Local privilege escalation via unquoted service path
Published Feb 3, 2026 · Updated Feb 3, 2026
Unquoted service path handling in VPN Unlimited 6.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges by planting a malicious executable. The VPNUnlimitedService binary path contains spaces but lacks enclosing quotes, so Windows can resolve an attacker-controlled executable earlier in the path. Low-privileged local access and write permission to a searched parent directory are required; service restart executes the planted file as LocalSystem.
Summary
What happened
Unquoted service path handling in VPN Unlimited 6.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges by planting a malicious executable. The VPNUnlimitedService binary path contains spaces but lacks enclosing quotes, so Windows can resolve an attacker-controlled executable earlier in the path. Low-privileged local access and write permission to a searched parent directory are required; service restart executes the planted file as LocalSystem.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-37101
- Published
- Feb 3, 2026
- Updated
- Feb 3, 2026
- Vendor
- KeepSolid
- Product
- VPN Unlimited
- Classifications
- CWE-428, T1574.009
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 3, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 3, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- VPN unlimited 6.1 - Unquoted Service Pathproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo