CVE-2020-7257
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 · uneditedPrivilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows local users to cause the deletion and creation of files they would not normally have permission to through altering the target of symbolic links whilst an anti-virus scan was in progress. This is timing dependent.
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 confidencePrivilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to version 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows local unprivileged users to delete or create files outside their permission scope by manipulating symbolic link targets during active anti-virus scans. The attack is timing-dependent.
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= 10.5.0= 10.5.1= 10.5.2= 10.5.3= 10.5.4= 10.5.5= 10.6.0CVSS 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
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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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Identify installed McAfee Endpoint Security versionOpen Windows Control Panel, go to Programs and Features, find McAfee Endpoint Security, and note the version number shown in the Version column. Alternatively, open McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator or run 'Get-MpComputerStatus' in PowerShell if the McAfee agent is installed.Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions: 10.5.0, 10.5.1, 10.5.2, 10.5.3, 10.5.4, 10.5.5, or 10.6.0
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Confirm the full version string includes update levelLocate the complete version string in the McAfee Endpoint Security product details or in the Windows installed programs list. Ensure you have the full version including any update release identifiers (such as 'February 2020 Update').Affected if The version shown is earlier than 10.7.0 February 2020 Update, indicating the version is in the affected range.
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Verify the vulnerability trigger condition existsThis vulnerability requires an active anti-virus scan to be running. Check if scheduled or on-demand scans are enabled and can run with elevated privileges during normal operation. The timing-dependent nature means the attack occurs during scan operations.Affected if Endpoint Security scans run with elevated privileges and the affected version is installed, allowing an unprivileged user to potentially manipulate symbolic links during scan operations.
A system is affected if McAfee Endpoint Security for Windows version 10.5.0 through 10.6.0 is installed and scans execute with elevated privileges, enabling symbolic link manipulation 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 Endpoint Security for Windows to version 10.7.0 February 2020 Update or later to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7257 — 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-2020-7257 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data