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ViscosityApplication · Sparklabs

CVE-2020-5180

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-01-14
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
Viscosity 1.8.2 on Windows and macOS allows an unprivileged user to set a subset of OpenVPN parameters, which can be used to load a malicious library into the memory of the OpenVPN process, leading to limited local privilege escalation. (When a VPN connection is initiated using a TLS/SSL client profile, the privileges are dropped, and the library will be loaded, resulting in arbitrary code execution as a user with limited privileges. This greatly reduces the impact of the vulnerability.)

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

Viscosity VPN client 1.8.2 allows unprivileged users to manipulate OpenVPN configuration parameters, enabling injection of a malicious library into the OpenVPN process memory. When a TLS/SSL VPN connection is initiated, the dropped privileges still permit arbitrary code execution as a limited-privilege user, achieving local privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade Viscosity to version 1.8.3 or later which contains the patch. Until then, restrict unprivileged users' ability to modify VPN connection profiles and monitor for unauthorized library loading.

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
ViscosityApplication
Affected:= 1.8.2

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:3.1/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. Check installed Viscosity version
    On Windows, check 'Add or Remove Programs' or the version displayed in the Viscosity GUI 'About' window. On macOS, run 'defaults read /Applications/Viscosity.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString' or check 'Get Info' on the application.
    Affected if Version is exactly 1.8.2
  2. Inspect VPN connection profile permissions
    On Windows, navigate to '%APPDATA%\Viscosity\OpenVPNConfig' and check file permissions on .ovpn config files. On macOS, check '~/Library/Application Support/Viscosity/OpenVPNConfig'. Verify which users have Write permissions on these configuration files.
    Affected if Unprivileged (non-admin) users have Write access to VPN configuration files
  3. Check for unauthorized library loading
    Monitor the OpenVPN process (openvpn.exe or openvpn) during VPN connection initiation. Use process monitoring tools or check OpenVPN logs for unexpected DLL/so files being loaded, particularly from user-writable directories.
    Affected if Libraries from user-writable paths are being loaded by the OpenVPN process
  4. Review OpenVPN configuration for library path directives
    Examine .ovpn configuration files in the Viscosity config directory for 'plugin', 'load-plugin', 'script-security', or 'dynamic-challenge' directives that reference user-writable paths or unexpected library files.
    Affected if Configuration files contain library/plugin directives pointing to locations accessible by unprivileged users

A user is affected if Viscosity version 1.8.2 is installed AND unprivileged users can modify VPN connection profiles, allowing library injection into the OpenVPN process.

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

Upgrade Viscosity to version 1.8.3 or later which contains the patch. Until then, restrict unprivileged users' ability to modify VPN connection profiles and monitor for unauthorized library loading.

Fix this in Viscosity Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
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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-2020-5180 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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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