RCE in Apple macOS
CVE-2019-12579
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux and macOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The PIA Linux/macOS binary openvpn_launcher.64 binary is setuid root. This binary accepts several parameters to update the system configuration. These parameters are passed to operating system commands using a "here" document. The parameters are not sanitized, which allow for arbitrary commands to be injected using shell metacharacters. A local unprivileged user can pass special crafted parameters that will be interpolated by the operating system calls.
Vulnerability class: Command Injection (OS Command Injection)
EPSS: 0.008 (53.1th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
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.
Affected products
- Apple Macos
- Linux Linux_kernel
- Londontrustmedia Private_internet_access_vpn_client — versions 82
- N/a — versions n/a
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- cve@mitre.org (Exploit, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2019-12579?
- CVE-2019-12579 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple macOS, classified under OS Command Injection. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2019-07-11.
- How severe is CVE-2019-12579?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2019-12579 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.