EUVD-2026-30818Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain admin-group account on macOS host
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DeliveryStage malicious mullvad-setup binary in /Applications/Mullvad VPN.app
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ExploitWait for or induce installer execution
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ExecutionPreinstall script invokes planted binary as root
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ImpactExecute arbitrary code with root privileges
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Search path element control
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| Exploitation Conditions | Attacker must already be a member of the local macOS admin group on the target host, since /Applications is admin-writable but not user-writable. Exploitation additionally requires that the Mullvad VPN macOS installer or upgrade package (version 2026.1 or earlier) be executed after the malicious bundle is staged - the flaw exists only in the preinstall script and is not reachable on a system that is not currently being installed or upgraded. The vulnerability does not apply to Windows, Linux, or mobile builds, and per the vendor, hosts running an older but already-installed version are not exposed until the next install/upgrade event. |
| Impact | The CVSS 7.3 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) correctly characterizes this as a local, low-complexity attack requiring low privileges (admin group) and user interaction (running the installer). Real-world risk is moderate and bounded: an attacker must already have admin-group membership on the macOS host and must wait for or induce a Mullvad install/upgrade. There is no KEV listing and no public exploit identified at time of analysis; EPSS data was not provided in the input. The SSVC posture is best described as local-only with moderate technical impact (root) but not automatable at scale. The vendor explicitly notes that already-installed systems are not at immediate risk, which further narrows the exposure window to install/upgrade events. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with local admin-group access (but not root) on a macOS workstation replaces /Applications/Mullvad VPN.app/Contents/Resources/mullvad-setup with a malicious Mach-O binary. When a legitimate administrator subsequently runs the Mullvad installer or upgrade package, the preinstall script invokes the planted binary as root, granting the attacker full system privileges. No public POC was identified at time of analysis, but the patch diff publicly documents the exact vulnerable code path. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – May 19, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Mullvad VPN for macOS versions 2026.1 and earlier allows a user in the admin group to gain root code execution during installation or upgrade. The installer's preinstall script executes binaries from /Applications/Mullvad VPN.app without verifying the bundle's integrity, enabling an admin-group attacker to pre-stage a malicious app bundle that runs as root. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, and the flaw is only triggerable when an installer is run, not on already-installed systems.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: 2026.2-beta1, which modifies the preinstall script to drop privileges with sudo -u nobody before invoking mullvad-setup (commit 032fdcb927c0b6d3e5e1aba4140d33adf22a6bfb). Administrators on macOS should upgrade using only the patched installer obtained directly from Mullvad; per the vendor, users already running an older release are not at immediate risk and only need to take care when next installing or upgrading. As a compensating control until upgrade time, restrict membership of the local admin group on shared macOS endpoints and verify the integrity of /Applications/Mullvad VPN.app (e.g., codesign --verify --deep) before running any installer, accepting the trade-off that this does not protect against an admin who replaces the bundle between verification and install. See https://github.com/mullvad/mullvadvpn-app/security/advisories/GHSA-c2g6-w5fq-vw3m and the patch commit at https://github.com/mullvad/mullvadvpn-app/commit/032fdcb927c0b6d3e5e1aba4140d33adf22a6bfb.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The issue is a CWE-427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element in the macOS installer's preinstall script (dist-assets/pkg-scripts/preinstall). The script invokes $INSTALL_DIR/Mullvad VPN.app/Contents/Resources/mullvad-setup with root privileges, but /Applications on macOS is writable by members of the local admin group. Because the installer trusts whatever bundle is present at that path rather than the signed bundle being installed, any binary placed there inherits the elevated context the installer scripts run under. The affected component is identified by CPE cpe:2.3:a:mullvad:mullvadvpn-app:*, which covers the desktop client across versions up to 2026.1.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionNVD
Mullvad VPN is a VPN client app for desktop and mobile. When using macOS with versions 2026.1 and below, Mullvad VPN may allow local privilege escalation during installation or upgrade. The installer package executes binaries from /Applications/Mullvad VPN.app without verifying if the bundle is attacker-controlled or that the path is the legitimate Mullvad application. A user in the admin group can pre-place a crafted application bundle at that location and may be able to achieve code execution as root. Since the issue only affected the installer, there is no immediate need for users to update if they are already running an older version. This issue has been fixed in version 2026.2-beta1.
Executive ViewAI
Mullvad VPN for macOS versions 2026.1 and earlier contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability that permits admin-group users to execute arbitrary code as root during installation or upgrade. This exposure directly threatens organizations' ability to safely patch VPN infrastructure, as the attack window coincides with the highest system privileges. Any admin-level user with ability to pre-stage application bundles can compromise system integrity without additional exploitation.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: (1) Enforce code signing verification and bundle integrity checks before installer execution; (2) Restrict write access to /Applications/Mullvad VPN.app to non-admin users; (3) Prevent application bundle pre-staging outside installation windows through file system rules; (4) Require dual-admin approval (proposer and approver roles) for all VPN software installation activities.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
GitHub
VulDB
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Exploit-DB