CVE-2016-20060 Hotspot Shield 6.0.3 Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation
Local attackers can escalate privileges to LocalSystem by placing malicious executables in the unquoted service path of Hotspot Shield.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2016-20060?
CVE-2016-20060 is a high-severity vulnerability in Hotspotshield Hotspot Shield, published on 4 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
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.
Weakness: CWE-428
Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-20060?
How do I fix CVE-2016-20060?
No fix has been published for CVE-2016-20060 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2016-20060 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-20060 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-j3qp-cj94-pmj3.