# CVE-2020-15590: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Attackers can bypass the VPN kill switch to leak host IP addresses when IP forwarding is enabled, affecting Linux users of the PIA VPN client.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c5hr-c549-fjcx

## What is CVE-2020-15590?

CVE-2020-15590 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Sep 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client for Linux 1.5 through 2.3+ allows remote attackers to bypass an intended VPN kill switch mechanism and read sensitive information via intercepting network traffic. Since 1.5, PIA has supported a “split tunnel” OpenVPN bypass option. The PIA killswitch & associated iptables firewall is designed to protect you while using the Internet. When the kill switch is configured to block all inbound and outbound network traffic, privileged applications can continue sending & receiving network traffic if net.ipv4.ip_forward has been enabled in the system kernel parameters. For example, a Docker container running on a host with the VPN turned off, and the kill switch turned on, can continue using the internet, leaking the host IP (CWE 200). In PIA 2.4.0+, policy-based routing is enabled by default and is used to direct all forwarded packets to the VPN interface automatically.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-15590?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Privateinternetaccess Private Internet Access Vpn Client.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-15590?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-15590 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-15590 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15590 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-15590 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-15590 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Sep 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15590 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-2020-15590/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15590/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-15590
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-15590
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-15590

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15590/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.