Local privilege escalation via privileged OpenVPN configuration
Published May 4, 2021 · Updated Jul 9, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Windscribe VPN 2.02.10 and earlier allows local users to execute code as root or SYSTEM. WindscribeService passes a user-selected OpenVPN configuration to a bundled OpenVPN process running with elevated privileges; script-security and up directives launch an attacker-controlled script. A low-privileged local account must supply the malicious configuration and initiate a VPN connection, after which the payload runs with service privileges.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege escalation in Windscribe VPN 2.02.10 and earlier allows local users to execute code as root or SYSTEM. WindscribeService passes a user-selected OpenVPN configuration to a bundled OpenVPN process running with elevated privileges; script-security and up directives launch an attacker-controlled script. A low-privileged local account must supply the malicious configuration and initiate a VPN connection, after which the payload runs with service privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-27518
- Published
- May 4, 2021
- Updated
- Jul 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-269, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 4, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Malicious OpenVPN configuration proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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