diff --git a/include/openvpn-msg.h b/include/openvpn-msg.h
index 66177a2..5dbdca5 100644
--- a/include/openvpn-msg.h
+++ b/include/openvpn-msg.h
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ typedef enum {
     msg_del_block_dns,
     msg_register_dns,
     msg_enable_dhcp,
+    msg_open_tun_device,
+    msg_open_tun_device_result,
 } message_type_t;
 
 typedef struct {
@@ -117,4 +119,14 @@ typedef struct {
     interface_t iface;
 } enable_dhcp_message_t;
 
+typedef struct {
+    message_header_t header;
+    char device_guid[36+2+1]; /* length of guid with dashes + braces + nul terminator */
+} open_tun_device_message_t;
+
+typedef struct {
+    message_header_t header;
+    int error_number;
+    HANDLE handle;
+} open_tun_device_result_message_t;
 #endif /* ifndef OPENVPN_MSG_H_ */
diff --git a/src/openvpn/tun.c b/src/openvpn/tun.c
index 8f8f7c6..df26ccf 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/tun.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/tun.c
@@ -5248,6 +5248,43 @@ out:
     return ret;
 }
 
+static HANDLE
+service_open_tun_device(const HANDLE pipe, const char* device_guid)
+{
+    open_tun_device_result_message_t result_msg;
+    struct gc_arena gc = gc_new();
+    open_tun_device_message_t open_tun_device = {
+        .header = {
+            msg_open_tun_device,
+            sizeof(open_tun_device_message_t),
+            0
+        }
+    };
+    result_msg.handle = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
+
+    strncpynt(open_tun_device.device_guid, device_guid, sizeof(open_tun_device.device_guid));
+
+    if (!send_msg_iservice_ex(pipe, &open_tun_device, sizeof(open_tun_device),
+        &result_msg, sizeof(result_msg), "Open_tun_device"))
+    {
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    if (result_msg.error_number != NO_ERROR)
+    {
+        msg(D_TUNTAP_INFO, "TUN: opening tun handle using service failed: %s [status=%u device_path=%s]",
+            strerror_win32(result_msg.error_number, &gc), result_msg.error_number, device_guid);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        msg(M_INFO, "Opened tun device %s using service", device_guid);
+    }
+
+out:
+    gc_free(&gc);
+    return result_msg.handle;
+}
+
 /*
  * Return a TAP name for netsh commands.
  */
@@ -5591,15 +5628,22 @@ open_tun(const char *dev, const char *dev_type, const char *dev_node, struct tun
                              device_guid,
                              TAP_WIN_SUFFIX);
 
-            tt->hand = CreateFile(
-                device_path,
-                GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
-                0,                /* was: FILE_SHARE_READ */
-                0,
-                OPEN_EXISTING,
-                FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED,
-                0
+            if (tt->options.msg_channel)
+            {
+                tt->hand = service_open_tun_device(tt->options.msg_channel, device_guid);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                tt->hand = CreateFile(
+                    device_path,
+                    GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
+                    0,                /* was: FILE_SHARE_READ */
+                    0,
+                    OPEN_EXISTING,
+                    FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED,
+                    0
                 );
+            }
 
             if (tt->hand == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
             {
@@ -5631,15 +5675,22 @@ open_tun(const char *dev, const char *dev_type, const char *dev_node, struct tun
                                  device_guid,
                                  TAP_WIN_SUFFIX);
 
-                tt->hand = CreateFile(
-                    device_path,
-                    GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
-                    0,                /* was: FILE_SHARE_READ */
-                    0,
-                    OPEN_EXISTING,
-                    FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED,
-                    0
+                if (tt->options.msg_channel)
+                {
+                    tt->hand = service_open_tun_device(tt->options.msg_channel, device_guid);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    tt->hand = CreateFile(
+                        device_path,
+                        GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
+                        0,                /* was: FILE_SHARE_READ */
+                        0,
+                        OPEN_EXISTING,
+                        FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED,
+                        0
                     );
+                }
 
                 if (tt->hand == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
                 {
diff --git a/src/openvpn/win32.c b/src/openvpn/win32.c
index eb4c030..039c1a4 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/win32.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/win32.c
@@ -1476,12 +1476,19 @@ bool
 send_msg_iservice(HANDLE pipe, const void *data, size_t size,
                   ack_message_t *ack, const char *context)
 {
+    return send_msg_iservice_ex(pipe, data, size, ack, sizeof(*ack), context);
+}
+
+bool
+send_msg_iservice_ex(HANDLE pipe, const void *data, size_t size,
+                     void *response, size_t response_size, const char *context)
+{
     struct gc_arena gc = gc_new();
     DWORD len;
     bool ret = true;
 
     if (!WriteFile(pipe, data, size, &len, NULL)
-        || !ReadFile(pipe, ack, sizeof(*ack), &len, NULL))
+        || !ReadFile(pipe, response, response_size, &len, NULL))
     {
         msg(M_WARN, "%s: could not talk to service: %s [%lu]",
             context ? context : "Unknown",
diff --git a/src/openvpn/win32.h b/src/openvpn/win32.h
index 4814bbc..8ccddc0 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/win32.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/win32.h
@@ -309,14 +309,36 @@ int win32_version_info(void);
  */
 const char *win32_version_string(struct gc_arena *gc, bool add_name);
 
-/*
- * Send the |size| bytes in buffer |data| to the interactive service |pipe|
- * and read the result in |ack|. Returns false on communication error.
- * The string in |context| is used to prefix error messages.
+
+/**
+ * Send data to interactive service and receive response of type ack_message_t.
+ *
+ * @param  pipe      The handle of communication pipe
+ * @param  data      The data to send
+ * @param  size      The size of data to send
+ * @param  response  The pointer to ack_message_t structure to where response is written
+ * @param  context   The string used to prefix error messages
+ *
+ * @returns True on success, false on failure.
  */
 bool send_msg_iservice(HANDLE pipe, const void *data, size_t size,
                        ack_message_t *ack, const char *context);
 
+/**
+ * Send data to interactive service and receive response.
+ *
+ * @param  pipe           The handle of communication pipe
+ * @param  data           The data to send
+ * @param  size           The size of data to send
+ * @param  response       The buffer to where response is written
+ * @param  response_size  The size of response buffer
+ * @param  context        The string used to prefix error messages
+ *
+ * @returns True on success, false on failure.
+ */
+bool send_msg_iservice_ex(HANDLE pipe, const void *data, size_t size,
+                          void *response, size_t response_size, const char *context);
+
 /*
  * Attempt to simulate fork/execve on Windows
  */
diff --git a/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c b/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
index 623c3ff..782c04d 100644
--- a/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
+++ b/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ static settings_t settings;
 static HANDLE rdns_semaphore = NULL;
 #define RDNS_TIMEOUT 600  /* seconds to wait for the semaphore */
 
-
 openvpn_service_t interactive_service = {
     interactive,
     TEXT(PACKAGE_NAME "ServiceInteractive"),
@@ -1198,8 +1197,67 @@ HandleEnableDHCPMessage(const enable_dhcp_message_t *dhcp)
     return err;
 }
 
+static DWORD
+HandleOpenTunDeviceMessage(const open_tun_device_message_t *open_tun, HANDLE ovpn_proc, HANDLE *remote_handle)
+{
+    DWORD err = ERROR_SUCCESS;
+    HANDLE local_handle;
+    LPWSTR wguid = NULL;
+    WCHAR device_path[256] = {0};
+    const WCHAR prefix[] = L"\\\\.\\Global\\";
+    const WCHAR tap_suffix[] = L".tap";
+
+    *remote_handle = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
+
+    wguid = utf8to16(open_tun->device_guid);
+    if (!wguid)
+    {
+        err = ERROR_OUTOFMEMORY;
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    /* validate device guid */
+    const size_t guid_len = wcslen(wguid);
+    for (int i = 0; i < guid_len; ++i)
+    {
+        const WCHAR ch = wguid[i];
+
+        if (!(iswalnum(ch)) && (ch != L'-') && (ch != L'{') && (ch != L'}'))
+        {
+            err = ERROR_MESSAGE_DATA;
+            MsgToEventLog(MSG_FLAGS_ERROR, TEXT("Invalid device guild (%s)"), wguid);
+            goto out;
+        }
+    }
+    
+    openvpn_swprintf(device_path, sizeof(device_path), L"%s%s%s", prefix, wguid, tap_suffix);
+
+    /* open tun device */
+    local_handle = CreateFileW(device_path, GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE, 0, 0,
+                               OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, 0);
+    if (local_handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+    {
+        err = GetLastError();
+        MsgToEventLog(M_SYSERR, TEXT("Error opening tun device (%s)"), device_path);
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    /* duplicate tun device handle to openvpn process */
+    if (!DuplicateHandle(GetCurrentProcess(), local_handle, ovpn_proc, remote_handle, 0, FALSE,
+                         DUPLICATE_CLOSE_SOURCE | DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS))
+    {
+        err = GetLastError();
+        MsgToEventLog(M_SYSERR, TEXT("Error duplicating tun device handle"));
+    }
+
+out:
+    free(wguid);
+
+    return err;
+}
+
 static VOID
-HandleMessage(HANDLE pipe, DWORD bytes, DWORD count, LPHANDLE events, undo_lists_t *lists)
+HandleMessage(HANDLE pipe, HANDLE ovpn_proc, DWORD bytes, DWORD count, LPHANDLE events, undo_lists_t *lists)
 {
     DWORD read;
     union {
@@ -1210,6 +1268,7 @@ HandleMessage(HANDLE pipe, DWORD bytes, DWORD count, LPHANDLE events, undo_lists
         block_dns_message_t block_dns;
         dns_cfg_message_t dns;
         enable_dhcp_message_t dhcp;
+        open_tun_device_message_t open_tun;
     } msg;
     ack_message_t ack = {
         .header = {
@@ -1277,6 +1336,24 @@ HandleMessage(HANDLE pipe, DWORD bytes, DWORD count, LPHANDLE events, undo_lists
             }
             break;
 
+        case msg_open_tun_device:
+            if (msg.header.size == sizeof(msg.open_tun))
+            {
+                open_tun_device_result_message_t res = {
+                    .header = {
+                        .type = msg_open_tun_device_result,
+                        .size = sizeof(res),
+                        .message_id = msg.header.message_id
+                    }
+                };
+                /* make sure that string passed from user process is null-terminated */
+                msg.open_tun.device_guid[sizeof(msg.open_tun.device_guid) - 1] = '\0';
+                res.error_number = HandleOpenTunDeviceMessage(&msg.open_tun, ovpn_proc, &res.handle);
+                WritePipeAsync(pipe, &res, sizeof(res), count, events);
+                return;
+            }
+            break;
+
         default:
             ack.error_number = ERROR_MESSAGE_TYPE;
             MsgToEventLog(MSG_FLAGS_ERROR, TEXT("Unknown message type %d"), msg.header.type);
@@ -1611,7 +1688,7 @@ RunOpenvpn(LPVOID p)
             break;
         }
 
-        HandleMessage(ovpn_pipe, bytes, 1, &exit_event, &undo_lists);
+        HandleMessage(ovpn_pipe, proc_info.hProcess, bytes, 1, &exit_event, &undo_lists);
     }
 
     WaitForSingleObject(proc_info.hProcess, IO_TIMEOUT);
