{"cve":"CVE-2018-7311","nvd":{"published":"2018-02-21T22:29:00.330","modified":"2026-06-17T02:02:59.687","status":"Modified","description":"PrivateVPN 2.0.31 for macOS suffers from a root privilege escalation vulnerability. The software installs a privileged helper tool that runs as the root user. This privileged helper tool is installed as a LaunchDaemon and implements an XPC service. The XPC service is responsible for handling new VPN connection operations via the main PrivateVPN application. The privileged helper tool creates new VPN connections by executing the openvpn binary located in the /Applications/PrivateVPN.app/Contents/Resources directory. The openvpn binary can be overwritten by the default user, which allows an attacker that has already installed malicious software as the default user to replace the binary. When a new VPN connection is established, the privileged helper tool will launch this malicious binary, thus allowing an attacker to execute code as the root user. NOTE: the vendor has reportedly indicated that this behavior is \"an acceptable part of their software.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","score":8.8},"cwes":["CWE-732"],"references":["https://gist.github.com/anonymous/cfc3f3419804b22ee9e82ee8d16a661d","https://github.com/VerSprite/research/blob/eba22c8b506be6f7128ef5356281915d5667bfff/advisories/VS-2018-004.md","https://github.com/VerSprite/research/blob/master/advisories/VS-2018-004.md","https://gist.github.com/anonymous/cfc3f3419804b22ee9e82ee8d16a661d","https://github.com/VerSprite/research/blob/eba22c8b506be6f7128ef5356281915d5667bfff/advisories/VS-2018-004.md"],"products":["privatevpn:privatevpn"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T20:48:34.567387330+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2018-7311","score":0.02204,"percentile":0.82552,"date":"2026-10-31"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}