Local privilege escalation via unquoted service path
Published Jan 13, 2026 · Updated Jan 13, 2026
Unquoted service path in Connectify Hotspot 2018 allows local users to execute code as LocalSystem during Connectify service startup. The Connectify Windows service registers C:\Program Files (x86)\Connectify\ConnectifyService.exe without enclosing the executable path in quotation marks. A local user who can place an executable in a searched path prefix can have it launched automatically with LocalSystem privileges when the service starts.
Summary
What happened
Unquoted service path in Connectify Hotspot 2018 allows local users to execute code as LocalSystem during Connectify service startup. The Connectify Windows service registers C:\Program Files (x86)\Connectify\ConnectifyService.exe without enclosing the executable path in quotation marks. A local user who can place an executable in a searched path prefix can have it launched automatically with LocalSystem privileges when the service starts.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-50929
- Published
- Jan 13, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 13, 2026
- Vendor
- Connectify Inc.
- Product
- Connectify Hotspot
- Classifications
- CWE-428, T1574.009
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 13, 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=2018
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
- Connectify Hotspot 2018 ConnectifyService unquoted service path proof of conceptproof of concept · validated
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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