Vulnerability in Linux Kernel
CVE-2019-12578
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The openvpn_launcher.64 binary is setuid root. This binary executes /opt/pia/openvpn-64/openvpn, passing the parameters provided from the command line. Care was taken to programmatically disable potentially dangerous openvpn parameters; however, the --route-pre-down parameter can be used. This parameter accepts an arbitrary path to a script/program to be executed when OpenVPN exits. The --script-security parameter also needs to be passed to allow for this action to be taken, and --script-security is not currently in the disabled parameter list. A local unprivileged user can pass a malicious script/binary to the --route-pre-down option, which will be executed as root when openvpn is stopped.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.008 (55.2th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 55th percentile — 55.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.008 · newest: 0.008 · change: 0.000
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- github.com/mirchr/security-research/blob/master/vulnerabilities/PIA/CVE-2019-12… (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2019-12578?
- CVE-2019-12578 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Argument Injection. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2019-07-11.
- How severe is CVE-2019-12578?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2019-12578 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.