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CVE-2018-15490

Status: ModifiedHigh (7.1)—

An issue was discovered in ExpressVPN on Windows. The Xvpnd.exe process (which runs as a service with SYSTEM privileges) listens on TCP port 2015, which is used as an RPC interface for communication with the client side of the ExpressVPN application. A JSON-RPC protocol over HTTP is used for communication. The JSON-RPC XVPN.GetPreference and XVPN.SetPreference methods are vulnerable to path traversal, and allow reading and writing files on the file system on behalf of the service.

CVSS

Exploitation probability (EPSS)

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).

Affected technologies (1)

Expressvpn — Expressvpn

CWEs

References

Raw JSON (NVD)

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{
  "id": "CVE-2018-15490",
  "cveTags": [],
  "metrics": {
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        "type": "Primary",
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "2.0",
          "baseScore": 6.6,
          "accessVector": "LOCAL",
          "vectorString": "AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:N",
          "authentication": "NONE",
          "integrityImpact": "COMPLETE",
          "accessComplexity": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
          "confidentialityImpact": "COMPLETE"
        },
        "acInsufInfo": false,
        "impactScore": 9.2,
        "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
        "obtainAllPrivilege": false,
        "exploitabilityScore": 3.9,
        "obtainUserPrivilege": false,
        "obtainOtherPrivilege": false,
        "userInteractionRequired": false
      }
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    "cvssMetricV30": [
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        "type": "Primary",
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "cvssData": {
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "version": "3.0",
          "baseScore": 7.1,
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH"
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        "impactScore": 5.2,
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.8
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  "affected": [
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      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "n/a",
          "product": "n/a",
          "versions": [
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              "status": "affected",
              "version": "n/a"
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  "published": "2019-01-02T18:29:00.653",
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://medium.com/%40Wflki/https-medium-com-wflki-cve-2018-15490-expressvpn-local-privilege-escalation-d22c86fecc47",
      "source": "cve@mitre.org"
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      "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"
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  "vulnStatus": "Modified",
  "weaknesses": [
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      "type": "Primary",
      "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-22"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
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    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "An issue was discovered in ExpressVPN on Windows. The Xvpnd.exe process (which runs as a service with SYSTEM privileges) listens on TCP port 2015, which is used as an RPC interface for communication with the client side of the ExpressVPN application. A JSON-RPC protocol over HTTP is used for communication. The JSON-RPC XVPN.GetPreference and XVPN.SetPreference methods are vulnerable to path traversal, and allow reading and writing files on the file system on behalf of the service."
    },
    {
      "lang": "es",
      "value": "Se ha descubierto un problema en ExpressVPN en Windows. El proceso Xvpnd.exe (que se ejecuta como un servicio con privilegios SYSTEM) escucha en el puerto TCP \"2015\", el cual se utiliza como interfaz RPC para la comunicación con el lado del cliente de la aplicación ExpressVPN. Se utiliza un protocolo JSON-RPC por HTTP para la comunicarse. Los métodos JSON-RPC XVPN.GetPreference y XVPN.SetPreference son vulnerables a un salto de directorio y permiten la lectura y escritura de archivos en el sistema de archivos en nombre del servicio."
    }
  ],
  "lastModified": "2026-06-17T01:42:37.000",
  "configurations": [
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}