# CVE-2020-7264: Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in ENS for Windows

> Local attackers can escalate privileges and delete protected files by manipulating symbolic links to redirect McAfee Endpoint Security delete actions.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 May 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4r5w-h6p7-33h7

## What is CVE-2020-7264?

CVE-2020-7264 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows, published on 8 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 Hotfix 199847 allows local users to delete files the user would otherwise not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a McAfee delete action to an unintended file. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-274 (Improper Handling of Insufficient Privileges)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7264?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Endpoint Security.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7264?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-7264 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-7264 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7264 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in McAfee,LLC McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows

- [CVE-2020-7319](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7319/): Improper Access Control Vulnerability in ENS for Windows (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-7265](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7265/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in ENSM (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-3582](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3582/): McAfee Endpoint Security updates fix a privilege escalation vulnerability (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2020-7257](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7257/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability through Symbolic links in ENS (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2021-23882](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23882/): Improper Access Control in the ENS installer (high 8.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7264 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7264 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows, published on 8 May 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-2020-7264 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: McAfee,LLC McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows. 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-2020-7264/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7264/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7264
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7264
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7264

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7264/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.