Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Older McAfee Endpoint Security installations may let a local user abuse an improperly quoted service path to run a malicious file or disrupt service. This is not described as remotely exploitable, but compromise of endpoint security software can carry high business impact.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority endpoint hygiene issue, not an internet-facing emergency. Remediate older ENS deployments promptly because exploitation of security tooling can undermine endpoint trust and response capability.
Technical view
CVE-2020-7331 is a CWE-428 unquoted service executable path flaw in McAfee Endpoint Security before 10.7.0 November 2020 Update. The CVSS 3.1 vector is local, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to systems running McAfee Endpoint Security versions prior to 10.7.0 November 2020 Update, especially shared workstations, servers, or endpoints where local users can place or execute files.
Exploitation context
The provided sources say exploitation requires local access and low privileges. They do not show CISA KEV listing or evidence of active exploitation. Impact includes denial of service and malicious file execution.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE metadata and the McAfee advisory reference. No affected CPEs or public exploit status are provided in the bundle. Validate by version and vendor advisory applicability, not by attempting exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade McAfee Endpoint Security to 10.7.0 November 2020 Update or later.
- Review McAfee advisory SB10335 for vendor-specific remediation guidance.
- Prioritize endpoints where local users can run files or share workstations.
- Restrict unnecessary local user access until affected ENS installations are remediated.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installed McAfee Endpoint Security versions across managed endpoints.
- Identify systems older than 10.7.0 November 2020 Update.
- Check endpoint management records for completed ENS update deployment.
- Confirm vendor advisory SB10335 applies before closing findings.
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-428: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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 lookupCVE-2020-7331 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10335CVE 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.
Unquoted Search Path or Element
Unquoted Search Path or Element represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.