# CVE-2012-4593: Auth bypass in n/a

> Local attackers can bypass authentication in McAfee Application Control by exploiting password file attribute handling flaws.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Aug 2012
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v588-9f3r-74vj

## What is CVE-2012-4593?

CVE-2012-4593 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Aug 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

McAfee Application Control and Change Control 5.1.x and 6.0.0 do not enforce an intended password requirement in certain situations involving attributes of the password file, which allows local users to bypass authentication by executing a command.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-4593?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Mcafee Application Control, Mcafee Change Control.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-4593?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-4593 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-4593 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4593 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2016-8009](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8009/): Privilege escalation in McAfee Application Control (MAC) (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2016-8010](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8010/): Security feature bypass in McAfee Application Control (MAC) (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2016-1715](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1715/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 6.6)
- [CVE-2014-9920](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9920/): Security feature bypass in McAfee Application Control (MAC) (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2013-7460](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-7460/): Security feature bypass in Application Control (MAC) (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-4593 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-4593 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Aug 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4593 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4593/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4593/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-4593
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-4593
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-4593

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4593/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.