CVE-2020-7257
Privilege Escalation vulnerability through Symbolic links in ENS
Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows local users to cause the deletion and creation of files they would not normally have permission to through altering the target of symbolic links whilst an anti-virus scan was in progress. This is timing dependent.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Privilege Escalation vulnerability through Symbolic links in ENS
Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows local users to cause the deletion and creation of files they would not normally have permission to through altering the target of symbolic links whilst an anti-virus scan was in progress. This is timing dependent.
- Record
CVE-2020-7257- CVSS 3.1
- 8.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-264
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-28384
Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows local users to cause the deletion and creation of files they would not normally have permission to through altering the target of symbolic links whilst an anti-virus scan was in progress. This is timing dependent.
- Record
EUVD-2020-28384- CVSS 3.1
- 8.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-5jf3-c8qv-652g No score
Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0...
Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows local users to cause the deletion and creation of files they would not normally have permission to through altering the target of symbolic links whilst an anti-virus scan was in progress. This is timing dependent.
- Record
GHSA-5jf3-c8qv-652g- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2020 Update allows local users to cause the deletion and creation of files they would not normally have permission to through altering the target of symbolic links whilst an anti-virus scan was in progress. This is timing dependent.
- Record
CVE-2020-7257- CVSS 3.1
- 8.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 6.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 3.3 Low
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-264, CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, products, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-7257 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.4) in Mcafee Endpoint Security, published April 15, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.25%, the 16th percentile. No source names a fixed version.