CVE-2025-26169: Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in IXON VPN Client on Windows

Overview

CVE-2025-26169 is a significant vulnerability found in IXON VPN Client versions preceding 1.4.4 on Windows. It allows a low-privileged user to escalate their privileges to SYSTEM level, potentially leading to a system compromise or data leakage. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous due to its ease of exploitation and the potentially devastating impacts it could have on affected systems.
The vulnerability is consequential as it allows attackers to execute arbitrary code from a configuration file controlled by a low-privileged user. Furthermore, a race condition exists where an overwritable temporary configuration file resides in a world-writable directory. Hence, it is a critical issue that requires immediate attention and mitigation.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-26169
Severity: High (8.1)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

IXON VPN Client | Before 1.4.4 on Windows

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of a race condition and the ability to execute arbitrary code from a configuration file controlled by a low-privileged user. By overwriting the temporary configuration file in the world-writable directory, an attacker can escalate their privileges to SYSTEM level, thereby gaining the highest level of access on a Windows system. Once the attacker has SYSTEM access, they can run commands, manipulate system files, and perform other actions that could compromise the system or lead to data leakage.

Conceptual Example Code

The following is a high-level conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. The attacker overwrites the temporary configuration file with malicious code that, when executed, escalates their privileges to SYSTEM. The actual payload would depend on the specific objectives of the attacker.

# Change directory to the world-writable directory
cd /path/to/world-writable/directory
# Overwrite the temporary configuration file with malicious code
echo 'malicious_code' > temp_config_file
# Execute the VPN client, which reads the config file and executes the malicious code
./ixon_vpn_client

Mitigation

Users are advised to patch their IXON VPN Client immediately to version 1.4.4 or later to mitigate this vulnerability. In the event that immediate patching is not possible, users can use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as temporary mitigation. However, these are not long-term solutions and patching should be done as soon as feasible.