OpenVPN / OpenVPN/openvpn-gui

Shall we disable scripts (run by openvpn.exe) by default ?

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Dominant language
C
Stars
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Forks
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Description

Considering the recent report on newer ways to exploit scripts in the ovpn file, I propose to disable all such scripts when a connection is started using the GUI (easy to do). We can still allow scripts that are executed by the GUI itself as those require explicitly named batch files to exist in the config folder.

Note that, in 2.4.x releases, we use the interactive service to start openvpn.exe, so privilege escalation though scripts is not a concern[*]. But exploits through commands embedded in the config (.ovpn) files is a valid threat as we currently do not have a way of signing config files.

[*] Some other GUI implementations disable scripts because of the possibility of privilege escalation as they run openvpn.exe with high privileges even if the user does not have those rights.

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Research direction

Start by tracing how the GUI starts openvpn.exe and how scripts from .ovpn files are handled. Confirm the intended boundary between disabled configuration-embedded scripts and explicitly named GUI batch files; done means the GUI enforces that distinction when a connection starts.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
desktop, security
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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