Security Bulletin - VirusScan Enterprise update fixes a potential privilege escalation vulnerability when access protection is turned off
Last Modified: 5/4/2022
Summary
| Who Should Read This Document: | Technical and Security Personnel |
| Impact of Vulnerability: | Privilege Escalation |
| CVE Number: | None |
| US CERT Number: | None |
| Severity Rating: | Medium |
| Overall CVSS Score: | 5.2 |
| Recommendations: | Install the provided patch and hotfix |
| Security Bulletin Replacement: | None, but similar to SB10034 |
| Caveats: | This only affects installations where McAfee Access Protection has been turned off. |
| Affected Software: | VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) 8.8 Patch 2 (with Access Protection turned off) |
| Location of Updated Software: | Product Downloads site |
Description
A vulnerability was discovered in a component of VSE that allows for unauthorized privilege escalation when Access Protection has been disabled by an Administrator. Access Protection is enabled by default. We recommend that Access Protection be enabled if at all possible. The attacker must be an authenticated user to exploit this flaw.
This vulnerability exists in the following product:
- VSE 8.8 Patch 2 with Access Protection, including Self Protection, turned off.
NOTE: This also applies to SB10034 where Access Protection (AP) has been disabled, even if subsequently re-enabled.
We consider this to be a medium priority vulnerability.
A hotfix has been created for this product to address this vulnerability. It ensures appropriate security permissions are enforced when AP is disabled.
For additional information and FAQs for this vulnerability, see KB76727.
Remediation
Go to the Product Downloads site and download the applicable product patch/hotfix file.
- Open a web browser and navigate to the Product Downloads site.
- Provide your valid grant number.
- Click your product suite.
- Click the applicable product (see table below) and click I Agree.
- Click the Patches tab or click the link to download the product .ZIP file under Download on the Software Downloads screen.
Product Patch / Hotfix File Name / Information Release Date VSE 8.8 Patch 2 and HF778101 VSE88HF778101 February 25, 2013
For instructions to download product updates and hotfixes, see KB56057 - How to download Enterprise product updates and documentation. Review the Release Notes and Installation Guide for instructions on how to install these updates. All documentation is available at our Product Documentation site.
Workaround
Leave Access Protection turned on. This is the default configuration.
Acknowledgements
This Security Bulletin was written by Paul Whitehurst, Principal Software Engineer, Endpoint, McAfee, Inc. and Harold Toomey, Principal Product Security Architect, Product Security Group, McAfee, Inc.
Support
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is affected by this security vulnerability?
The following products are affected and protected:
Affected versions:
- VSE 8.8 Patch 2 (with Access Protection turned off)
Protected versions:
- VSE 8.8 Patch 2 with HF778101
- VSE 8.8 Patch 3
We recommend that all customers verify that they have applied the latest updates.
What is CVSS?
CVSS, or Common Vulnerability Scoring System, is the result of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council’s effort to standardize a system of assessing the criticality of a vulnerability. This system offers an unbiased criticality score that customers can use to judge how critical a vulnerability is and plan accordingly. For more information, please visit the CVSS website.
What are the CVSS scoring metrics that have been used?
| Base Score | 6.6 |
| Related exploit range (AccessVector) | Local |
| Attack complexity (AccessComplexity) | Medium |
| Level of authentication needed (Authentication) | Single Instance |
| Confidentiality impact | Complete |
| Integrity impact | Complete |
| Availability impact | Complete |
| Temporal Score | 5.2 |
| Availability of exploit (Exploitability) | Proof of concept code |
| Type of fix available (RemediationLevel) | Official fix |
| Level of verification that vulnerability exists (ReportConfidence) | Confirmed |
NOTE: CVSS version 2.0 was used to generate this score.
http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?calculator&version=2&vector=(AV:L/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C/E:P/RL:O/RC:C)
What have you done to resolve the issue?
We've released a patch and hotfix to address this security flaw.
Where do I download the fix?
Download the fix from the Product Downloads site. You will need to provide a valid gran number to initiate the download.
Where can I find a list of all Security Bulletins?
All Security Bulletins are published on our Knowledge Center. Security Bulletins are retired (removed) once a product is both End of Sale and End of Support (End of Life).
How do I report a product vulnerability to you?
If you have information about a security issue or vulnerability with a product, follow the instructions provided in KB95563 - Report a vulnerability.
How do you respond to this and any other reported security flaws?
Our key priority is the security of our customers. If a vulnerability is found within any of our software or services, we work closely with the relevant security software development team to ensure the rapid and effective development of a fix and communication plan.
We only publish Security Bulletins if they include something actionable such as a workaround, mitigation, version update, or hotfix. Otherwise, we would simply be informing the hacker community that our products are a target, putting our customers at greater risk. For products that are updated automatically, a non-actionable Security Bulletin might be published to acknowledge the discoverer.
To view our PSIRT policy, see KB95564 - About PSIRT.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this Security Bulletin is provided as is without warranty of any kind. We disclaim all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall we or our suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits, or special damages, even if we or our suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states don't allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the preceding limitation may not apply.
Any future product release dates mentioned in this Security Bulletin are intended to outline our general product direction, and they shouldn't be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The product release dates are for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. The product release dates aren't a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remain at our sole discretion and may be changed or canceled at any time.
