CVE-2022-41141
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Windscribe. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the configuration of OpenSSL. The product loads an OpenSSL configuration file from an unsecured location. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-16859.
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 confidenceWindscribe VPN client loads its OpenSSL configuration file from an unsecured location, allowing a local attacker with low-privileged code execution to manipulate this config and escalate to SYSTEM privileges. The vulnerability exists in how the application initializes OpenSSL during startup.
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= 2.3.16CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Windscribe versionOpen Windows Settings > Apps & Features, or run 'wmic product get name,version' or check the program files directory for Windscribe installation folderAffected if Version is exactly 2.3.16 (other versions are not affected by this specific CVE)
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Locate OpenSSL configuration file used by WindscribeMonitor Windscribe process during startup using Process Monitor or inspect Windscribe installation directory for openssl.cnf or similar config filesAffected if OpenSSL config file is found in a location writable by low-privileged users (such as user profile folders, temp directories, or world-writable locations)
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Check file permissions on OpenSSL config locationRight-click the config file > Properties > Security, or run 'icacls <config_path>' from command promptAffected if The folder or file grants write access to non-admin users or is located in an unsecured user-controlled path
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Verify Windscribe service runs with elevated privilegesOpen Services control panel, find Windscribe service, check 'Log on as' setting; or run 'sc qc Windscribe'Affected if Service runs as SYSTEM or another high-privilege account (this is required for privilege escalation to succeed)
You are affected only if Windscribe version is exactly 2.3.16 AND the OpenSSL config file loads from a location where a low-privileged attacker could modify it before the service starts.
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 dataThe vendor should modify Windscribe to load OpenSSL configuration from a secure, controlled location (e.g., within the application directory with restricted permissions) rather than an unsecured path. Applying the vendor patch when available is the primary remediation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-41141 — 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-2022-41141 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
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