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CVE-2018-7716

Status: ModifiedCritical (9.8)—

PrivateVPN 2.0.31 for macOS suffers from a root privilege escalation vulnerability with its com.privat.vpn.helper privileged helper tool. This privileged helper tool implements an XPC service that allows arbitrary installed applications to connect and send messages. The XPC service extracts the config string from the corresponding XPC message. This string is supposed to point to an internal OpenVPN configuration file.

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If a new connection has not already been established, an attacker can send the XPC service a malicious XPC message with the config string pointing at an OpenVPN configuration file that he or she controls. In the configuration file, an attacker can specify a dynamic library plugin that should run for every new VPN connection. This plugin will execute code in the context of the root user.

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)

Privatevpn — Privatevpn

CWEs

References

Raw JSON (NVD)

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{
  "id": "CVE-2018-7716",
  "cveTags": [],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV2": [
      {
        "type": "Primary",
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "2.0",
          "baseScore": 10,
          "accessVector": "NETWORK",
          "vectorString": "AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C",
          "authentication": "NONE",
          "integrityImpact": "COMPLETE",
          "accessComplexity": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "COMPLETE",
          "confidentialityImpact": "COMPLETE"
        },
        "acInsufInfo": false,
        "impactScore": 10,
        "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
        "obtainAllPrivilege": false,
        "exploitabilityScore": 10,
        "obtainUserPrivilege": false,
        "obtainOtherPrivilege": false,
        "userInteractionRequired": false
      }
    ],
    "cvssMetricV30": [
      {
        "type": "Primary",
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "cvssData": {
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "version": "3.0",
          "baseScore": 9.8,
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH"
        },
        "impactScore": 5.9,
        "exploitabilityScore": 3.9
      }
    ]
  },
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "cve@mitre.org",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "n/a",
          "product": "n/a",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "n/a"
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  "published": "2018-03-05T23:29:00.410",
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/VerSprite/research/edit/master/advisories/VS-2018-006.md",
      "tags": [
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ],
      "source": "cve@mitre.org"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/VerSprite/research/edit/master/advisories/VS-2018-006.md",
      "tags": [
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      "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"
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  "vulnStatus": "Modified",
  "weaknesses": [
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      "type": "Primary",
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      "description": [
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          "lang": "en",
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  ],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "PrivateVPN 2.0.31 for macOS suffers from a root privilege escalation vulnerability with its com.privat.vpn.helper privileged helper tool. This privileged helper tool implements an XPC service that allows arbitrary installed applications to connect and send messages. The XPC service extracts the config string from the corresponding XPC message. This string is supposed to point to an internal OpenVPN configuration file. If a new connection has not already been established, an attacker can send the XPC service a malicious XPC message with the config string pointing at an OpenVPN configuration file that he or she controls. In the configuration file, an attacker can specify a dynamic library plugin that should run for every new VPN connection. This plugin will execute code in the context of the root user."
    },
    {
      "lang": "es",
      "value": "PrivateVPN 2.0.31 para macOS sufre de una vulnerabilidad de escalado de privilegios root con su herramienta helper privilegiada com.privat.vpn.helper. La herramienta helper privilegiada implementa un servicio XPC que permite que las aplicaciones instaladas se conecten y envíen mensajes. El servicio XPC extrae la cadena config del mensaje XPC correspondiente. Se supone que la cadena debe señalar a un archivo de configuración interna de OpenVPN. Si no se ha establecido ya una nueva conexión, un atacante puede enviar al servicio XPC un mensaje XPC malicioso con la cadena de config señalando a un archivo de configuración de OpenVPN que él o ella controla. En el archivo de configuración, un atacante puede especificar un plugin de biblioteca dinámica que debería ejecutarse para cada nueva conexión de VPN. Este plugin ejecutará código en el contexto del usuario root."
    }
  ],
  "lastModified": "2026-06-17T02:03:34.820",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "nodes": [
        {
          "negate": false,
          "cpeMatch": [
            {
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:privatevpn:privatevpn:2.0.31:*:*:*:*:macos:*:*",
              "vulnerable": true,
              "matchCriteriaId": "0FC93FC6-FB64-461C-9FF5-87F2DBC671E0"
            }
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          "operator": "OR"
        }
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  "sourceIdentifier": "cve@mitre.org"
}