CVE-2020-7266
Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in VSE for Windows
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Windows prior to 8.8 Patch 14 Hotfix 116778 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.
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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in VSE for Windows
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Windows prior to 8.8 Patch 14 Hotfix 116778 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.
- Record
CVE-2020-7266- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-274
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-28393
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Windows prior to 8.8 Patch 14 Hotfix 116778 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.
- Record
EUVD-2020-28393- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-v42h-cjgv-79ww No score
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Windows prior to 8.8...
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Windows prior to 8.8 Patch 14 Hotfix 116778 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.
- Record
GHSA-v42h-cjgv-79ww- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Windows prior to 8.8 Patch 14 Hotfix 116778 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.
- Record
CVE-2020-7266- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - 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 2.0
- 3.6 Low
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-274, CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-7266 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.8) in Mcafee Virusscan Enterprise, published May 8, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.26%, the 17th percentile. No source names a fixed version.