CVE-2018-6706
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 · uneditedInsecure handling of temporary files in non-Windows McAfee Agent 5.0.0 through 5.0.6, 5.5.0, and 5.5.1 allows an Unprivileged User to introduce custom paths during agent installation in Linux via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceInsecure handling of temporary files in McAfee Agent versions 5.0.0-5.0.6, 5.5.0, and 5.5.1 on Linux allows unprivileged users to introduce custom paths during agent installation, likely through TOCTOU race conditions or path traversal in temporary file creation.
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>= 5.0.0, <= 5.0.6= 5.5.0= 5.5.1CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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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Identify McAfee Agent version on LinuxRun command: rpm -qi FRMAgent or dpkg -l | grep -i mcafee or check /opt/McAfee/agent/bin/cmdagent -v 2>&1Affected if Version returned is 5.0.0 through 5.0.6, or exactly 5.5.0, or exactly 5.5.1
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Confirm operating system is LinuxRun command: uname -a or cat /etc/os-releaseAffected if OS is Linux (this vulnerability only affects Linux installations)
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Inspect temporary file creation during or after installationCheck /tmp and /var/tmp for files owned by non-root users that reference McAfee installation paths, or monitor installation with strace to observe temporary file creation patternsAffected if Temporary files are created with predictable or user-controlled paths during agent installation without proper privilege separation
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Review installation process history for privilege escalation indicatorsCheck system logs (var/log/messages, /var/log/secure) and installation logs in /var/McAfee for entries showing non-root users influencing installation pathsAffected if Logs show unprivileged users successfully modifying installation temp file paths or creating files in restricted locations during or after agent installation
The environment is affected if McAfee Agent version 5.0.0-5.0.6, 5.5.0, or 5.5.1 is installed on Linux and temporary file operations during installation were observable or exploitable by unprivileged 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 dataUpdate McAfee Agent to a patched version beyond 5.5.1, or apply vendor-supplied security patches; verify installation processes run with appropriate privilege controls.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6706 — 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-2018-6706 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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