LocalSystem code execution via unquoted service path
Published Jan 21, 2026 · Updated Jan 21, 2026
Privilege escalation in Honeywell WIN-PAK 4.8 allows local users to execute code as LocalSystem through an unquoted service path. The WPCommandFileService registers C:\Program Files \WINPAKPRO\WPCommandFileService Service.exe without surrounding quotation marks, so Windows can resolve an attacker-controlled executable earlier in the spaced path. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access that can place a file in a searched parent directory and a service start or system reboot; successful code runs as LocalSystem.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Honeywell WIN-PAK 4.8 allows local users to execute code as LocalSystem through an unquoted service path. The WPCommandFileService registers C:\Program Files \WINPAKPRO\WPCommandFileService Service.exe without surrounding quotation marks, so Windows can resolve an attacker-controlled executable earlier in the spaced path. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access that can place a file in a searched parent directory and a service start or system reboot; successful code runs as LocalSystem.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47868
- Published
- Jan 21, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 21, 2026
- Vendor
- Honeywell Technologies
- Product
- WIN-PAK
- Classifications
- CWE-428, T1574.009
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 21, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 21, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=4.8
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
- Winpakpro 4.8 WPCommandFileService Unquoted Service Pathproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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