# CVE-2025-15561: Local Privilege Escalation in NesterSoft WorkTime

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM by placing a malicious executable in a world-writable directory monitored by the WorkTime daemon.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 23 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6x8c-24f7-p33h

## What is CVE-2025-15561?

CVE-2025-15561 is a high-severity vulnerability in NesterSoft Inc. WorkTime (on-prem/cloud), published on 19 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An attacker can exploit the update behavior of the WorkTime monitoring daemon to elevate privileges on the local system to NT Authority\SYSTEM. A malicious executable must be named  WTWatch.exe and dropped in the C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe directory, which is writable by "Everyone". The executable will then be run by the WorkTime monitoring daemon.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-15561?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nestersoft Worktime.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-15561?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-15561 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-15561 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-15561 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in NesterSoft Inc. WorkTime (on-prem/cloud)

- [CVE-2025-15559](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15559/): Unauthenticated OS Command Injection in NesterSoft WorkTime (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-15560](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15560/): SQL Injection in NesterSoft WorkTime (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-15562](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15562/): Reflected Cross-Site Scripting in NesterSoft WorkTime (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2025-15563](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15563/): Broken Access Control results in Denial of Service in NesterSoft WorkTime (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-15561 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-15561 is a high-severity vulnerability in NesterSoft Inc. WorkTime (on-prem/cloud), published on 19 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-15561 exists.

Affected product: NesterSoft Inc. WorkTime (on-prem/cloud). No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15561/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15561/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-15561
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-15561
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-15561

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15561/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.