CVE-2020-7265
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 Mac prior to 10.6.9 allows local users to delete files the user would otherwise not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a McAfee delete action to an unintended file. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation in McAfee Endpoint Security for Mac allows an authenticated user to manipulate symbolic links, causing the McAfee deletion function (running with elevated privileges) to delete arbitrary files the user normally couldn't access. This is achieved by placing a malicious symlink that redirects the product's file removal operation.
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, < 10.6.9CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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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Confirm McAfee Endpoint Security for Mac is installedCheck for the product installation directory: ls /Library/Application\ Support/McAfee/ or look for the McAfee menu bar icon indicating the product is runningAffected if McAfee Endpoint Security for Mac is not present on the system, the vulnerability does not apply
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Determine installed version numberRun: defaults read /Library/Application\ Support/McAfee/Endpoint\ Security/Info.plist CFBundleVersion, or check via McAfee application interface under About or PreferencesAffected if Version falls within range >= 10.5.0 and < 10.6.9 (versions 10.5.0 through 10.6.8 are affected)
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Verify the McAfee deletion/quarantine service is activeCheck that the ccFramework or McAfee framework process is running with elevated privileges and that file deletion/quarantine functionality is enabled for authenticated usersAffected if The McAfee deletion function (operating with elevated privileges) is accessible to the authenticated local user
System is vulnerable if McAfee Endpoint Security for Mac is installed with version 10.5.0 through 10.6.8 and the product's file deletion/quarantine service is running and accessible to local authenticated 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 data10.6.9
Update McAfee Endpoint Security for Mac to version 10.6.9 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7265 — 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-2020-7265 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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