SYSTEM Privilege Escalation in NordVPN for Windows
CVE-2018-10170

9.8CRITICAL

Key Information:

Vendor

Nordvpn

Status
Nordvpn
Vendor
CVE Published:
16 April 2018

What is CVE-2018-10170?

The NordVPN client for Windows contains a vulnerability that allows for SYSTEM privilege escalation through its 'nordvpn-service' service. This service sets up a NetNamedPipe endpoint that permits arbitrary applications to connect and invoke publicly accessible methods. One such method, 'Connect', takes a class instance argument, enabling an attacker to manipulate the OpenVPN command line. By doing so, attackers can specify a dynamic library plugin to execute with every new VPN connection attempt, allowing the execution of code in the context of the SYSTEM user, posing significant security risks.

References

https://github.com/VerSprite/research/blob/master/advisor...
x_refsource_MISC

CVSS V3.1

Score:
9.8
Severity:
CRITICAL
Confidentiality:
High
Integrity:
High
Availability:
High
Attack Vector:
Network
Attack Complexity:
Low
Privileges Required:
None
User Interaction:
None
Scope:
Unchanged

Timeline

  • Vulnerability Reserved

  • Vulnerability published

.