dbcve.org
ConnectApplication · Openvpn

CVE-2020-15075

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-03-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.2.6 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
OpenVPN Connect installer for macOS version 3.2.6 and older may corrupt system critical files it should not have access via symlinks in /tmp.

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 · moderate confidence

The OpenVPN Connect installer for macOS versions 3.2.6 and older contains a symlink attack vulnerability in its handling of temporary files in /tmp. The installer follows symbolic links when writing to the world-writable /tmp directory, potentially allowing it to overwrite or corrupt system critical files outside its intended scope.

MitigationUpgrade OpenVPN Connect for macOS to a version newer than 3.2.6. Until upgraded, avoid running the installer with elevated privileges and ensure /tmp directory is not exploitable by untrusted users.

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
ConnectApplication
Affected:<= 3.2.6

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Check if OpenVPN Connect is installed on macOS
    Open Finder, go to /Applications folder, or run: ls /Applications | grep -i openvpn
    Affected if OpenVPN Connect appears in Applications folder or command output
  2. Determine installed OpenVPN Connect version
    Right-click OpenVPN Connect in /Applications, select 'Get Info', or run: defaults read /Applications/OpenVPN\ Connect.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString
    Affected if Version number displayed is 3.2.6 or lower
  3. Verify the specific vulnerable version range
    Compare your installed version against the affected range: versions 3.2.6 and older are vulnerable. The exact version is shown in the Get Info window or from the defaults command above.
    Affected if Installed version is 3.2.6 or any version number lower than 3.2.6 (e.g., 3.2.5, 3.2.0, etc.)

You are affected if OpenVPN Connect for macOS is installed with a version of 3.2.6 or lower.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.2.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade OpenVPN Connect for macOS to a version newer than 3.2.6. Until upgraded, avoid running the installer with elevated privileges and ensure /tmp directory is not exploitable by untrusted users.

Fix this in Connect Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15075 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-15075 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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