An issue was discovered in ExpressVPN on Windows.
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
An issue was discovered in ExpressVPN on Windows. The Xvpnd.exe process (which runs as a service with SYSTEM privileges) listens on TCP port 2015, which is used as an RPC interface for communication with the client side of the ExpressVPN application. A JSON-RPC protocol over HTTP is used for communication. The JSON-RPC XVPN.GetPreference and XVPN.SetPreference methods are vulnerable to path traversal, and allow reading and writing files on the file system on behalf of the service.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 2
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:expressvpn:expressvpn:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Vulnerable | Expressvpn |
| cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Running on | Microsoft |
- cpe:2.3:a:expressvpn:expressvpn:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Vulnerable ·Expressvpn
- cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Running on ·Microsoft
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2018-15490
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-f5mw-fw9m-vxmc
References
More Expressvpn vulnerabilities
- TI-2020-17608 An integer buffer overflow in the Nginx webserver of ExpressVPN Router version 1 allows… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-16926 ExpressVPN before 12.73.0 on Windows, when split tunneling is used, sends DNS requests… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2018-15490 · CVE Program
- CVE-2018-15490 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-f5mw-fw9m-vxmc · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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