---
id: CVE-2026-19624
title: A flaw was found in NetworkManager-l2tp
summary: >-
  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…
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-88
vendor: Fedora
product: NetworkManager-l2tp
affected:
  - NetworkManager-l2tp >= 1.0.0 < 1.0.16
  - NetworkManager-l2tp >= 1.2.0 < 1.2.22
  - NetworkManager-l2tp >= 1.8.0 < 1.8.10
  - NetworkManager-l2tp >= 1.20.0 < 1.20.24
  - NetworkManager-l2tp >= 1.52.0 < 1.52.4
  - NetworkManager-l2tp >= 1.52.0 < 1.52.4
  - NetworkManager-l2tp >= 1.20.0 < 1.20.24
published: '2026-09-14'
updated: '2026-09-18'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-18T19:34:36.657'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-19624'
references:
  - url: 'https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/?packages=NetworkManager-l2tp'
    label: patrick@puiterwijk.org
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/nm-l2tp/NetworkManager-l2tp/commit/3704d8c9d5e5f9ed1626a8ce7627a04247cea673
    label: patrick@puiterwijk.org
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/nm-l2tp/NetworkManager-l2tp/commit/95b6b46f48a0c9eabc79272cd313f219110ef91c
    label: patrick@puiterwijk.org
  - url: 'https://github.com/nm-l2tp/NetworkManager-l2tp/releases'
    label: patrick@puiterwijk.org
  - url: 'https://linnemanlabs.com/posts/nm-l2tp-newline-to-root/'
    label: patrick@puiterwijk.org
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-19624.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-19624'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-19624'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-19624'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
epss: 0.0013
epssPercentile: 0.02131
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-09-14T19:43:22.928124Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T20:14:21.157Z'
---

## Overview

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).

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · updated 2026-09-14 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-19624.json)