Is CVE-2016-20024 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2016-20024 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2016-20024?

Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.8, published 16 March 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Zkteco ZKTime.Net 3.0.1.6, 3.0.1.5 (160622), 3.0.1.1 (160216).

Is there a fix for CVE-2016-20024?

No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

How is CVE-2016-20024 attacked?

It is attacked with local access, in a network appliance.

Am I affected by CVE-2016-20024?

Check whether you run Zkteco ZKTime.Net at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

CVE-2016-20024: ZKTeco ZKTime.Net privilege escalation via insecure file permissions

CVE-2016-20024 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.8 · Published 2026-03-16

ZKTeco ZKTime.Net, a software suite used for managing employee time attendance and access control systems, contains a security flaw in how it handles file permissions. This allows any user with basic access to the computer to replace the software's legitimate files with malicious ones. An attacker could use this to gain full administrative control over the system, potentially compromising employee data or disrupting physical access control operations.

Vendors: Zkteco.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2016-20024 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2016-20024 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2016-20024?: Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.8, published 16 March 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Zkteco ZKTime.Net 3.0.1.6, 3.0.1.5 (160622), 3.0.1.1 (160216).
Is there a fix for CVE-2016-20024?: No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
How is CVE-2016-20024 attacked?: It is attacked with local access, in a network appliance.
Am I affected by CVE-2016-20024?: Check whether you run Zkteco ZKTime.Net at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

ZKTeco ZKTime.Net (versions 3.0.1.1 through 3.0.1.6) suffers from an elevation of privilege vulnerability due to improper Access Control List (ACL) configurations. The application's installation directory (ZKTimeNet3.0) and its contained executables are configured with 'Change' permissions for the 'Everyone' group (world-writable). A local, unprivileged attacker can exploit this by replacing legitimate binaries, such as ZKTimeNet.exe, with a malicious payload. When a higher-privileged user or the system executes the modified binary, the attacker's code runs with elevated privileges. While some CVSS strings suggest a network vector, the root cause is a local filesystem permission issue on Windows-based installations.

Affected products

ZKTeco ZKTime.Net 3.0.1.6, 3.0.1.5 (160622), 3.0.1.1 (160216)

Timeline

2016-07-18: disclosed: Vulnerability discovered by Zero Science Lab
2016-08-31: advisory: Public advisory and exploit released by Zero Science Lab (ZSL-2016-5360)
2026-03-16: advisory: CVE-2016-20024 published/updated in NVD

References

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