Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects older McAfee VirusScan Enterprise versions before 8.7i. A local user could exploit unsafe DLL loading behavior to raise privileges when the scanner processes content from an untrusted location, such as a remote share. There is no KEV listing in the provided data.
Executive priority
Treat this as a legacy endpoint hygiene issue with privilege-escalation impact. It is not flagged as actively exploited in the provided data, but affected antivirus software runs with high trust and should not remain outdated.
Technical view
CVE-2009-5118 is an untrusted search path vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise before 8.7i. The public description says local users may gain privileges through a Trojan horse DLL in an unspecified directory, with a remote-share document scan given as the example trigger.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on legacy endpoints or servers still running McAfee VirusScan Enterprise before 8.7i. The provided source data does not identify specific platforms, configurations, or supported replacement products.
Exploitation context
The provided sources describe local privilege escalation, not remote unauthenticated compromise. The bundle does not show active exploitation, KEV inclusion, public exploit maturity, or detailed prerequisites beyond local user access and unsafe DLL loading behavior.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE description, McAfee confirmation reference, and IBM X-Force entry. The source bundle does not provide CVSS, CWE, affected operating systems, exact DLL path behavior, or proof of active exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory systems for McAfee VirusScan Enterprise installations and versions.
- Upgrade affected deployments to 8.7i or a vendor-supported fixed version.
- Review McAfee advisory SB10013 for exact remediation guidance.
- Limit scanning of files from untrusted remote shares until remediated.
- Retire or replace legacy antivirus deployments that cannot be updated.
Validation and detection
- Confirm no managed endpoint runs VirusScan Enterprise before 8.7i.
- Check security tooling inventory for legacy McAfee VSE agents.
- Review file-share scanning workflows involving untrusted or user-controlled locations.
- Verify remediation against McAfee advisory SB10013 and IBM X-Force entry.
- Document exceptions where upgrade or replacement is not immediately possible.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2009-5118 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10013CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- mcafee-virusscan-trojan-priv-esc(78448)CVE reference · vdb-entry, x_refsource_XF
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.