CVE-2018-10169: ProtonVPN 1.3.3 for Windows suffers from a SYSTEM privilege escalation vulnerability through the "ProtonVPN Se

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CRITICAL 9.8REMOTEDOWNGRADE

CVE-2018-10169 is a critical-severity flaw (CVSS 9.8) affecting protonvpn. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

ProtonVPN 1.3.3 for Windows suffers from a SYSTEM privilege escalation vulnerability through the "ProtonVPN Service" service. This service establishes an NetNamedPipe endpoint that allows arbitrary installed applications to connect and call publicly exposed methods. The "Connect" method accepts a class instance argument that provides attacker control of the OpenVPN command line. An attacker can specify a dynamic library plugin that should run for

Why this priority

Critical severity
Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	9.8 (Critical)
Attack vector	Network (remote)
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	None
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	2.5% (top 16%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-732
Published	2018-04-16
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: protonmail

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2018-04-16 21:29 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 01:33 UTCUpdated Record last modified

protonmail protonvpn DOWNGRADE

Affected: 1.3.3

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 1.3.3

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy protonvpn || rpm -q protonvpn || protonvpn --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 1.3.3 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison protonvpn sudo apt install protonvpn=<VERSION_BEFORE_1.3.3> sudo apt-mark hold protonvpn

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list protonvpn sudo dnf downgrade protonvpn-<VERSION_BEFORE_1.3.3> sudo dnf versionlock add protonvpn

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2018-10169?

protonvpn: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2018-10169 being exploited?

CVE-2018-10169 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2018-10169 affect?

CVE-2018-10169 affects protonvpn. Severity is critical (CVSS 9.8). ProtonVPN 1.3.3 for Windows suffers from a SYSTEM privilege escalation vulnerability through the "ProtonVPN Service" service. This service establishes an NetNamedPipe endpoint that allows arbitrary installed applications to connect and call

How urgent is CVE-2018-10169?

Priority 60/100. Critical severity; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

Software pages

Windows vulnerabilities · OpenVPN vulnerabilities

Related CVEs

CVE-2024-37391 HIGH 7.8 UPGRADE ProtonVPN before 3.2.10 on Windows mishandles the drive installer path, which should use this: '"' + ExpandCon
CVE-2022-50917 HIGH 7.8 DOWNGRADE ProtonVPN 1.26.0 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in its WireGuard service configuration that a
CVE-2018-4010 HIGH 7.8 DOWNGRADE An exploitable code execution vulnerability exists in the connect functionality of ProtonVPN VPN client 1.5.1

References

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