CVE-2018-10204
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 · uneditedPureVPN 6.0.1 for Windows suffers from a SYSTEM privilege escalation vulnerability in its "sevpnclient" service. When configured to use the OpenVPN protocol, the "sevpnclient" service executes "openvpn.exe" using the OpenVPN config file located at %PROGRAMDATA%\purevpn\config\config.ovpn. This file allows "Write" permissions to users in the "Everyone" group. An authenticated attacker may modify this file to 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 account.
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 confidencePureVPN 6.0.1 for Windows has a SYSTEM privilege escalation in its sevpnclient service. The OpenVPN config file at %PROGRAMDATA%\purevpn\config\config.ovpn is writable by the Everyone group. An authenticated attacker can modify this file to specify a malicious DLL plugin that executes with SYSTEM privileges when openvpn.exe runs.
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= 6.0.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm PureVPN versionCheck the installed PureVPN version on the Windows system, typically found in Add/Remove Programs or by querying the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\PureVPNAffected if PureVPN version 6.0.1 is installed
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Locate the OpenVPN config fileVerify the existence of the file at %PROGRAMDATA%\purevpn\config\config.ovpnAffected if The config.ovpn file exists in the expected location
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Check file permissions on config.ovpnReview the security permissions on the config.ovpn file, specifically examining which users and groups have Write or Modify accessAffected if The Everyone group or unauthenticated users have Write or Modify permissions on the config.ovpn file
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Verify sevpnclient service configurationQuery the sevpnclient service using sc qc sevpnclient or Get-Service to confirm it runs with SYSTEM or elevated privilegesAffected if The sevpnclient service runs with SYSTEM or high-privilege account context
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Check for DLL plugin configurationExamine the config.ovpn file contents for any plugin or dll directive lines that load external DLLsAffected if The config.ovpn file contains plugin or dll directives pointing to user-writable locations
A system is affected if PureVPN 6.0.1 is installed, the config.ovpn file exists with writable permissions for the Everyone group, and the sevpnclient service runs with SYSTEM privileges.
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 dataRemove Write permissions for the Everyone group on the config.ovpn file and restrict access to authenticated administrators only; the vendor should also patch the service to run with lower privileges.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-10204 — 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-2018-10204 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
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- 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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