dbcve.org
NordvpnApplication

CVE-2018-10170

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
NordVPN 6.12.7.0 for Windows suffers from a SYSTEM privilege escalation vulnerability through the "nordvpn-service" service. This service establishes an NetNamedPipe endpoint that allows arbitrary installed applications to connect and call publicly exposed methods. The "Connect" method accepts a class instance argument that provides attacker control of the OpenVPN command line. An attacker can specify a dynamic library plugin that should run for every new VPN connection attempt. This plugin will execute code in the context of the SYSTEM user.

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 confidence

The NordVPN Windows service (nordvpn-service) exposes a NetNamedPipe endpoint accessible to any local application. This endpoint allows calling publicly exposed methods including 'Connect', which accepts attacker-controlled class instance arguments. By specifying a malicious dynamic library plugin path in the OpenVPN command-line parameters, an attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution in SYSTEM context.

MitigationApply vendor patch when available; until then, restrict or disable the nordvpn-service if unnecessary, or implement application whitelisting to prevent untrusted processes from communicating with the named pipe endpoint.

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
NordvpnApplication
Affected:= 6.12.7.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify if NordVPN Windows service is installed
    Check for the presence of the nordvpn-service by looking in Windows Services (services.msc) or checking Program Files for NordVPN installation directory
    Affected if The nordvpn-service appears in the list of installed services or NordVPN is found in Program Files
  2. Check installed NordVPN version
    Open Windows Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check the NordVPN installation directory for version information, typically found in an About or version file
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 6.12.7.0
  3. Verify if nordvpn-service is running
    Open Services (services.msc), locate 'nordvpn-service', and check its Status column, or run 'sc query nordvpn-service' in command prompt
    Affected if The service Status shows 'Running'
  4. Detect NetNamedPipe endpoint exposure
    Use a tool like Process Monitor (ProcMon) or check for active named pipe listeners by inspecting the nordvpn-service process with a process inspection utility. The vulnerable endpoint follows a pattern like 'nordvpn-service' in the named pipe namespace
    Affected if The named pipe endpoint is actively listening and accessible to unprivileged processes
  5. Check for OpenVPN plugin configuration capability
    Examine NordVPN's connection configuration files or logs for OpenVPN command-line parameters that accept the '--plugin' parameter, which allows loading dynamic library plugins
    Affected if OpenVPN is used as the underlying VPN protocol and accepts plugin parameters in its configuration

You are affected if NordVPN version 6.12.7.0 is installed and the nordvpn-service is running, exposing the NetNamedPipe endpoint that accepts attacker-controlled OpenVPN plugin parameters.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor patch when available; until then, restrict or disable the nordvpn-service if unnecessary, or implement application whitelisting to prevent untrusted processes from communicating with the named pipe endpoint.

Fix this in Nordvpn Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,360
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-10170 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2018-10170 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data