CVE-2020-7281
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP)
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.R26 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
- High
- 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 in McAfee Total Protection (MTP)
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.R26 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-2020-7281- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-28408
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.R26 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-2020-28408- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-2526-24jx-77pp
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.R26 allows...
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.R26 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-2526-24jx-77pp- 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 - Weakness
- CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.R26 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-2020-7281- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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
- 1.9 Low
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-7281 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Mcafee Total Protection, published July 3, 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.