Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw could let a local Windows user turn McAfee ENS tray-related elevated permissions into higher-privilege process execution. It is not a remote break-in by itself; exposure depends on affected ENS versions and McTray.exe being granted elevated privileges. The CVE is medium severity, but meaningful on shared endpoints or systems where local compromise is plausible.
Executive priority
Treat as a controlled, medium-priority endpoint hardening issue. It is not described as remotely exploitable or actively exploited, but it can amplify a local foothold. Patch legacy ENS deployments and remove unnecessary elevation paths.
Technical view
CVE-2020-7274 is a CWE-269 privilege escalation in McTray.exe in McAfee Endpoint Security for Windows before the 10.7.0 April 2020 Update. The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.6, with local attack vector, high complexity, low privileges required, user interaction required, and changed scope.
Likely exposure
Windows endpoints running McAfee Endpoint Security 10.x before the 10.7.0 April 2020 Update are the stated exposure. Risk is higher where administrators configured McTray.exe to run elevated, because the CVE description says it runs with current-user privileges by default.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation is local, requires low privileges, high complexity, and user interaction. The key precondition is an administrator granting McTray.exe elevated privileges.
Researcher notes
The evidence points to a narrow privilege-management flaw, not a broad network-exposed issue. Validation should focus on exact ENS build state and whether McTray.exe has been deliberately elevated. The bundle does not provide exploit details beyond the high-level condition.
Mitigation direction
- Apply McAfee ENS 10.7.0 April 2020 Update or later vendor-supported updates.
- Review McAfee advisory SB10309 for product-specific remediation guidance.
- Avoid granting McTray.exe elevated privileges unless vendor guidance explicitly requires it.
- Prioritize remediation on shared workstations and systems with local user access.
- Check current vendor guidance if unsupported ENS versions remain deployed.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Windows endpoints running McAfee Endpoint Security 10.x.
- Confirm ENS version is at or after the April 2020 10.7.0 update.
- Review endpoint configuration for elevated McTray.exe execution.
- Check endpoint logs for unusual elevated child processes associated with McTray.exe.
- Document exceptions where vulnerable versions cannot be immediately updated.
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.
CWE-269: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-7274 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L
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 vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L0.85.3Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.6MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10309CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
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.
Improper Privilege Management
Improper Privilege Management represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.