Local privilege escalation via ipsec.conf newline injection
Published Sep 14, 2026 · Updated Sep 14, 2026
Command injection in NetworkManager-l2tp allows local users to execute commands as root through a crafted L2TP VPN profile. nm-l2tp-service accepts control characters in VPN data and secret values, writes them unescaped into ipsec.conf, and lets a newline inject a leftupdown command that the IPsec daemon runs as root. Exploitation requires an unprivileged logged-in user to create and activate an L2TP/IPsec profile; successful execution grants unrestricted root access.
Summary
What happened
Command injection in NetworkManager-l2tp allows local users to execute commands as root through a crafted L2TP VPN profile. nm-l2tp-service accepts control characters in VPN data and secret values, writes them unescaped into ipsec.conf, and lets a newline inject a leftupdown command that the IPsec daemon runs as root. Exploitation requires an unprivileged logged-in user to create and activate an L2TP/IPsec profile; successful execution grants unrestricted root access.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-19624
- Published
- Sep 14, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 14, 2026
- Vendor
- nm-l2tp
- Product
- NetworkManager-l2tp
- Classifications
- T1059.004, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 14, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 14, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=1.0.0 <1.0.16
- Affected versionversion=1.20.0 <1.20.24
- Affected versionversion=1.2.0 <1.2.22
- Affected versionversion=1.52.0 <1.52.4
- Affected versionversion=1.8.0 <1.8.10
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Public exploit references
- nm-l2tp-poc.shfunctional · 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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