CVE-2014-9920
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 · uneditedUnauthorized execution of binary vulnerability in McAfee (now Intel Security) McAfee Application Control (MAC) 6.0.0 before hotfix 9726, 6.0.1 before hotfix 9068, 6.1.0 before hotfix 692, 6.1.1 before hotfix 399, 6.1.2 before hotfix 426, and 6.1.3 before hotfix 357 and earlier allows attackers to create a malformed Windows binary that is considered non-executable and is not protected through the whitelisting protection feature via a specific set of circumstances.
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 · moderate confidenceMcAfee Application Control's whitelisting feature fails to protect malformed Windows binaries, allowing attackers to bypass application control restrictions and execute unauthorized code. The vulnerability exploits a specific set of circumstances where the product incorrectly classifies certain malformed binaries as non-executable.
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= 6.0.0= 6.0.1= 6.1.0= 6.1.1= 6.1.2= 6.1.3CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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 McAfee Application Control is installedCheck the installed programs list or look for McAfee Application Control in the system registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\McAfee\ApplicationControlAffected if McAfee Application Control is not present on the system, the system is not affected by this CVE.
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Check the installed versionRun 'snapver /s' from the McAfee installation directory or check the version through the product UI under Help > About McAfee Application ControlAffected if The installed version is one of the following: 6.0.0, 6.0.1, 6.1.0, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, or 6.1.3. Only these specific versions are affected.
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Confirm the whitelisting feature is enabledCheck the Application Control policy settings through the product console or by reviewing the .pol configuration file for rule sets that enable whitelist enforcementAffected if Whitelisting mode is actively enforcing rules. The vulnerability only applies when the whitelisting feature is enabled and protecting executables.
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Determine if malformed binaries could be introducedReview system for the presence of unusual or manually crafted PE files, or test by creating a benign malformed Windows PE binary and attempting to execute itAffected if A malformed Windows PE binary can be placed on the system and executed without being blocked by the whitelist. The flaw allows specifically malformed binaries to bypass classification as executable.
A system is affected if it runs McAfee Application Control version 6.0.0 through 6.1.3 with whitelisting enabled, and an attacker could introduce malformed Windows binaries to bypass application control.
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 hotfix for the specific McAfee Application Control version: hotfix 9726 for 6.0.0, hotfix 9068 for 6.0.1, hotfix 692 for 6.1.0, hotfix 399 for 6.1.1, hotfix 426 for 6.1.2, and hotfix 357 for 6.1.3.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9920 — 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-2014-9920 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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