Tunnelblick 3.3beta20 and earlier relies on argv[0] to determine the name of an appropriate (1) kernel module pathname or (2) executable fi…

published 2012-08-26 14 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2012-3441

cvss: 7.2; version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 3.8%; EPSS 3.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 90%
public exploits: 3; Metasploit, Exploit-DB

Tunnelblick 3.3beta20 and earlier relies on argv[0] to determine the name of an appropriate (1) kernel module pathname or (2) executable file pathname, which allows local users to gain privileges via an execl system call.

Timeline

2012-08-11 First public exploit (Metasploit exploit/osx/local/setuid_tunnelblick)
2012-08-26 Published

Exploit prediction

3.78% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 90% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

Metasploit exploit/osx/local/setuid_tunnelblick Setuid Tunnelblick Privilege Escalation metasploit exploit, excellent rank, 2012-08-11
EDB-24578 Tunnelblick - Setuid Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) local, 2013-03-05
EDB-20443 Tunnelblick - Local Privilege Escalation (2) local, 2012-08-11

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	2.0	7.2	AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness

CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

References

Sources

CVE List CVE-2012-3485
NVD CVE-2012-3485

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary