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OpenvpnApplication

CVE-2006-1629

HIGH · 9.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-04-06
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
OpenVPN 2.0 through 2.0.5 allows remote malicious servers to execute arbitrary code on the client by using setenv with the LD_PRELOAD environment variable.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OpenvpnApplication
Affected:= 2.0= 2.0.4
Openvpn Access ServerApplication
Affected:= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.0.5

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch openvpn.net →
Recommended fix Moderate confidence

OpenVPN 2.0.6 or later (or migrate to OpenVPN 2.x stable/2.1.x branch). For Access Server, upgrade to version 2.0.6 or later stable release.

  1. 1. Identify the current OpenVPN installation version using 'openvpn --version' or checking the package manager.
  2. 2. If using OpenVPN 2.0.x (including 2.0.4) or Access Server versions 2.0.1-2.0.5, plan for upgrade.
  3. 3. Backup the current OpenVPN configuration files (typically in /etc/openvpn/).
  4. 4. Consult the OpenVPN changelog at http://openvpn.net/changelog.html to identify the minimum fixed version (post 2.0.5).
  5. 5. Upgrade to a stable release version that addresses this vulnerability.
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed: 'openvpn --version'
  7. 7. Test VPN connectivity to ensure the upgrade did not break existing configurations.
Caveat OpenVPN 2.0 is very old (circa 2005-2006). Upgrading to modern versions may require configuration file updates and could introduce changes in behavior or dependencies. Ensure backup of all configs and test in staging before production deployment.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-1629 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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