CVE-2020-7310
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 the installer in McAfee McAfee Total Protection (MTP) trial prior to 4.0.161.1 allows local users to change files that are part of write protection rules via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a McAfee file operations to an unintended file.
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 confidenceMcAfee Total Protection trial installer prior to 4.0.161.1 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where local users can manipulate symbolic links to redirect McAfee file operations to unintended locations, bypassing write protection rules.
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< 4.0.161.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/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.
-
Identify if McAfee Total Protection trial installer is presentCheck the installed programs list or look for McAfee Total Protection trial installation directories. The vulnerability applies specifically to the trial installer version.Affected if McAfee Total Protection trial version is installed on the system
-
Determine the installed McAfee Total Protection versionOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell at registry key HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* to find the version field for McAfee Total Protection.Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 4.0.161.1
-
Verify symbolic link manipulation exposureReview file system permissions on directories where McAfee trial installer writes files. Check if standard users can create or modify symbolic links in those paths.Affected if Standard users have write access to create symbolic links in directories used by the McAfee installer and the affected version is installed
You are affected if McAfee Total Protection trial version lower than 4.0.161.1 is installed and standard users can manipulate symbolic links in installer write paths.
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 data4.0.161.1
Upgrade to McAfee Total Protection version 4.0.161.1 or later which patches the symbolic link manipulation vulnerability in the installer.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7310 — 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-2020-7310 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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