Security Bulletin - McAfee Agent update fixes four vulnerabilities (CVE-2020-7311, CVE-2020-7312, CVE-2020-7314, and CVE-2020-7315)
Security Bulletins ID:
SB10325
Last Modified: 10/21/2021
Last Modified: 10/21/2021
Summary
First Published: September 9, 2020
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Article contents:
MA for Windows:
On macOS platforms, the McAfee Data Exchange Layer Client installer writes out temporary files with incorrect permission that can allow a low privileged user to run commands as root user. The fix for this issue is included in the MA 5.6.6 Update release.
To remediate this issue:
Download and Installation Instructions
See KB56057 for instructions on how to download McAfee products, documentation, updates, and hotfixes. Review the Release Notes and the Installation Guide, which you can download from the Documentation tab, for instructions on how to install these updates.
Acknowledgments
CVE-2020-7311 - McAfee credits Sebastian Schuster fromAirbus CyberSecurity for responsibly reporting this flaw.
CVE-2020-7312 - McAfee credits Andrew Hess (any1) for responsibly reporting this flaw.
CVE-2020-7314 - McAfee credits Lockheed Martin Red Team for responsibly reporting this flaw.
CVE-2020-7315 - McAfee creditsClément Notin for responsibly reporting this flaw.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I know if my McAfee product is vulnerable or not?
For Endpoint products:
Use the following instructions for endpoint or client-based products:
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 between 0 and 10 that customers can use to judge how critical a vulnerability is and plan accordingly. For more information, visit the CVSS website at: https://www.first.org/cvss/.
When calculating CVSS scores, McAfee has adopted a philosophy that fosters consistency and repeatability. Our guiding principle for CVSS scoring is to score the exploit under consideration by itself. We consider only the immediate and direct impact of the exploit under consideration. We do not factor into a score any potential follow-on exploits that might be made possible by the successful exploitation of the issue being scored.
What are the CVSS scoring metrics?
All Security Bulletins are published on our external PSIRT website at https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/threat-center/product-security-bulletins.html > Security Bulletins. 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 McAfee?
If you have information about a security issue or vulnerability with a McAfee product, visit the McAfee PSIRT website for instructions at https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/threat-center/product-security-bulletins.html > Report a Security Vulnerability.
How does McAfee 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 McAfee 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.
McAfee only publishes 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.
View our PSIRT policy on the McAfee PSIRT website at https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/threat-center/product-security-bulletins.html > About PSIRT.
Resources
To contact Technical Support, log on to the ServicePortal and go to the Create a Service Request page at https://support.mcafee.com/ServicePortal/faces/serviceRequests/createSR:
The information provided in this Security Bulletin is provided as is without warranty of any kind. McAfee disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall McAfee or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if McAfee or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not 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 should not 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 are not 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 remains at our sole discretion and may be changed or canceled at any time.
| Product: | Impacted Versions: | CVE ID: | Impact of Vulnerabilities: | Severity Ratings: | CVSS v3.1 Base/Temporal Scores: |
| McAfee Agent (MA) for Windows | Prior to 5.6.6 | CVE-2020-7311 | Privilege Escalation (CWE-274) | High | 7.8 / 7.3 |
| MA for Windows | Prior to 5.6.6 | CVE-2020-7312 | DLL Search Order Hijacking (CWE-427) | High | 7.8 / 7.3 |
| MA for Windows | Prior to 5.6.6 | CVE-2020-7315 | DLL Injection (CWE-114) | Medium | 6.0 / 5.4 |
| MA for Mac | Prior to 5.6.6 | CVE-2020-7314 | Privilege Escalation (CWE-274) | High | 8.2 / 7.4 |
| Recommendations: | Install or update to the latest version listed in the Remediation section below | ||||
| Security Bulletin Replacement: | None | ||||
| Location of updated software: | https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/downloads/my-products.html | ||||
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Article contents:
- Vulnerability Description
- Remediation
- Acknowledgments
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Resources
- Disclaimer
MA for Windows:
- CVE-2020-7311
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in the installer in McAfee Agent (MA) for Windows prior to 5.6.6 allows local users to assume SYSTEM rights during the installation of MA via manipulation of log files.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2020-7311
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2020-7311
- CVE-2020-7312
DLL Search Order Hijacking Vulnerability in the installer in McAfee Agent (MA) for Windows prior to 5.6.6 allows local users to execute arbitrary code and escalate privileges via execution from a compromised folder.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2020-7312
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2020-7312
- CVE-2020-7315
DLL Injection Vulnerability in McAfee Agent (MA) for Windows prior to 5.6.6 allows local users to execute arbitrary code via careful placement of a malicious DLL.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2020-7315
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2020-7315
On macOS platforms, the McAfee Data Exchange Layer Client installer writes out temporary files with incorrect permission that can allow a low privileged user to run commands as root user. The fix for this issue is included in the MA 5.6.6 Update release.
- CVE-2020-7314
Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in the installer in McAfee Data Exchange Layer (DXL) Client for Mac shipped with McAfee Agent (MA) for Mac prior to MA 5.6.6 allows local users to run commands as root via incorrectly applied permissions on temporary files.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2020-7314
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2020-7314
To remediate this issue:
- Customers on MA 5.6.x: Update to MA 5.6.6.
- Customers on MA 5.5.x: Upgrade to MA 5.6.6. MA 5.5.x is approaching End of Life (December 16, 2020) and we strongly recommend that you upgrade to MA 5.6.6.
| Product | Version | Type | Release Date |
| MA for Windows | 5.6.6 | Update | September 9, 2020 |
| MA for Mac | 5.6.6 | Update | September 9, 2020 |
Download and Installation Instructions
See KB56057 for instructions on how to download McAfee products, documentation, updates, and hotfixes. Review the Release Notes and the Installation Guide, which you can download from the Documentation tab, for instructions on how to install these updates.
Acknowledgments
CVE-2020-7311 - McAfee credits Sebastian Schuster from
CVE-2020-7312 - McAfee credits Andrew Hess (any1) for responsibly reporting this flaw.
CVE-2020-7314 - McAfee credits Lockheed Martin Red Team for responsibly reporting this flaw.
CVE-2020-7315 - McAfee credits
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I know if my McAfee product is vulnerable or not?
For Endpoint products:
Use the following instructions for endpoint or client-based products:
- Right-click on the McAfee tray shield icon on the Windows taskbar.
- Select Open Console.
- In the console, select Action Menu.
- In the Action Menu, select Product Details. The product version displays.
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 between 0 and 10 that customers can use to judge how critical a vulnerability is and plan accordingly. For more information, visit the CVSS website at: https://www.first.org/cvss/.
When calculating CVSS scores, McAfee has adopted a philosophy that fosters consistency and repeatability. Our guiding principle for CVSS scoring is to score the exploit under consideration by itself. We consider only the immediate and direct impact of the exploit under consideration. We do not factor into a score any potential follow-on exploits that might be made possible by the successful exploitation of the issue being scored.
What are the CVSS scoring metrics?
- CVE-2020-7311: Privilege Escalation vulnerability in MA for Windows
Base Score 7.8 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) High (H) Privileges Required (PR) Low (L) User Interaction (UI) None (N) Scope (S) Changed (C) Confidentiality (C) High (H) Integrity (I) High (H) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 7.3 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3
- CVE-2020-7312: DLL Search Order Hijacking in MA for Windows
Base Score 7.8 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) High (H) Privileges Required (PR) Low (L) User Interaction (UI) None (N) Scope (S) Changed (C) Confidentiality (C) High (H) Integrity (I) High (H) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 7.3 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
- CVE-2020-7314: Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee DXL for Mac
Base Score 8.2 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) Low (L) Privileges Required (PR) Low (L) User Interaction (UI) Required (R) Scope (S) Changed (C) Confidentiality (C) High (H) Integrity (I) High (H) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 7.4 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
- CVE-2020-7315: DLL Injection vulnerability in MA for Windows
Base Score 6.0 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) Low (L) Privileges Required (PR) High (H) User Interaction (UI) None (N) Scope (S) Unchanged (U) Confidentiality (C) None (N) Integrity (I) High (H) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 5.4 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
All Security Bulletins are published on our external PSIRT website at https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/threat-center/product-security-bulletins.html > Security Bulletins. 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 McAfee?
If you have information about a security issue or vulnerability with a McAfee product, visit the McAfee PSIRT website for instructions at https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/threat-center/product-security-bulletins.html > Report a Security Vulnerability.
How does McAfee 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 McAfee 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.
McAfee only publishes 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.
View our PSIRT policy on the McAfee PSIRT website at https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/threat-center/product-security-bulletins.html > About PSIRT.
Resources
To contact Technical Support, log on to the ServicePortal and go to the Create a Service Request page at https://support.mcafee.com/ServicePortal/faces/serviceRequests/createSR:
- If you are a registered user, type your User ID and Password, and then click Log In.
- If you are not a registered user, click Register and complete the required fields. Your password and logon instructions will be emailed to you.
Any future product release dates mentioned in this Security Bulletin are intended to outline our general product direction, and they should not 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 are not 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 remains at our sole discretion and may be changed or canceled at any time.
