PrivateVPN 2.0.31 for macOS suffers from a root privilege escalation vulnerability with its com.privat.vpn.helper privileged helper tool. This privileged helper tool implements an XPC service that allows arbitrary installed applications to connect and send messages. The XPC service extracts the path string from the corresponding XPC message. This string is supposed to point to PrivateVPN's internal openvpn binary. If a new connection has not already been established, an attacker can send the XPC service a malicious XPC message with the path string pointing at a binary that he or she controls. This results in the execution of arbitrary code as the root user.
CVE-2018-7715
CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence
Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-13. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.
Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 2%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 9.8
- EG Score
- 9.8(medium)
- EPSS
- 82.1%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
March 5, 2018
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
Advisory Details (1)
Auto-updated Jun 13, 2026No patch confirmed yet.
generic
research/advisories/VS-2018-005.md at master · VerSprite/research · GitHub
https://github.com/VerSprite/research/blob/master/advisories/VS-2018-005.mdData Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 12× in last 7d / 44× 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.
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Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2018-7715?
CVE-2018-7715 is a critical vulnerability published on March 5, 2018. PrivateVPN 2.0.31 for macOS suffers from a root privilege escalation vulnerability with its com.privat.vpn.helper privileged helper tool. This privileged helper tool implements an XPC service that allows arbitrary installed applications to connect and send messages. The XPC service extracts the…
When was CVE-2018-7715 disclosed?
CVE-2018-7715 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on March 5, 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-2018-7715 actively exploited?
CVE-2018-7715 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 82.1% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-7715?
CVE-2018-7715 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2018-7715?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2018-7715, 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.
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2018-7715
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