CVE-2020-7278
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 · uneditedExploiting incorrectly configured access control security levels vulnerability in ENS Firewall in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 April 2020 and 10.6.1 April 2020 updates allows remote attackers and local users to allow or block unauthorized traffic via pre-existing rules not being handled correctly when updating to the February 2020 updates.
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 confidenceMcAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) Firewall for Windows contains an access control misconfiguration where pre-existing firewall rules are not handled correctly when updating to the February 2020 updates. This allows remote attackers or local users to allow or block unauthorized network traffic due to incorrectly configured security levels.
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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 ENS versionCheck the installed McAfee Endpoint Security version on the Windows system. This can be done via the McAfee ePO console, or by checking the installed programs list, or using the 'ProductVersion' in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\McAfee\Endpoint\CurrentVersionAffected if The installed version matches 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 Firewall module is enabledVerify that the ENS Firewall component is active on the endpoint. Check via McAfee ePO policy assignment, or inspect the ENS Firewall service status on the local systemAffected if The Firewall module is enabled and running on the affected version of ENS
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Check for pre-existing firewall rules prior to February 2020 updateReview the firewall rule configuration to determine if rules existed before the February 2020 update was applied. This may require reviewing ePO audit logs, configuration backups, or the current rule set for rules created or modified around the February 2020 timeframeAffected if Pre-existing firewall rules are present in the rule set that were carried over from before the February 2020 update on an affected version
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Inspect security level configurationExamine the firewall policy security levels (e.g., Block All, Allow All, or Custom) in the ENS Firewall policy settings to determine if they were applied or changed unexpectedly after the February 2020 updateAffected if The security level settings appear misconfigured or differ from the intended policy configuration after updating to February 2020 updates on an affected ENS version
You are affected if McAfee Endpoint Security version 10.5.0 through 10.6.0 is installed with the Firewall component enabled and pre-existing firewall rules were present when updating to the February 2020 updates.
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 ENS for Windows to version 10.7.0 April 2020 or 10.6.1 April 2020 updates to remediate the firewall rule handling issue.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7278 — 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-2020-7278 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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