CVE-2019-12572 json
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client 1.0.2 (build 02363) for Windows could allow an authentic…
published 2019-06-21 7 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2019-4166
- cvss
- 7.8
- version 3.0, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.9%
- EPSS 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 60%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client 1.0.2 (build 02363) for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. On startup, the PIA Windows service (pia-service.exe) loads the OpenSSL library from %PROGRAMFILES%\Private Internet Access\libeay32.dll. This library attempts to load the C:\etc\ssl\openssl.cnf configuration file which does not exist. By default on Windows systems, authenticated users can create directories under C:\. A low privileged user can create a C:\etc\ssl\openssl.cnf configuration file to load a malicious OpenSSL engine library resulting in arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM when the service starts.
Exploit prediction
0.93% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 60% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Exploits and checks
- github.com https://github.com/mirchr/security-research/blob/master/vulnerabilities/PIA/CVE-2019-12572.txt referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
- blog.mirch.io https://blog.mirch.io/2019/06/10/cve-2019-12572-pia-windows-privilege-escalation-malicious-openssl-engine/ referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVD | 3.0 | 7.8 | CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVD | 2.0 | 7.2 | AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element
References
-
github.com
/mirchr/security-research/blob/master/vulnerabilities/PIA/CVE-2019-12572.txt
exploit, third-party-advisory
-
blog.mirch.io
/2019/06/10/cve-2019-12572-pia-windows-privilege-escalation-malicious-openssl-engine/
exploit, third-party-advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2019-12572
- NVD CVE-2019-12572
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