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NordvpnApplication

CVE-2018-9105

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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 3.3.10 for macOS suffers from a root privilege escalation vulnerability. The vulnerability stems from its privileged helper tool's implemented XPC service. This XPC service is responsible for receiving and processing new OpenVPN connection requests from the main application. Unfortunately this XPC service is not protected, which allows arbitrary applications to connect and send it XPC messages. An attacker can send a crafted XPC message to the privileged helper tool requesting it make a new OpenVPN connection. Because he or she controls the contents of the XPC message, the attacker can specify the location of the openvpn executable, which could point to something malicious they control located on disk. Without validation of the openvpn executable, this will give the attacker code execution in the context of the privileged helper tool.

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

NordVPN 3.3.10 for macOS contains an unprotected XPC service in its privileged helper tool that accepts connection requests from any application. The service fails to validate the client and does not verify the path to the openvpn executable, allowing an attacker to specify a malicious binary and achieve code execution as root.

MitigationImplement XPC client authentication (e.g., via SMJobBless code signing verification) and validate the openvpn executable path before execution.

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:= 3.3.10

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify NordVPN is installed on macOS
    Look for /Applications/NordVPN.app or check via 'ls /Applications/' for NordVPN application
    Affected if NordVPN application exists on the system
  2. Check installed NordVPN version
    Run 'defaults read /Applications/NordVPN.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString' or right-click the app > Get Info to view version
    Affected if Version equals exactly 3.3.10
  3. Locate the NordVPN privileged helper tool
    Check for /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.nordvpn.osx.helper or similar helper binary in the application bundle at /Applications/NordVPN.app/Contents/Library/LaunchServices/
    Affected if The XPC helper tool exists at the expected privileged helper path
  4. Verify the helper's XPC service configuration
    Inspect the helper's launchd plist at /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.nordvpn.osx.helper.plist and examine if the helper binary accepts XPC connections without client validation
    Affected if The helper runs as root and exposes an unprotected XPC listener accepting connections from any process
  5. Confirm openvpn executable availability
    Check for openvpn binary locations that the helper might invoke, typically in /Applications/NordVPN.app/Contents/Resources/ or via 'which openvpn'
    Affected if openvpn executable exists and is reachable by the helper without path verification

A user is affected if NordVPN version 3.3.10 is installed and the privileged helper tool with its unprotected XPC service is present on the system.

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

Implement XPC client authentication (e.g., via SMJobBless code signing verification) and validate the openvpn executable path before execution.

Fix this in Nordvpn Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,880
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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-2018-9105 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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