CVE-2019-12572
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client 1.0.2 (build 02363) for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.93%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client 1.0.2 (build 02363) for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. On startup, the PIA Windows service (pia-service.exe) loads the OpenSSL library from %PROGRAMFILES%\Private Internet Access\libeay32.dll. This library attempts to load the C:\etc\ssl\openssl.cnf configuration file which does not exist. By default on Windows systems, authenticated users can create directories under C:\. A low privileged user can create a C:\etc\ssl\openssl.cnf configuration file to load a malicious OpenSSL engine library resulting in arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM when the service starts.
- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.93% probability · 61th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-427
- Affected
- londontrustmedia/private internet access
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 0.9% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- https://blog.mirch.io/2019/06/10/cve-2019-12572-pia-windows-privilege-escalation-malicious-openssl-engine/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/mirchr/security-research/blob/master/vulnerabilities/PIA/CVE-2019-12572.txtExploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://blog.mirch.io/2019/06/10/cve-2019-12572-pia-windows-privilege-escalation-malicious-openssl-engine/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/mirchr/security-research/blob/master/vulnerabilities/PIA/CVE-2019-12572.txtExploit, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.