How to Check if Your VPN Is Leaking Your Real IP Through WebRTC
Patrick Bushe
October 31, 2025 · 5 min read
The test takes less than two minutes
If you use a VPN for privacy, you're assuming websites see the VPN's IP address and not yours. That assumption might be wrong, and it's easy to check.
The quick test
With your VPN active, visit any of these WebRTC leak test sites:
- browserleaks.com/webrtc
- ipleak.net
- mullvad.net/en/check
These pages use JavaScript to query your WebRTC connections and display the IP addresses they reveal. Compare the results to your expected VPN IP.
What you're looking for
The test results will show IP addresses in two categories:
**Public IP addresses**: These should show only your VPN's IP. If you see your real residential or ISP-assigned IP here, your VPN has a hard IP leak — traffic is escaping the VPN tunnel.
**Local IP addresses**: These are your device's local network addresses (usually 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x). Seeing these is expected and normal — they're not publicly routable and don't reveal your location.
The WebRTC-specific problem
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is the browser technology that enables peer-to-peer features like video calls, file sharing, and screen sharing. It requires discovering the real network path between two endpoints — which means it needs your real IP address.
Even when all your regular web traffic goes through a VPN tunnel, WebRTC can query your network interfaces directly and discover IP addresses that the VPN is supposed to be hiding. This is a design feature of WebRTC, not a flaw — but it's a privacy problem when you're trying to mask your IP.
This is called a WebRTC leak, and it bypasses your VPN without you knowing.
Interpreting the results
If you see only your VPN's IP and local IPs: you're probably fine. No leak.
If you see your real public IP alongside your VPN IP: you have a WebRTC leak. Your real IP is being exposed to any site that runs WebRTC detection.
If you see your real IP but not your VPN IP: your VPN may not be routing WebRTC at all, which is a significant privacy failure.
How to fix it
WebRTC Privacy Shield is a Chrome extension that blocks WebRTC's IP discovery mechanism. Install it from the Chrome Web Store and run the leak test again.
With the extension active, WebRTC requests that would expose your real IP are intercepted. The leak test should now show only your VPN IP (or no IP at all, depending on the protection mode).
The extension has two modes:
- Disable WebRTC entirely: strongest protection, but breaks video calls, screen sharing, and peer-to-peer web apps
- Proxy WebRTC through VPN: allows WebRTC to function but forces it through the VPN tunnel, so only the VPN IP is discoverable
For most users, the proxy mode is the right choice — you keep video call functionality while eliminating the leak.
Conclusion
Checking for a WebRTC leak takes two minutes and is worth doing if you rely on a VPN for privacy. If you find a leak, WebRTC Privacy Shield fixes it without requiring you to disable WebRTC entirely.
