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TI-2018-05453 Aliases CVE-2018-7544GHSA-9vqg-v7fx-9jvr

A cross-protocol scripting issue was discovered in the management interface in OpenVPN…

Priority MEDIUM 49CWE-134Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · None · High
Fix status
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA.

Summary

A cross-protocol scripting issue was discovered in the management interface in OpenVPN through 2.4.5. When this interface is enabled over TCP without a password, and when no other clients are connected to this interface, attackers can execute arbitrary management commands, obtain sensitive information, or cause a denial of service (SIGTERM) by triggering XMLHttpRequest actions in a web browser. This is demonstrated by a multipart/form-data POST to http://localhost:23000 with a "signal SIGTERM" command in a TEXTAREA element. NOTE: The vendor disputes that this is a vulnerability. They state that this is the result of improper configuration of the OpenVPN instance rather than an intrinsic vulnerability, and now more explicitly warn against such configurations in both the management-interface documentation, and with a runtime warning

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.01785 78th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
——all versions—No fix listedCNA
  • — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:openvpn:openvpn:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*up to 2.4.5VulnerableOpenVPN
  • cpe:2.3:a:openvpn:openvpn:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 2.4.5 Vulnerable ·OpenVPN

Remediation

No fixed version listed by the sources yet.

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2018-7544
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9vqg-v7fx-9jvr

References

Exploit 1

  • TI-2014-04453 Unquoted Windows search path vulnerability in the ptservice service prior to… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
  • TI-2022-00467 Authentication bypass in OpenVPN CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2024-18509 Unrestricted file upload in OpenVPN 2 CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2024-16468 The interactive service in OpenVPN 2.6.9 and earlier allows the OpenVPN service pipe to… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2023-25309 Use after free in OpenVPN 2 CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2024-05196 OpenVPN before 2.6.11 does not santize PUSH_REPLY messages properly which an attacker… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
See all 48 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences