Internet connection and DNS routing are broken from WSL2 instances, when some VPNs are active.
The root cause seems to be that WSL2 and the VPN use the same IP address block, and the VPN routing clobbers WSL2's network routing.
This problem is tracked in multiple microsoft/WSL issues including, but not limited to:
If you're encountering ping github.com failing inside WSL with a Temporary failure in name resolution, you're not alone — this has been a long-standing issue, especially when using VPNs or corporate networks.
This issue is now fixed robustly with DNS tunneling, which preserves dynamic DNS behavior and avoids limitations like WSL’s former hard cap of 3 DNS servers in /etc/resolv.conf.
DNS tunneling is enabled by default in WSL version 2.2.1 and later, meaning that if you're still seeing DNS resolution issues, the first and most effective fix is simply to upgrade WSL. Upgrading WSL updates the WSL platform itself, but does not affect your installed Linux distributions, apps, or files.
To upgrade WSL, follow these steps,
