CVE-2018-7311

HIGHNVD 8.88.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 8.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-13. NVD baseline CVSS 8.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
8.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 2%CVSS: 8.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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 v3
8.8
EG Score
8.8(medium)
EG Risk
40(Track)
EG Risk 40/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity88% × 45%
Exploitation2% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS
81.0%
KEV
Not listed

Published

February 21, 2018

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

References (6)

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 14× in last 7d / 46× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
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  71. 2026-05-23 03:05 UTCOSV refresh

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Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2018-7311?
CVE-2018-7311 is a high vulnerability published on February 21, 2018. 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…
When was CVE-2018-7311 disclosed?
CVE-2018-7311 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on February 21, 2018, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2018-7311 actively exploited?
CVE-2018-7311 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 81.0% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-7311?
CVE-2018-7311 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2018-7311?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2018-7311, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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