# CVE-2020-7291: Privilege Escalation vulnerability MAR for Mac

> A malicious script can execute unauthorized functions, allowing local attackers to escalate privileges on Mac systems running McAfee Active Response.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-43fm-mhm5-jf78

## What is CVE-2020-7291?

CVE-2020-7291 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Active Response (MAR) for Mac, 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 Active Response (MAR) for Mac prior to 2.4.3 Hotfix 1 allows a malicious script or program to perform functions that the local executing user has not been granted access to.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7291?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Active Response.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7291?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-7291 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-7291 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7291 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in McAfee,LLC McAfee Active Response (MAR) for Mac

- [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-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)
- [CVE-2019-3643](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3643/): MWG scanners updated to address CVE-2019-9511 (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7291 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7291 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee,LLC McAfee Active Response (MAR) for Mac, 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-2020-7291 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: McAfee,LLC McAfee Active Response (MAR) for Mac. 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-2020-7291/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7291/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7291
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7291
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7291

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7291/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.