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SafervpnApplication

CVE-2018-10647

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-05-02
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
SaferVPN 4.2.5 for Windows suffers from a SYSTEM privilege escalation vulnerability in its "SaferVPN.Service" service. The "SaferVPN.Service" service executes "openvpn.exe" using OpenVPN config files located within the current user's %LOCALAPPDATA%\SaferVPN\OvpnConfig directory. An authenticated attacker may modify these configuration files 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 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 SaferVPN service runs as SYSTEM and executes openvpn.exe using configuration files stored in an attacker-writable location (%LOCALAPPDATA%\SaferVPN\OvpnConfig). An authenticated local attacker can modify these config files to specify a malicious DLL plugin that will be loaded and executed with SYSTEM privileges during VPN connection attempts.

MitigationRestrict file permissions on the %LOCALAPPDATA%\SaferVPN\OvpnConfig directory to prevent modification by non-privileged users, and implement configuration file integrity validation before loading plugins.

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
SafervpnApplication
Affected:= 4.2.5

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
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. Identify SaferVPN installation and version
    Check for SaferVPN installation directory (typically in Program Files or Program Files x86) and locate version information in installer logs, the application binary, or registry keys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or HKCU\SOFTWARE\SaferVPN
    Affected if SaferVPN version 4.2.5 is installed on the system
  2. Verify the SaferVPN service runs with elevated privileges
    Open Services (services.msc), locate the SaferVPN service, right-click and select Properties, check the 'Log on as' account. Alternatively, run 'sc qc SaferVPN' or 'sc queryex SaferVPN' from command prompt
    Affected if The service is configured to run as LocalSystem, SYSTEM, or another high-privilege account
  3. Confirm the vulnerable config directory exists
    Navigate to %LOCALAPPDATA%\SaferVPN\OvpnConfig (typically C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\SaferVPN\OvpnConfig) and list its contents
    Affected if The OvpnConfig directory exists and contains .ovpn configuration files
  4. Check file permissions on the OvpnConfig directory
    Right-click the OvpnConfig folder in %LOCALAPPDATA%\SaferVPN, select Properties, go to the Security tab, and review which users/groups have Write or Modify permissions. Use 'icacls %LOCALAPPDATA%\SaferVPN\OvpnConfig' from command line for detailed permission listing
    Affected if Non-privileged users or the Users group have Write, Modify, or Full Control permissions on this directory
  5. Inspect config files for plugin directives
    Open each .ovpn file in the OvpnConfig folder with a text editor and search for lines containing 'plugin', 'lib', or '.dll'
    Affected if Configuration files contain plugin directives pointing to DLL files, indicating the vulnerability is exploitable if permissions are weak

A system is affected if SaferVPN version 4.2.5 is installed, the service runs as SYSTEM, and the OvpnConfig directory is writable by non-privileged users, allowing modification of .ovpn files to load arbitrary DLL plugins with SYSTEM 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

Restrict file permissions on the %LOCALAPPDATA%\SaferVPN\OvpnConfig directory to prevent modification by non-privileged users, and implement configuration file integrity validation before loading plugins.

Fix this in Safervpn Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2018-10647 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
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