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CVE-2020-7283· NVD / CVE Program· CNA trellix

Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP)

Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) before 16.0.R26 allows local users to create and edit files via symbolic link manipulation in a location they would otherwise not have access to. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.

HighCVSS 8.8 · v3.1—Proof of concept No fix recorded
Published
Jul 3, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.6% · 47th percentile
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Action score

35

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
35 / 40 · 8.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.6%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
8.8
CNA · trellix
7.5
1.3 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
mcafeetotal protection

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • mcafee total protectionbefore 16.0.r26

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (trellix). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • McAfee,LLC McAfee Total Protection (MTP)

    • 16.0.R26affected

Same product

mcafee: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2021-23874McAfee Total Protection (MTP) privilege escalation vulnerabilityKEV
    61This week
  • CVE-2020-7330Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) trial
    35Monitor
  • CVE-2020-7298Total Protection (MTP) - Unexpected behavior violation
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2019-3617Privilege escalation in ToPS for Mac
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2022-43751McAfee Total Protection prior to version 16.0.49 contains an uncontrolled search path element vulnerability due to the use of a variable poi
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2021-23877McAfee Total Protection (MTP) - Privilege Escalation vulnerability
    31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:122020-04-07

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. First PoC-87 d
  2. Published
  3. TodaySep 30, 2026+2280 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted

Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-274 · Improper Handling of Insufficient Privileges

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records