# CVE-2020-7292: Web Gateway (MWG) - Inappropriate Encoding for output context

> A remote attacker can trick users into clicking malicious URLs to trigger ambiguous redirects in McAfee Web Gateway, potentially bypassing security controls.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Jul 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hm27-4fw9-4w6f

## What is CVE-2020-7292?

CVE-2020-7292 is a medium-severity vulnerability in McAfee Web Gateway (MWG), published on 15 Jul 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Inappropriate Encoding for output context vulnerability in McAfee Web Gateway (MWG) prior to 9.2.1 allows a remote attacker to cause MWG to return an ambiguous redirect response via getting a user to click on a malicious URL.

Weakness: CWE-838 (Inappropriate Encoding for Output Context)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7292?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Web Gateway.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7292?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-7292 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-7292 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7292 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in McAfee Web Gateway (MWG)

- [CVE-2021-23885](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-23885/): Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Web Gateway (MWG) UI (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2020-7293](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7293/): Web Gateway (MWG) - Privilege Escalation vulnerability (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2019-3638](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3638/): Web Gateway (MWG) - Reflected Cross Site Scripting vulnerability (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2019-3639](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3639/): MWG UI: Cross-Frame Scripting vulnerability (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2022-1254](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1254/): SWG URL redirection vulnerability (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7292 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7292 is a medium-severity vulnerability in McAfee Web Gateway (MWG), published on 15 Jul 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7292 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: McAfee Web Gateway (MWG). 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-2020-7292/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7292/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7292
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7292
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7292

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7292/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.