CVE-2018-6693
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 unprivileged user can delete arbitrary files on a Linux system running ENSLTP 10.5.1, 10.5.0, and 10.2.3 Hotfix 1246778 and earlier. By exploiting a time of check to time of use (TOCTOU) race condition during a specific scanning sequence, the unprivileged user is able to perform a privilege escalation to delete arbitrary files.
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 confidenceA TOCTOU (Time of Check to Time of Use) race condition in ENSLTP (Enterprise Network Security Linux Threat Prevention) versions 10.5.1, 10.5.0, and 10.2.3 Hotfix 1246778 and earlier allows an unprivileged user to delete arbitrary files on the Linux system by exploiting the race window during a specific scanning sequence.
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<= 10.2.3= 10.5.1= 10.5.0CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
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 ENSLTP versionRun 'rpm -q mfeensltp' or 'dpkg -l mfeensltp' depending on Linux distribution, or use McAfee's command-line tool if available (e.g., 'mcucli -e i --op=version')Affected if Version displayed matches 10.5.1, 10.5.0, or 10.2.3 with Hotfix 1246778 or earlier (any version <= 10.2.3 with that hotfix or earlier)
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Confirm exact version numberIf version shows as 10.2.3, verify whether Hotfix 1246778 is applied by checking McAfee ePO console or running '/opt/McAfee/ens/tp/bin/mfetpctl -v'Affected if Version is 10.2.3 with Hotfix 1246778 or without any subsequent hotfix, or version is exactly 10.5.0 or 10.5.1
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Verify ENSLTP is actively runningCheck process status with 'ps aux | grep ens' or 'systemctl status mfetpd' to confirm the Endpoint Security Threat Prevention daemon is runningAffected if The ENSLTP service (mfetpd or equivalent) is actively running on the system
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Check system user contextIdentify if unprivileged users exist on the system who could exploit the TOCTOU race condition during the scanning sequenceAffected if Non-root users have access to the system and the ENSLTP scanning functionality is active
You are affected if McAfee Endpoint Security for Linux Threat Prevention is installed and running with version 10.5.1, 10.5.0, or 10.2.3 Hotfix 1246778 or earlier, as these versions contain the TOCTOU race condition that allows arbitrary file deletion.
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 vendor patches/updates to move beyond the affected ENSLTP versions (10.5.1, 10.5.0, 10.2.3 Hotfix 1246778). Implement file integrity monitoring and restrict user permissions as compensating controls until the patch can be applied.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6693 — 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-2018-6693 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
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