Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-9560

Command Injection in Openvpn Connect 3.5.1 – 3.8.2

Command Injection
Published
26 May 2026
Modified
23 July 2026
CVSS Score v4 9.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0057 44th percentile
Risk Priority 39 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-9560 is a critical-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Openvpn Connect. Its CVSS base score is 9.4 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 44th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Privilege escalation via background service of OpenVPN Connect 3.5.1 through 3.8.1 on macOS allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges via local IPC channel

CWE(s)
CWE-78CWE-267CWE-270CWE-648

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1134 Access Token Manipulation Stealth
Adversaries may modify access tokens to operate under a different user or system security context to perform actions and bypass access controls.
attack.mitre.org →
T1134.001 Token Impersonation/Theft Stealth
Adversaries may duplicate then impersonate another user's existing token to escalate privileges and bypass access controls.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-7224Same product: Openvpn Connect
CVE-2023-7245Same product: Openvpn Connect
CVE-2024-8474Same product: Openvpn Connect
CVE-2026-13379Same vendor: Openvpn
CVE-2024-27903Same vendor: Openvpn
CVE-2025-3110Same vendor: Openvpn
CVE-2024-1305Same vendor: Openvpn
CVE-2024-5594Same vendor: Openvpn
CVE-2026-13117Same vendor: Openvpn
CVE-2026-40215Same vendor: Openvpn

Affected Assets

openvpn
connect
3.5.1 — 3.8.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 12 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V13.2.2
  • V3.7.3
  • V9.2.2
  • V9.2.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

AC-3 enforces access authorizations according to policy at every request, structurally preventing incorrect privilege elevation or retention across context switches.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match

Least privilege directly requires that privileges grant only the minimal actions needed, preventing definition of overly broad privileges that include unintended unsafe operations.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect command sanitization during development.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly neutralizes or rejects special characters that would otherwise alter OS command structure.

AC-24 Access Control Decisions partial match

AC-24 mandates that access-control decisions be made and enforced correctly for each request, directly addressing flawed privilege context switches.

AC-5 Separation of Duties partial match

Separation of duties splits high-risk actions across multiple privileges so that no single privilege can perform the full unsafe sequence.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining and enforcing least-privilege permissions directly reduces the chance that a privilege permits unintended unsafe actions.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.18 Use of privileged utility programs mostly match
mitigates

Use of privileged utility programs restricts dangerous tools but does not address unsafe actions within assigned privileges.

A.8.2 Privileged access rights mostly match
prevents

Privileged-access-rights control directly addresses improper privilege elevation during context switches.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

A.5.15 Access control partial match
mitigates

Access control policy can limit unsafe privilege use but does not define safe actions for each privilege.

A.5.18 Access rights partial match
degrades

Access rights assignment can restrict privileges to intended actions, yet does not guarantee the privilege itself is safe.

A.5.3 Segregation of duties partial match
mitigates

Segregation of duties reduces risk of unsafe actions by splitting privileges but does not address unsafe privilege definitions.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271725 OL 9 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-267
Ubuntu 22.04 (3 rules)
  • V-260470 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, when booted, must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-267, CWE-270
  • V-260529 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must be configured so that remote X connections are disabled, unless to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. prevents CWE-267
  • V-260542 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must prevent direct login into the root account. prevents CWE-267

References