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Fencer Vulns
high 7.8

CVE-2016-20060 json

Hotspot Shield 6.0.3 Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation

published 2026-04-04 7 mo ago modified 2026-07-20 3 mo ago also EUVD-2016-10869

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 4%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Hotspot Shield 6.0.3 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in the hshld service binary that allows local attackers to escalate privileges by injecting malicious executables. Attackers can place executable files in the service path and upon service restart or system reboot, the malicious code executes with LocalSystem privileges.

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
7 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.15% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 4% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • exploit-db.com https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40528 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 4.0 8.5 CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 4.0 8.5 CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Affected products

  • Hotspotshield Hotspot Shield

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-428 Unquoted Search Path or Element

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.