CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2019-12571 — Londontrustmedia Private Internet Access Vpn Client security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.1

A vulnerability in the London Trust Media Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN Client v0.9.8 beta (build 02099) for macOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to overwrite arbitrary files. When the client initiates a connection, the XML /tmp/pia-watcher.plist file is created. If the file exists, it will be truncated and the contents completely overwritten. This file is removed on disconnect. An unprivileged user can create a hard or soft link to arbitrary files owned by any user on the system, including root. This creates a denial of service condition and possible data loss if leveraged by a malicious local user.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.1 (3.0)
Published
2019-07-11
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-59

Affected products

  • londontrustmedia / private_internet_access_vpn_client / 0.9.8

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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