# CVE-2019-6145: Privilege escalation in Forcepoint VPN Client for Windows

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM via unquoted search paths in Forcepoint VPN Client for Windows.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Sep 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8gxf-72xg-w67c

## What is CVE-2019-6145?

CVE-2019-6145 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Forcepoint VPN Client for Windows, published on 20 Sep 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Forcepoint VPN Client for Windows versions lower than 6.6.1 have an unquoted search path vulnerability. This enables local privilege escalation to SYSTEM user. By default, only local administrators can write executables to the vulnerable directories. Forcepoint thanks Peleg Hadar of SafeBreach Labs for finding this vulnerability and for reporting it to us.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-6145?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Forcepoint Vpn Client.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-6145?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-6145 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-6145 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-6145 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Forcepoint VPN Client for Windows

- [CVE-2025-12694](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-12694/): Local Privilege Escalation in VPN Client (high 8.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-6145 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-6145 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Forcepoint VPN Client for Windows, published on 20 Sep 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-6145 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Forcepoint VPN Client for Windows. 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-2019-6145/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6145/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-6145
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-6145
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-6145

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6145/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.