CVE-2016-20025Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via modifiable executables

Published Mar 15, 2026 · Updated Mar 15, 2026

Privilege escalation in ZKTeco ZKAccess Professional 3.5.3 allows local users to execute replacement binaries with elevated privileges. The installation directory grants the Windows Authenticated Users group inherited Modify rights, allowing its executable files to be replaced. A low-privileged Windows account with file-system access can plant malicious code that runs when a privileged ZKAccess process launches the altered binary.

CVSS severity8.7
High
EPSS probability0.44%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in ZKTeco ZKAccess Professional 3.5.3 allows local users to execute replacement binaries with elevated privileges. The installation directory grants the Windows Authenticated Users group inherited Modify rights, allowing its executable files to be replaced. A low-privileged Windows account with file-system access can plant malicious code that runs when a privileged ZKAccess process launches the altered binary.

The record

CVE
CVE-2016-20025
Published
Mar 15, 2026
Updated
Mar 15, 2026
Vendor
ZKTeco
Product
ZKAccess3.5
Classifications
CWE-552, T1574
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=3.5.3 (Build 0005)

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

ZKTeco · ZKAccess3.5version=3.5.3 (Build 0005)

Published CVSS scores

8.7VulnCheckCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-552Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties
T1574Hijack Execution Flow

Public exploit references

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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