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NVD / CVE Program· CNA trellix

CVE-2020-7267: Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in VSEL

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 33/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.26% (FIRST EPSS).
  • 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.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Low priority for now. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Linux prior to 2.0.3 Hotfix 2635000 allows local users to delete files the user would otherwise not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a McAfee delete action to an unintended file. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.

HighCVSS 8.4 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
May 8, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 17th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

33

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
33 / 40 · 8.4 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
8.4
CNA · trellix
8.8
0.4 point gap

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

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

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2020-7267

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
mcafeevirusscan enterprise

Affected versions

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

  • mcafee virusscan enterprise8.8

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 VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Linux

    • 2.0.x and later · before 2.0.3 Hotfix 2635000affected

Same product

mcafee: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2009-5118Untrusted search path vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise before 8.7i allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2016-8024Improper neutralization of CRLF sequences in HTTP headers vulnerability in Intel Security VirusScan Enterprise Linux (VSEL) 2.0.3 (and earli
    35Monitor
  • CVE-2016-8023Authentication bypass by assumed-immutable data vulnerability in Intel Security VirusScan Enterprise Linux (VSEL) 2.0.3 (and earlier) allows
    35Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2018-6674May 25, 2018 · Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee VSE when McTray run with elevated privileges
    15Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-7266May 8, 2020 · Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in VSE for Windows
    33Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2019-3585Jun 10, 2020 · VSE Escalation of Privileges through Alert pop-up window
    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

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

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.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

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.

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).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

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
none
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
None
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:N/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.

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