Issues using vsftpd-tls

Router
1

I tried setting up an FTP on my flint3 using vsftpd-tls. It crashed my router repeatedly. Below I have the logs. Is there a compatibility issue here? Should I use a different package?

This is from the logs: Wed Feb 25 23:40:37 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2158.859945] nft_reject_inet nft_reject nft_redir nft_quota nft_objref nft_numgen nft_nat nft_masq nft_log nft_limit nft_hash nft_fwd_netdev nft_flow_offload nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib nft_dup_netdev nft_ct nft_counter nft_compat nft_chain_nat nf_tproxy_ipv6 nf_tproxy_ipv4 nf_tables_set nf_tables nf_socket_ipv6 nf_socket_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv4 nf_nat_tftp nf_nat_snmp_basic nf_nat_rtsp nf_nat_pptp nf_nat_irc nf_nat_h323 nf_nat_ftp nf_nat_amanda nf_log_ipv6 nf_log_ipv4 nf_log_common nf_flow_table nf_dup_netdev nf_conntrack_tftp nf_conntrack_snmp nf_conntrack_rtsp nf_conntrack_rtcache nf_conntrack_pptp nf_conntrack_netlink nf_conntrack_irc nf_conntrack_h323 nf_conntrack_ftp nf_conntrack_broadcast ts_kmp nf_conntrack_amanda macvlan ipt_ah ipt_ECN ipheth ip6_tables ip_tables cdc_wdm cdc_acm arptable_filter arpt_mangle arp_tables act_police act_ipt phy_qca_uniphy phy_qca_m31 dwc3 dwc3_qcom fuse sch_teql sch_sfq sch_multiq sch_gred sch_fq sch_codel em_text em_nbyte em_meta em_cmp act_simple
Wed Feb 25 23:40:37 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2159.192805] CPU: 1 PID: 21704 Comm: vsftpd Tainted: P WC 5.4.213 #0

Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.833656] CPU: 2 PID: 21737 Comm: vsftpd Tainted: P WC 5.4.213 #0
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.855884] Hardware name: GL.iNet BE9300, Inc. IPQ5332/AP-MI01.6 (DT)
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.863350] pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO)
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.869774] pc : proc_register+0xc8/0x100
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.874543] lr : proc_register+0xc8/0x100
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.878621] sp : ffffff801690fad0
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.882615] x29: ffffff801690fad0 x28: ffffff8016901d80
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.885915] x27: 0000000100200000 x26: ffffffc010b08824
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.891297] x25: ffffff8016901980 x24: ffffffc010a9e4f8
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.896592] x23: ffffff801095b8eb x22: ffffff80358c7c88
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.901888] x21: ffffffc010b37e3c x20: ffffffc010a9e478
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.907182] x19: ffffff801095b840 x18: 0000000000000000
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.912478] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.917772] x15: 0000000000000000 x14: 00000000000780d3
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.923067] x13: 000000000000000a x12: ffffff809690f807
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.928363] x11: 0000000000000006 x10: 0000000000000010
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.933658] x9 : ffffff801690f815 x8 : 000000000000000d
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.938953] x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000007
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.944248] x5 : ffffff803f680788 x4 : 0000000000000001
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.949543] x3 : 0000000000000007 x2 : 0000000000000000
Wed Feb 25 23:40:38 2026 kern.warn kernel: [ 2160.954839] x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffffff8016900cc0

2

Hi

We tested on Flint 3 v4.8.4 and had no issues installing vsftpd-tls.

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image1775×539 34.5 KB

What firmware version are you currently using? If it’s not v4.8.4, please try upgrading to that version and test again.

If the router is stuck in a reboot loop and cannot recover, please refer to the guide below to reflash the firmware via U-Boot.

Download link:

Upgrade guide:

4

Thanks for the reply!

I’m also running 4.8.4.

Since my post I learned vsftpd-tls works when nothing is trying to use FTP. When I turn on FTP on my NVRthat’s when everything crashes.

5

We tried connecting using FileZilla on Windows, and it seems to work without any issues.

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image1186×443 22 KB

If the installation and service are running correctly but vsftpd-tls has compatibility problems with a specific client, you may need to seek support from the OpenWrt community or the original maintainer, since this part of the code is not maintained by us.

PS:
Here's our test configuration file, which might be helpful:

root@GL-BE9300:~# cat /etc/vsftpd.conf
#Initialized
background=YES
listen=YES
anonymous_enable=YES
local_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
local_umask=022
check_shell=NO
session_support=NO

no_anon_password=YES
anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES
anon_other_write_enable=YES
allow_writeable_chroot=YES
anon_upload_enable=YES
pasv_enable=YES
pasv_min_port=10090
pasv_max_port=10100

ssl_enable=YES
rsa_cert_file=/etc/config/vsftpd_cert.pem
rsa_private_key_file=/etc/config/vsftpd_privkey.pem
6

It looks like the crash may be related to kernel compatibility or missing modules rather than vsftpd itself. The log shows a kernel warning around proc_register, which sometimes appears when a package tries to register something the current OpenWrt/GL.iNet kernel doesn’t fully support.

Try these: Make sure the router firmware and packages are fully updated, since some vsftpd builds had issues on certain kernels.

Test with plain vsftpd (without TLS) first to confirm the base FTP server runs correctly.

If TLS is required, consider using OpenSSL-based builds or an alternative like proftpd, which sometimes works better on embedded routers.

Also check memory usage while starting the service, TLS can be heavier on smaller router systems and may trigger instability.