First Published: April 23, 2020
Product |
Impacted Versions |
CVE ID |
Impact of Vulnerabilities |
Severity Ratings |
CVSS v3.1
Base / Temporal Scores |
Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows |
10.7.0
10.6.x |
CVE-2020-7264 |
Privilege Escalation (CWE-274) |
High |
8.8 / 8.2 |
Endpoint Security for Mac (ENSM) |
10.6.x |
CVE-2020-7265 |
Privilege Escalation (CWE-274) |
High |
8.8 / 8.2 |
VirusScan Enterprise for Linux (VSEL) |
2.0.x
1.9.x |
CVE-2020-7266 |
Privilege Escalation (CWE-274) |
High |
8.8 / 8.2 |
VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) for Windows |
8.8 |
CVE-2020-7267 |
Privilege Escalation (CWE-274) |
High |
8.8 / 8.2 |
Recommendations |
See the Remediation and Mitigations sections below |
Security Bulletin Replacement |
None |
Location of updated software |
Product Downloads site |
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Article contents:
Vulnerability Description
An issue related to an attack technique impacting multiple cybersecurity vendors has been publicly disclosed.
This vulnerability doesn't provide the ability to remotely exploit a system, but rather enables malware or a malicious actor to delete files that they otherwise wouldn't have access to. Exploitation of the vulnerability requires running code (or a script) on a victim system that maliciously manipulates symbolic links to redirect a delete action of a privileged process to an unintended file.
Remediation
To remediate this issue:
- ENS for Windows
- ENS 10.7.x - Update to ENS 10.7.0 Security Hotfix 199847.
- ENS 10.6.x - Upgrade to ENS 10.7.0 Security Hotfix 199847, or update to ENS 10.6.1 Security Hotfix 199847.
- ENSM 10.6.x - Update to ENSM 10.6.9.
- VSE for Windows - Update to VSE 8.8 Patch 14 Security Hotfix 116778.
- VSEL
- VSEL 2.0.x - Update to VSEL 2.0.3 Security Hotfix 2635000.
- VSEL 1.9.x - Upgrade to VSEL 2.0.3 Security Hotfix 2635000, or update to VSEL 1.9.2 Security Hotfix 2637000.
Product |
Version |
Type |
Release Date |
Restart Needed |
ENS for Windows |
10.7.0 Security Hotfix 199847 |
Hotfix |
May 7, 2020 |
Recommended |
ENS for Windows |
10.6.1 Security Hotfix 199847 |
Hotfix |
May 7, 2020 |
Recommended |
ENSM |
10.6.9 |
Update |
May 7, 2020 |
Not required |
VSE for Windows |
8.8 Patch 14 Security Hotfix 116778 |
Hotfix |
May 7, 2020 |
Recommended |
VSEL |
2.0.3 Security Hotfix 2635000 |
Hotfix |
May 7, 2020 |
Not required |
VSEL |
1.9.2 Security Hotfix 2637000 |
Hotfix |
May 7, 2020 |
Not required |
Download and Installation Instructions
For instructions to download product updates and hotfixes, see
KB56057 - How to download Enterprise product updates and documentation. Review the Release Notes and Installation Guide for instructions on how to install these updates. All documentation is available at our
Product Documentation site.
Mitigations
We strongly recommend that you install the relevant fixes listed in the
Remediation section above. Additional mitigations include the following:
ENS for Windows
Signatures were included in DAT 4053, which was released on April 24, 2020. This provides prevention of the vulnerability. The signature has been engineered to detect additional scenarios; these will be reported as
Exploit-Symlink.*. This update complements the Expert Rule outlined in
KB92752 - Create an Expert Rule that prevents non-privileged users from creating symbolic links and junctions via cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or powershell ise.exe. We recommend users apply both.
ENSM, VSE for Windows, and VSEL
Detection signatures were included in DAT 9601, which was released on April 24, 2020. This update provides detection and alert capabilities for this vulnerability. Detection of this activity appears as
Exploit-Symlink.*.
Product Specific Notes
MOVE Agentless Linux Clients
MOVE Agentless Linux Clients aren't vulnerable to this attack technique. Customers who believe they're being targeted by this attack technique should contact VMWare for a fix.
CVE Details
- CVE-2020-7264 - Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in ENS for Windows
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in ENS for Windows prior to 10.7.0 Hotfix 199847 allows local users to delete files that the user would otherwise not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a delete action to an unintended file. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.
NVD CVE-2020-7264
MITRE CVE-2020-7264
- CVE-2020-7265 - Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in ENSM
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in ENSM prior to 10.6.9 allows local users to delete files that the user would otherwise not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a delete action to an unintended file. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.
NVD CVE-2020-7265
MITRE CVE-2020-7265
- CVE-2020-7266 - Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in VSE for Windows
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in VSE for Windows prior to 8.8 Patch 14 Hotfix 116778 allows local users to delete files that the user would otherwise not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a delete action to an unintended file. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.
NVD CVE-2020-7266
MITRE CVE-2020-7266
- CVE-2020-7267 - Privilege Escalation vulnerability through symbolic links in VSEL
Privilege Escalation vulnerability in VSEL prior to 2.0.3 Hotfix 2635000 allows local users to delete files the user would otherwise not have access to via manipulating symbolic links to redirect a delete action to an unintended file. This is achieved through running a malicious script or program on the target machine.
NVD CVE-2020-7267
MITRE CVE-2020-7267
Acknowledgments
Rack911 Labs discovered this vulnerability.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I know if my product is vulnerable?
For Endpoint products:
Follow the instructions below for endpoint or client-based products:
- Right-click the tray shield icon on the Windows taskbar.
- Select Open Console.
- In the console, select Action Menu.
- In the Action Menu, select Product Details. The product version displays.
For Appliances:
Follow the instructions below for Appliance-based products:
- Open the Administrator's User Interface (UI).
- Click the About link. The product version displays.
What's CVSS?
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) is the result of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council's effort to standardize a system of assessing the criticality of a vulnerability. This system offers an unbiased criticality score between 0 and 10 that customers can use to determine how critical a vulnerability is and plan accordingly. For more information, visit the
CVSS website.
When calculating CVSS scores, we adopt a philosophy that fosters consistency and repeatability. Our guiding principle for CVSS scoring is to score the exploit under consideration by itself. We consider only the immediate and direct impact of the exploit under consideration. We don't factor into a score any potential follow-on exploits that might be made possible by the successful exploitation of the issue being scored.
What are the CVSS scoring metrics?
The CVSS score is the same for all products in this Security Bulletin.
Base Score |
8.8 |
Attack Vector (AV) |
Local (L) |
Attack Complexity (AC) |
Low (L) |
Privileges Required (PR) |
Low (L) |
User Interaction (UI) |
None (N) |
Scope (S) |
Changed (C) |
Confidentiality (C) |
High (H) |
Integrity (I) |
High (H) |
Availability (A) |
High (H) |
Temporal Score (Overall) |
8.2 |
Exploitability (E) |
Functional (F) |
Remediation Level (RL) |
Official Fix (O) |
Report Confidence (RC) |
Confirmed (C) |
NOTE: This
CVSS version 3.1 vector is used to generate this score.
Where can I find a list of all Security Bulletins?
All Security Bulletins are published on our Knowledge Center. Security Bulletins are retired (removed) once a product is both End of Sale and End of Support (End of Life).
How do I report a product vulnerability to you?
If you have information about a security issue or vulnerability with a product, follow the instructions provided in KB95563 - Report a vulnerability.
How do you respond to this and any other reported security flaws?
Our key priority is the security of our customers. If a vulnerability is found within any of our software or services, we work closely with the relevant security software development team to ensure the rapid and effective development of a fix and communication plan.
We only publish Security Bulletins if they include something actionable such as a workaround, mitigation, version update, or hotfix. Otherwise, we would simply be informing the hacker community that our products are a target, putting our customers at greater risk. For products that are updated automatically, a non-actionable Security Bulletin might be published to acknowledge the discoverer.
To view our PSIRT policy, see KB95564 - About PSIRT.
Resources
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Disclaimer
The information provided in this Security Bulletin is provided as is without warranty of any kind. We disclaim all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall we or our suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits, or special damages, even if we or our suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states don't allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the preceding limitation may not apply.
Any future product release dates mentioned in this Security Bulletin are intended to outline our general product direction, and they shouldn't be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The product release dates are for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. The product release dates aren't a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remain at our sole discretion and may be changed or canceled at any time.