# CVE-2014-5455: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by placing a malicious executable in the system drive due to unquoted service paths in Windows VPN clients.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Aug 2014
- **Updated:** 28 May 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mww5-q78w-ffpv

## What is CVE-2014-5455?

CVE-2014-5455 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Aug 2014. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-428 (Unquoted Search Path or Element)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-5455?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Openvpn Openvpn, Privatetunnel Privatetunnel.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-5455?

No fix has been published for CVE-2014-5455 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2014-5455 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2014-5455 exists.

Public exploit code:

- OpenVPN Private Tunnel Core Service - Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2025-12106](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-12106/): Memory corruption in OpenVPN (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2024-5594](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-5594/): Information disclosure in OpenVPN (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2018-7544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7544/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2006-1629](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-1629/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2024-4877](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4877/): Privilege escalation in OpenVPN (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-5455 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-5455 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Aug 2014. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2014-5455 exists.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-5455/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-5455/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-5455
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-5455
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-5455

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-5455/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.