What is utun0 and utun1 in network interfaces?

Question

I run the command ifconfig on my Mac, and I get a long list of network interfaces. At the bottom are 2 peculiar interfaces, utun0 and utun1:

utun0: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
    inet6 fe80::9bf4:4abb:9ca9:9b76%utun0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xb
    nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun1: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 2000
    inet6 fe80::23e7:664c:8370:db7d%utun1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xc
    nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

I do not know what these are. A quick search found an old StackExchange post that says it is for "Back to My Mac" feature. However, this feature was discontinued this summer of 2019 according to Apple. Therefore, what is this? Why does it exist?

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 27 '20 at 11:23

8

These interfaces are used for VPN connections, regardless of whether VPN is enabled. See also https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/310220/who-creates-utun0-adapter

answered Apr 27 '20 at 11:23

Peter Evans

101

What is utun0 and utun1 in network interfaces?

1 Answers1