# CVE-2016-3984: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Local administrators can bypass self-protection rules and disable the antivirus engine by modifying registry keys in various McAfee endpoint products.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.1 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Apr 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-55vh-mg3p-5pp2

## What is CVE-2016-3984?

CVE-2016-3984 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 8 Apr 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The McAfee VirusScan Console (mcconsol.exe) in McAfee Active Response (MAR) before 1.1.0.161, Agent (MA) 5.x before 5.0.2 Hotfix 1110392 (5.0.2.333), Data Exchange Layer 2.x (DXL) before 2.0.1.140.1, Data Loss Prevention Endpoint (DLPe) 9.3 before Patch 6 and 9.4 before Patch 1 HF3, Device Control (MDC) 9.3 before Patch 6 and 9.4 before Patch 1 HF3, Endpoint Security (ENS) 10.x before 10.1, Host Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS) 8.0 before 8.0.0.3624, and VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) 8.8 before P7 (8.8.0.1528) on Windows allows local administrators to bypass intended self-protection rules and disable the antivirus engine by modifying registry keys.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-3984?

It affects 7 products.


Products: Mcafee Active Response, Mcafee Agent, Mcafee Data Exchange Layer, Mcafee Data Loss Prevention Endpoint, Mcafee Endpoint Security, Mcafee Host Intrusion Prevention, Mcafee Virusscan Enterprise.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-3984?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-3984 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-3984 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-3984 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.8 - Security Restrictions Bypass (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2020-7289](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7289/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability in MAR for Windows (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-7290](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7290/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability in MAR for Linux (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-7291](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7291/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability MAR for Mac (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2019-3644](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3644/): MWG scanners updated to address CVE-2019-9517 (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-7326](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7326/): McAfee MAR - Improperly implemented security check (medium 6.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-3984 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-3984 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 8 Apr 2016. 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-2016-3984 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-2016-3984/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3984/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-3984
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-3984
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-3984

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3984/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.