CVE-2025-15561
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAn attacker can exploit the update behavior of the WorkTime monitoring daemon to elevate privileges on the local system to NT Authority\SYSTEM. A malicious executable must be named WTWatch.exe and dropped in the C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe directory, which is writable by "Everyone". The executable will then be run by the WorkTime monitoring daemon.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe WorkTime monitoring daemon has an insecure update mechanism that executes any executable named WTWatch.exe placed in the world-writable directory C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe. Since this directory allows write access to 'Everyone', an attacker can drop a malicious WTWatch.exe file that will be executed with SYSTEM privileges by the daemon, achieving local privilege escalation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 11.8.8CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify WorkTime installation and versionCheck the installed version of Nestersoft WorkTime via registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WorkTime or by running 'wmic product where "name like '%WorkTime%'" get version,name'Affected if Version is 11.8.8 or lower, or version cannot be determined but WorkTime is installed
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Confirm vulnerable directory existsVerify that the directory C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe exists on the system using 'dir C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe' or 'test -path C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe'Affected if The directory exists and contains or can contain WTWatch.exe
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Check directory permissions for Everyone write accessInspect ACLs on C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe using 'icacls C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe' or check if 'Everyone' group has (OI)(CI)W permissionsAffected if The 'Everyone' group or untrusted users have write or full control permissions to this directory
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Identify WTWatch.exe in the vulnerable pathCheck if WTWatch.exe exists in C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe using 'dir C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe\WTWatch.exe'Affected if WTWatch.exe is present in this directory (regardless of whether it is the legitimate or a malicious version)
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Check WorkTime service privilege levelQuery the WorkTime service using 'sc query WorkTime' or 'Get-Service WorkTime' and check the service binary path with 'sc qc WorkTime', then verify the running user with 'tasklist /svc' or 'wmic process where "name='WorkTime.exe'" get name,executionlevel'Affected if The WorkTime daemon service runs with SYSTEM or elevated privileges
The environment is affected if WorkTime version 11.8.8 or lower is installed AND the C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe directory exists with world-writable permissions AND the daemon runs with elevated privileges.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedImmediately remove write permissions for 'Everyone' on C:\ProgramData\wta\ClientExe and implement file integrity verification (e.g., code signing) before executing any files from this directory. Audit the WorkTime deployment to determine if the daemon runs with elevated privileges unnecessarily.
WorkTime version > 11.8.8 (contact vendor for exact fixed release)
- 1. Identify the current WorkTime installation version by checking the software or consulting vendor documentation.
- 2. Obtain the latest WorkTime release from the official vendor that is newer than version 11.8.8.
- 3. Before upgrading, back up any critical WorkTime configuration data and ensure you have a rollback plan.
- 4. Apply the upgrade following the vendor's standard upgrade procedure for WorkTime server components.
- 5. After upgrade, verify that the WorkTime monitoring daemon is running the updated version and that the privilege escalation vector is no longer present.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-15561 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-15561 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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