# CVE-2020-9442: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges by placing a malicious DLL in an insecurely permissioned directory of the OpenVPN Connect client.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 28 Feb 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mg74-mw7r-v7j9

## What is CVE-2020-9442?

CVE-2020-9442 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 28 Feb 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenVPN Connect 3.1.0.361 on Windows has Insecure Permissions for %PROGRAMDATA%\OpenVPN Connect\drivers\tap\amd64\win10, which allows local users to gain privileges by copying a malicious drvstore.dll there.

Weakness: CWE-281 (Improper Preservation of Permissions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-9442?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openvpn Connect.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-9442?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-9442 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-9442 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-9442 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- OpenVPN Connect for Windows (MSI) - 3.1.0.361 - Privilege Escalation (github_poc): https://github.com/hessandrew/CVE-2020-9442

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2026-9560](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9560/): Privilege escalation in OpenVPN Connect (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2023-7245](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-7245/): Code injection in OpenVPN Connect (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2023-7224](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-7224/): Code injection in OpenVPN Connect (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-3613](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3613/): Code injection in OpenVPN Connect (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2024-8474](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-8474/): Information disclosure in OpenVPN Connect (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-9442 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-9442 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 28 Feb 2020. 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-2020-9442 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-2020-9442/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9442/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-9442
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-9442
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-9442

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9442/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.