Description
A flaw was found in NetworkManager-l2tp. The plugin writes attacker-controlled VPN connection properties (vpn.data and vpn.secrets values) unescaped into a generated ipsec.conf file that pluto loads as root. A local unprivileged user can create and activate their own L2TP VPN profile containing a newline-injected leftupdown directive; pluto executes that command as root when the IKE security association is established, resulting in local privilege escalation. This is the same bug class as CVE-2018-10900 (NetworkManager-vpnc).
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | NetworkManager-l2tp | 1.0.0 – < 1.0.16, 1.2.0 – < 1.2.22, 1.8.0 – < 1.8.10, 1.20.0 – < 1.20.24, 1.52.0 – < 1.52.4 | 1.0.16 |
| Fedora | Fedora | 1.52.0 – < 1.52.4 | 1.52.4 |
| Fedora | Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) | 1.20.0 – < 1.20.24 | 1.20.24 |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | network-manager-l2tp | 1.52.6-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | network-manager-l2tp | 1.20.20-2+deb13u1 | — |
| Debian 12 | network-manager-l2tp | 1.20.8-1+deb12u1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | network-manager-l2tp | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | network-manager-l2tp | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | network-manager-l2tp | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | network-manager-l2tp | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | network-manager-l2tp | No fix yet | — |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | network-manager-l2tp | No fix yet | — |
References
- https://github.com/nm-l2tp/NetworkManager-l2tp/commit/95b6b46f48a0c9eabc79272cd313f219110ef91c patch
- https://github.com/nm-l2tp/NetworkManager-l2tp/commit/3704d8c9d5e5f9ed1626a8ce7627a04247cea673 patch
- https://github.com/nm-l2tp/NetworkManager-l2tp/releases release-notes
- https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/?packages=NetworkManager-l2tp vendor-advisory
- https://linnemanlabs.com/posts/nm-l2tp-newline-to-root/ third-party-advisory