Vulnerability in Hotspotshield Hotspot Shield
CVE-2016-20060
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.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.002 (3.6th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 4th percentile — 3.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Hotspotshield Hotspot Shield — versions 6.0.3
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40528 (exploit)
- www.hotspotshield.com (product)
- www.hotspotshield.com/download/ (product)
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/hotspot-shield-unquoted-service-path-privilege-esc… (third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2016-20060?
- CVE-2016-20060 is a high-severity vulnerability in Hotspotshield Hotspot Shield, classified under Unquoted Search Path or Element. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2026-04-04.
- How severe is CVE-2016-20060?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.