CVE-2016-20060
Published: 04 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2016-20060 is a high-severity Unquoted Search Path or Element (CWE-428) vulnerability in Hotspotshield (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception by Unquoted Path (T1574.009); ranked at the 4.6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 CM-6 (Configuration Settings) and RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2016-20060 is an unquoted service path vulnerability in the hshld service binary of Hotspot Shield version 6.0.3. This classic Windows service misconfiguration (CWE-428) occurs when the service path lacks proper quoting, enabling attackers to hijack execution by placing malicious files in intermediate directories searched by the system.
Local attackers with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction required. By injecting a malicious executable into a writable directory along the service path, they trigger execution with LocalSystem privileges upon service restart or system reboot, resulting in high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CVSS:3.1 score of 7.8).
References include a proof-of-concept exploit on Exploit-DB (ID 40528) and an advisory from VulnCheck detailing the privilege escalation. Hotspot Shield vendor pages provide download links, which may relate to updates addressing the issue, though specific patch instructions are outlined in these resources.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2016-10869
Vulnerability details
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…
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reboot, the malicious code executes with LocalSystem privileges.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Unquoted service path directly enables path interception by unquoted path (T1574.009) for local privilege escalation to LocalSystem.
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces and documents secure configuration settings for system services, including proper quoting of executable paths to directly prevent unquoted service path privilege escalation vulnerabilities like CVE-2016-20060.
Requires identification, reporting, and timely correction of flaws such as the unquoted service path in Hotspot Shield's hshld service to remediate the vulnerability before exploitation.
Mandates vulnerability scanning that identifies unquoted service path misconfigurations in services like hshld, enabling detection and prioritization for remediation.