# CVE-2020-7253: Improper access control vulnerability in McAfee Agent

> Local administrators can bypass McAfee Agent self-protection using a command-line utility, disabling security controls.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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:** 12 Mar 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c587-ph7f-xxrj

## What is CVE-2020-7253?

CVE-2020-7253 is a medium-severity vulnerability in McAfee, LLC McAfee Agent (MA), published on 12 Mar 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Improper access control vulnerability in masvc.exe in McAfee Agent (MA) prior to 5.6.4 allows local users with administrator privileges to disable self-protection via a McAfee supplied command-line utility.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7253?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Agent.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7253?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-7253 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-7253 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7253 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in McAfee, LLC McAfee Agent (MA)

- [CVE-2018-6703](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6703/): Remote Logging functionality had a use after free vulnerability in McAfee Agent (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-1258](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1258/): SQL injection vulnerability in McAfee Agent's ePO extension (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2022-2313](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2313/): DLL high jacking in Trellix Agent (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2021-31847](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31847/): Improper privilege management in repair process of MA for Windows (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2022-1256](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1256/): Improper Privilege Management in McAfee Agent for Windows (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7253 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7253 is a medium-severity vulnerability in McAfee, LLC McAfee Agent (MA), published on 12 Mar 2020. 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-2020-7253 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: McAfee, LLC McAfee Agent (MA). 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-2020-7253/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7253/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7253
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7253
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7253

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7253/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.