Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2014-5455

Unquoted Windows search path vulnerability in the ptservice service prior to PrivateTunnel version 3.0 (Windows) and OpenVPN Connect version 3.1 (Windows) allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted program.exe file in the %SYSTEMDRIVE% folder.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.3, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts limited data confidentiality, limited integrity, and limited availability for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from openvpn, from privatetunnel organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2014, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2014-08-25T16:55:04.977

Last Modified

2026-05-28T18:16:26.700

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 5.3 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

3.4

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-428
Type: Secondary
CWE-428

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	openvpn	openvpn	2.1.28.0	Yes
Application	privatetunnel	privatetunnel	2.3.8	Yes

References

http://osvdb.org/show/osvdb/109007 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/127439/OpenVPN-Private-Tunnel-Privilege-Escalation.html Exploit ([email protected])
http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/34037 Exploit ([email protected])
http://www.zeroscience.mk/en/vulnerabilities/ZSL-2014-5192.php Exploit ([email protected])
https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelist/pull/3909 ([email protected])
https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelist/pull/3909/commits/ace34f1cf94602f31760d3eb7ae68e17df8f914d ([email protected])
https://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05325943 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://osvdb.org/show/osvdb/109007 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/127439/OpenVPN-Private-Tunnel-Privilege-Escalation.html Exploit (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/34037 Exploit (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.zeroscience.mk/en/vulnerabilities/ZSL-2014-5192.php Exploit (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelist/pull/3909 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelist/pull/3909/commits/ace34f1cf94602f31760d3eb7ae68e17df8f914d (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05325943 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For openvpn's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.