germany
• rasphone entry shown

Ex1	Ex2	Ex3