A vulnerability in London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v77 for Windows could allow an unauthenticated, local attacke
A vulnerability in London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v77 for Windows could allow an unauthenticated, local attacker to run executable files with elevated privileges. The vulnerability is due to insufficient implementation of access controls. The "Changelog" and "Help" options available from the system tray context menu spawn an elevated instance of the user's default web browser. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by selecting "Run as Administrator" from the context menu of an executable file within the file browser of the spawned default web browser. This may allow the attacker to execute privileged commands on the targeted system.
- Published
- Apr 17, 2018
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.3% · 24th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-269
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Report tools
Action score
31
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.3%
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| londontrustmedia | private internet access | cpe:2.3:a:londontrustmedia:private_internet_access |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- londontrustmedia private internet access77
Same product
londontrustmedia: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2019-12572A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client 1.0.2 (build 02363) for Windows could allow an authentica31Monitor
- CVE-2017-15882The London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) application before 1.3.3.1 for Android allows remote attackers to cause a denial of ser31Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege ManagementCVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-primary
Root cause
To simplify setup, a service account is granted broad, cluster-wide permissions. The principle of least privilege is skipped during installation.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-269 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
kind: ClusterRolerules: - apiGroups: ["*"] resources: ["*"] verbs: ["*"]Fixed
kind: Rolemetadata: namespace: lodos-systemrules: - apiGroups: ["apps"] resources: ["deployments"] verbs: ["get", "list", "update"]Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.