CVE-2019-12579
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux...
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux and macOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The PIA Linux/macOS binary openvpn_launcher.64 binary is setuid root. This binary accepts several parameters to update the system configuration. These parameters are passed to operating system commands using a "here" document. The parameters are not sanitized, which allow for arbitrary commands to be injected using shell metacharacters. A local unprivileged user can pass special crafted parameters that will be interpolated by the operating system calls.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux and macOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The PIA Linux/macOS binary openvpn_launcher.64 binary is setuid root. This binary accepts several parameters to update the system configuration. These parameters are passed to operating system commands using a "here" document. The parameters are not sanitized, which allow for arbitrary commands to be injected using shell metacharacters. A local unprivileged user can pass special crafted parameters that will be interpolated by the operating system calls.
- Record
CVE-2019-12579- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.2 High
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-78
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux and macOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The PIA Linux/macOS binary openvpn_launcher.64 binary is setuid root. This binary accepts several parameters to update the system configuration. These parameters are passed to operating system commands using a "here" document. The parameters are not sanitized, which allow for arbitrary commands to be injected using shell metacharacters. A local unprivileged user can pass special crafted parameters that will be interpolated by the operating system calls.
- Record
CVE-2019-12579- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2019-4173 No score
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux and macOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The PIA Linux/macOS binary openvpn_launcher.64 binary is setuid root. This binary accepts several parameters to update the system configuration. These parameters are passed to operating system commands using a "here" document. The parameters are not sanitized, which allow for arbitrary commands to be injected using shell metacharacters. A local unprivileged user can pass special crafted parameters that will be interpolated by the operating system calls.
- Record
EUVD-2019-4173- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-w74p-ff9j-9p68 No score
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux...
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v82 for Linux and macOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The PIA Linux/macOS binary openvpn_launcher.64 binary is setuid root. This binary accepts several parameters to update the system configuration. These parameters are passed to operating system commands using a "here" document. The parameters are not sanitized, which allow for arbitrary commands to be injected using shell metacharacters. A local unprivileged user can pass special crafted parameters that will be interpolated by the operating system calls.
- Record
GHSA-w74p-ff9j-9p68- Weakness
- CWE-78
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2019-12579 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Londontrustmedia Private Internet Access Vpn Client, published July 11, 2019. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.81%, the 57th percentile. No source names a fixed version.