Local privilege escalation via world-writable executables
Published Mar 15, 2026 · Updated Mar 15, 2026
Insecure file permissions in ZKTeco ZKTime.Net 3.0.1.1 (160216), 3.0.1.5 (160622), and 3.0.1.6 allow local users to gain elevated privileges. The ZKTimeNet3.0 directory and its executable files grant the Everyone group Change access, allowing unprivileged accounts to overwrite installed binaries. A local unprivileged account must replace a binary that a more privileged process later launches, executing attacker-controlled code at that process's privilege level.
Summary
What happened
Insecure file permissions in ZKTeco ZKTime.Net 3.0.1.1 (160216), 3.0.1.5 (160622), and 3.0.1.6 allow local users to gain elevated privileges. The ZKTimeNet3.0 directory and its executable files grant the Everyone group Change access, allowing unprivileged accounts to overwrite installed binaries. A local unprivileged account must replace a binary that a more privileged process later launches, executing attacker-controlled code at that process's privilege level.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2016-20024
- Published
- Mar 15, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 15, 2026
- Vendor
- ZKTeco
- Product
- ZKTime.Net
- Classifications
- CWE-538, T1574
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 15, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=3.0.1.1 (160216)
- Affected versionversion=3.0.1.5 (160622)
- Affected versionversion=3.0.1.6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- ZKTime.Net insecure file permissions proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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