CVE-2009-5115
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 · uneditedMcAfee Common Management Agent (CMA) 3.5.5 through 3.5.5.588 and 3.6.0 through 3.6.0.608, and McAfee Agent 4.0 before Patch 3, allows remote authenticated users to overwrite arbitrary files by accessing a report-writing ActiveX control COM object.
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 confidenceMcAfee Common Management Agent (CMA) versions 3.5.5-3.5.5.588 and 3.6.0-3.6.0.608, and McAfee Agent 4.0 before Patch 3, contains an improper access control vulnerability in a report-writing ActiveX control COM object. Authenticated remote users can exploit this to overwrite arbitrary files on the system.
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= 3.5.5.438= 3.5.5.568= 3.5.5.577= 3.5.5.580= 3.5.5.588= 3.6.0.438= 3.6.0.453= 3.6.0.546= 3.6.0.569= 3.6.0.574= 3.6.0.595= 3.6.0.603CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Identify installed McAfee Agent versionCheck the installed version via the McAfee Agent properties in Windows (right-click the M icon in system tray, select 'About'), or query the McAfee framework using command line tools like 'frames.inf' or the registry under HKLM\Software\McAfee\AgentAffected if The version matches 3.5.5.438, 3.5.5.568, 3.5.5.577, 3.5.5.580, 3.5.5.588, 3.6.0.438, 3.6.0.453, 3.6.0.546, 3.6.0.569, 3.6.0.574, 3.6.0.595, 3.6.0.603, or falls within 3.5.5-3.5.5.588 or 3.6.0-3.6.0.608 ranges, or is Agent 4.0 without Patch 3 applied
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Locate the vulnerable ActiveX control COM objectIdentify the report-writing ActiveX control present on the system; this COM object is what contains the improper access control vulnerability allowing file overwriteAffected if The report-writing ActiveX control COM object is present and registered on the system (the vulnerability exists in this specific component)
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Verify exposure of McAfee management interfaceDetermine if the McAfee management agent ports or interfaces are accessible to remote users on the network; the vulnerability is exploitable by authenticated remote usersAffected if The management interface (ports used by CMA/Agent for remote communication) is exposed to the network and accepts remote connections from untrusted users
You are affected if your installed McAfee Agent or CMA version matches the vulnerable 3.5.5.x, 3.6.0.x, or Agent 4.0 (pre-Patch 3) ranges AND the report-writing ActiveX control is present AND the management interface is network-accessible to remote users.
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.
From vendor dataApply the appropriate McAfee patch: Patch 3 for Agent 4.0, or updated CMA versions for 3.5.5 and 3.6.0 branches. Restrict network access to management interfaces to reduce attack surface.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-5115 — 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-2009-5115 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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