# CVE-2018-7484: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM via DLL hijacking due to insecure library loading and permissive directory permissions in the PureVPN Windows client.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 26 Feb 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qr57-c849-39j8

## What is CVE-2018-7484?

CVE-2018-7484 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Feb 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in PureVPN through 5.19.4.0 on Windows. The client installation grants the Everyone group Full Control permission to the installation directory. In addition, the PureVPNService.exe service, which runs under NT Authority\SYSTEM privileges, tries to load several dynamic-link libraries using relative paths instead of the absolute path. When not using a fully qualified path, the application will first try to load the library from the directory from which the application is started. As the residing directory of PureVPNService.exe is writable to all users, this makes the application susceptible to privilege escalation through DLL hijacking.

Weakness: CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-7484?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Purevpn Purevpn.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-7484?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-7484 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-7484 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7484 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-6822](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6822/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-10204](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-10204/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-18656](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-18656/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2023-48957](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-48957/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-7484 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-7484 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Feb 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7484 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2018-7484/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7484/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-7484
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-7484
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-7484

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7484/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.