CVE-2023-30237
📋 TL;DR
The CyberGhostVPN Windows client before version 8.3.10.10015 contains a DLL injection vulnerability in Dashboard.exe that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the VPN client. This affects Windows users running vulnerable versions of CyberGhostVPN. Attackers could potentially gain control over the VPN client process.
💻 Affected Systems
- CyberGhostVPN Windows Client
📦 What is this software?
Cyberghost by Cyberghostvpn
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise via privilege escalation to SYSTEM or installation of persistent malware through the VPN client's elevated privileges.
Likely Case
Local attacker gains control of VPN client process, potentially intercepting or manipulating VPN traffic, stealing credentials, or establishing persistence.
If Mitigated
Limited to local user context with proper application sandboxing and privilege separation in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires local access to plant malicious DLL. No public exploit code available at time of analysis.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 8.3.10.10015 and later
Vendor Advisory: http://cyberghostvpn.com
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open CyberGhostVPN client. 2. Check for updates in settings. 3. Install version 8.3.10.10015 or newer. 4. Restart the application.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict DLL loading paths
windowsUse application control policies to restrict where Dashboard.exe can load DLLs from
Using Windows Defender Application Control or similar tools to restrict DLL loading to trusted directories only
Remove vulnerable version
windowsUninstall vulnerable CyberGhostVPN client until patched
Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall CyberGhostVPN
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized DLL loading
- Monitor for suspicious DLL loading events from Dashboard.exe using Windows Event Logs
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check CyberGhostVPN version in About section of the application. If version is below 8.3.10.10015, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Not applicable - check via CyberGhostVPN GUI interfaceVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 8.3.10.10015 or higher in application About section.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Windows Event Logs showing DLL loading from unusual locations by Dashboard.exe
- Process creation events for suspicious child processes of Dashboard.exe
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from CyberGhostVPN process
- VPN connection anomalies
SIEM Query:
ProcessName="Dashboard.exe" AND (EventID=7 OR EventID=11) AND DLLPath NOT CONTAINS "C:\Program Files\CyberGhost"🔗 References
- http://cyberghostvpn.com
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/77.html
- https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/bullied-by-bugcrowd-over-kape-cyberghost-disclosure/
- http://cyberghostvpn.com
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/77.html
- https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/bullied-by-bugcrowd-over-kape-cyberghost-disclosure/
