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Private Internet AccessApplication · Londontrustmedia

CVE-2018-10190

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A vulnerability in London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v77 for Windows could allow an unauthenticated, local attacker to run executable files with elevated privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient implementation of access controls. The "Changelog" and "Help" options available from the system tray context menu spawn an elevated instance of the user's default web browser. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by selecting "Run as Administrator" from the context menu of an executable file within the file browser of the spawned default web browser. This may allow the attacker to execute privileged commands on the targeted system.

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

PIA VPN Client v77 for Windows contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability where the 'Changelog' and 'Help' options in the system tray context menu spawn the user's default web browser with elevated (administrator) privileges. A local attacker can exploit this by navigating to any executable file within the file browser of the spawned elevated browser session and selecting 'Run as Administrator' from the context menu, thereby executing arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

MitigationUpgrade to PIA VPN Client v78 or later which addresses the insufficient access control implementation. As a workaround, avoid using the Changelog and Help options from the system tray until the update is applied.

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
Private Internet AccessApplication
Affected:= 77

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 PIA VPN Client is installed
    Open Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check for the Private Internet Access application in the system. Look for 'Private Internet Access' or 'PIA' in the installed programs list.
    Affected if PIA VPN Client for Windows is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed PIA VPN version
    Right-click the PIA system tray icon, select 'About' or check the application properties. Alternatively, right-click the installed executable in Program Files and view version info.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 77 (version 77.0.0 or similar)
  3. Locate the PIA system tray icon
    Check the system tray (notification area) in the lower-right corner of the desktop for the PIA VPN icon.
    Affected if The PIA tray icon is visible and responds to right-click showing a context menu
  4. Check context menu for vulnerable options
    Right-click the PIA system tray icon and examine the context menu options.
    Affected if The context menu includes 'Changelog' or 'Help' options that launch external programs
  5. Verify if launched browsers run elevated
    When clicking Changelog or Help from the tray menu, observe if the spawned browser process runs with elevated privileges. In Task Manager, check the browser process properties - if 'Run as administrator' appears or the process shows as running with elevated integrity, the system is vulnerable.
    Affected if Clicking Changelog or Help spawns a browser process with elevated/administrator privileges

A system is affected if Private Internet Access version 77 is installed and the system tray context menu launches external programs with elevated privileges.

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

Upgrade to PIA VPN Client v78 or later which addresses the insufficient access control implementation. As a workaround, avoid using the Changelog and Help options from the system tray until the update is applied.

Fix this in Private Internet Access Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2018-10190 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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