# CVE-2020-7314: Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee DXL for Mac

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to root via insecure temporary file permissions in the McAfee DXL Client installer for Mac.

- **Severity:** High 8.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jgjp-57q6-q7hv

## What is CVE-2020-7314?

CVE-2020-7314 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee DXL for Mac shipped with MA, published on 10 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in the installer in McAfee Data Exchange Layer (DXL) Client for Mac shipped with McAfee Agent (MA) for Mac prior to MA 5.6.6 allows local users to run commands as root via incorrectly applied permissions on temporary files.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7314?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mcafee Mcafee Agent.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-7314?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-7314 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-7314 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7314 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in McAfee DXL for Mac shipped with MA

- [CVE-2021-31841](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31841/): DLL side loading vulnerability in MA for Windows (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2020-7311](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7311/): Privilege Escalation vulnerability in MA for Windows (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-7312](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7312/): DLL Search Order Hijacking in MA for Windows (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-31840](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-31840/): DLL preload vulnerability in McAfee Agent for Windows (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2020-7315](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7315/): DLL Injection vulnerability in MA for Windows (medium 6.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-7314 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-7314 is a high-severity vulnerability in McAfee DXL for Mac shipped with MA, published on 10 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7314 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: McAfee DXL for Mac shipped with 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-2020-7314/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7314/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-7314
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7314
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-7314

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7314/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.