CVE-2018-6623
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Hola 1.79.859. An unprivileged user could modify or overwrite the executable with arbitrary code, which would be executed the next time the service is started. Depending on the user that the service runs as, this could result in privilege escalation. The issue exists because of the SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS access right for the hola_svc and hola_updater services.
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 confidenceIn Hola 1.79.859, unprivileged Windows users have SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS rights to the hola_svc and hola_updater services. This excessive permission allows attackers to modify the service executable path or overwrite the binary with malicious code, which executes when the service next restarts, potentially achieving privilege escalation if the service runs with elevated privileges.
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= 1.79.859CVSS 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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Check if Hola VPN is installedOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*Hola*"}' in PowerShellAffected if Hola VPN appears in installed programs
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Verify installed version is 1.79.859In Programs and Features, find Hola VPN and check the Version column; alternatively, right-click the Hola VPN executable (usually in C:\Program Files\Hola\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Hola\) and view Properties > Details for File VersionAffected if Version listed is exactly 1.79.859
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Check if hola_svc service existsRun 'sc query hola_svc' in Command Prompt or PowerShellAffected if Service named 'hola_svc' is found on the system
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Check if hola_updater service existsRun 'sc query hola_updater' in Command Prompt or PowerShellAffected if Service named 'hola_updater' is found on the system
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Verify service ACL allows SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS for unprivileged usersRun 'sc sdshow hola_svc' and 'sc sdshow hola_updater' in Command Prompt, then decode the SDDL string - look for (A;;FA;;;AU) which grants SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS to Authenticated Users, or (A;;FA;;;WD) which grants to EveryoneAffected if The SDDL output shows (A;;FA;;;AU), (A;;FA;;;WD), or similar permissions granting SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS to unprivileged groups like Authenticated Users or Everyone
You are affected if Hola VPN version 1.79.859 is installed AND the hola_svc or hola_updater services grant SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS to unprivileged users or groups.
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 dataRestrict service access rights by removing SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS from unprivileged users and applying principle of least privilege to the hola_svc and hola_updater service ACLs; verify the services run with minimal required privileges.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6623 — 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-2018-6623 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data