CVE-2017-17809
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 · uneditedIn Golden Frog VyprVPN before 2.15.0.5828 for macOS, the vyprvpnservice launch daemon has an unprotected XPC service that allows attackers to update the underlying OpenVPN configuration and the arguments passed to the OpenVPN binary when executed. An attacker can abuse this vulnerability by forcing the VyprVPN application to load a malicious dynamic library every time a new connection is made.
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 · high confidenceThe vyprvpnservice launch daemon in VyprVPN for macOS versions before 2.15.0.5828 contains an unprotected XPC service lacking authorization checks. This allows local attackers to modify OpenVPN configuration files and arguments passed to the OpenVPN binary, enabling forced loading of malicious dynamic libraries on each VPN connection for arbitrary code execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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< 2.15.0.5828CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check if VyprVPN is installedLook for VyprVPN application in /Applications folder or check using 'ls /Applications | grep -i vypr'Affected if VyprVPN is found in the Applications folder
-
Identify installed VyprVPN versionRight-click VyprVPN.app > Get Info, or run: defaults read /Applications/VyprVPN.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleVersionAffected if Version number returned is lower than 2.15.0.5828
-
Check if vyprvpnservice launch daemon existsLook for /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.goldenfrog.vyprvpn.VyprVPNService or check launchd configuration in /Library/LaunchDaemons/Affected if The launch daemon com.goldenfrog.vyprvpn.VyprVPNService exists on the system
-
Verify the XPC service is accessible without authorizationInspect the XPC service binary and its authorization check implementation in /Applications/VyprVPN.app/Contents/Library/LaunchServices/ (requires deeper binary analysis)Affected if The XPC service lacks NSXPCConnectionAuthorizationCheck or equivalent authorization validation
User is affected if VyprVPN for macOS is installed with a version lower than 2.15.0.5828 and the vulnerable vyprvpnservice launch daemon is present on the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor data2.15.0.5828
Upgrade VyprVPN for macOS to version 2.15.0.5828 or later which implements proper XPC service authorization checks to prevent unauthorized configuration modifications.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17809 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-17809 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data