CVE-2018-11479
The VPN component in Windscribe 1.81 uses the OpenVPN client for connections. Also, it creates a WindScribeService.exe system process that…
- 7.8HighCVSS base score
- 9.6%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 4.5% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 2Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
The VPN component in Windscribe 1.81 uses the OpenVPN client for connections. Also, it creates a WindScribeService.exe system process that establishes a \\.\pipe\WindscribeService named pipe endpoint that allows the Windscribe VPN process to connect and execute an OpenVPN process or other processes (like taskkill, etc.). There is no validation of the program name before constructing the lpCommandLine argument for a CreateProcess call. An attacker can run any malicious process with SYSTEM privileges through this named pipe.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module and an Exploit-DB entry for it.
Show the exploits2
Metasploit modules1 module
- Windscribe WindscribeService Named Pipe Privilege Escalation (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/windows/local/windscribe_windscribeservice_priv_escRank excellentdisclosed 24 May 2018
Exploit-DB1 entry
- Windscribe - WindscribeService Named Pipe Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 48021local, windowspublished 7 Feb 2020Verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
Published
- 6 years later
· 6 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.0 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 9.6% · top 4.5% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References2
- http://sqlulz.blogspot.com/2018/05/windscribe-vpn-privilege-escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156222/Windscribe-WindscribeService-Named-Pipe-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2018-3510 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2018-11479)Record last updated .