# CVE-2020-7293: Web Gateway (MWG) - Privilege Escalation vulnerability

> Low-privileged users can escalate to root by changing the system password due to improper access controls in the McAfee Web Gateway interface.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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:** 15 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hw3r-8g7v-p8rq

## What is CVE-2020-7293?

CVE-2020-7293 is a critical vulnerability in McAfee Web Gateway (MWG), published on 15 Sep 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 Web Gateway (MWG) prior to 9.2.1 allows authenticated user interface user with low permissions to change the system's root password via improper access controls in the user interface.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7293?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Web Gateway.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7293?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-7293 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-7293 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7293 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-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)
- [CVE-2020-7296](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7296/): Web Gateway (MWG) - Privilege Escalation vulnerability (medium 5.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7293 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7293 is a critical vulnerability in McAfee Web Gateway (MWG), published on 15 Sep 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-2020-7293 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-2020-7293/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7293/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7293
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7293
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7293

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7293/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.