Security Bulletin - Endpoint Security for Windows update fixes five vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-23878, CVE-2021-23880, CVE-2021-23881, CVE-2021-23882, CVE-2021-23883)
Security Bulletins ID:
SB10345
Last Modified: 2022-05-04 19:08:49 Etc/GMT
Last Modified: 2022-05-04 19:08:49 Etc/GMT
Summary
First Published: February 9, 2021
Article contents:
To remediate this issue:
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 the Installation Guide for instructions on how to install these updates. All documentation is available on the Product Documentation site.
Mitigations
We are providing a mitigation solution for CVE-2021-23880. It is as an alternative for those customers that have ENS 10.7.0/10.6.1 November 2020 Updates or earlier, and can't immediately apply the ENS 10.7.0/10.6.1 February 2021 Updates. The mitigation is to create a custom Expert Rule in ePO that prevents unauthorized uninstallation of the ENS antimalware engine. For instructions, see: KB94133 - REGISTERED - Create an Expert Rule that prevents unauthorized uninstall of the Endpoint Security antimalware engine (CVE-2021-23880).
NOTE: The referenced content is available only to logged in ServicePortal users. To view the content, click the link and log in when prompted.
The other CVEs described in this Security Bulletin can only be addressed by updating to ENS 10.6.1/10.7.0 February 2021 Update.
Acknowledgments
We credit the following for responsibly reporting flaws.
CVE-2021-23878 - Lockheed Martin Red Team
CVE-2021-23883 - Alain Rödel from cirosec GmbH
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I know if my product is vulnerable?
For Endpoint Security on Windows:
Use the following instructions for endpoint or client-based products:
CVSS, or Common Vulnerability Scoring System, 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 judge how critical a vulnerability is and plan accordingly. For more information, visit the CVSS website.
When calculating CVSS scores, we've adopted 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 do not 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?
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
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.
Product: | Impacted Versions: | CVE ID: | Impact of Vulnerabilities: | Severity Ratings: | CVSS v3.1 Base/Temporal Scores: |
Endpoint Security (ENS) | Prior to 10.7.0 and 10.6.1 February 2021 Update | CVE-2021-23878 | CWE-312: Cleartext storage of sensitive information | High | 7.3 / 6.6 |
ENS | Prior to 10.7.0 and 10.6.1 February 2021 Update | CVE-2021-23880 | CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management | Medium | 6.7 / 6.0 |
ENS | Prior to 10.7.0 and 10.6.1 February 2021 Update | CVE-2021-23881 | CWE-79: Stored Cross Site Scripting | Medium | 4.8 / 4.3 |
ENS | Prior to 10.7.0 and 10.6.1 February 2021 Update | CVE-2021-23882 | CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management | High | 8.2 / 7.1 |
ENS | Prior to 10.7.0 and 10.6.1 February 2021 Update | CVE-2021-23883 | CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference | Medium | 4.0 / 3.6 |
Recommendations: | Install or update to ENS 10.7.0 and 10.6.1 February 2021 Update | ||||
Security Bulletin Replacement: | None | ||||
Location of updated software: | Product Downloads site |
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Article contents:
- Vulnerability Description
- Remediation
- Mitigations
- Acknowledgments
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Resources
- Disclaimer
- CVE-2021-23878
Clear text storage of sensitive Information in memory vulnerability in Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2021 Update allows a local user to view ENS settings and credentials via accessing process memory after the ENS administrator has performed specific actions.
To exploit this, the local user has to access the relevant memory location immediately after an ENS administrator has made a configuration change through the console on their machine.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2021-23878
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-23878
- CVE-2021-23880
Improper Access Control in attribute in Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2021 Update allows authenticated local administrator user to perform an uninstallation of the anti-malware engine via the running of a specific command with the correct parameters.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2021-23880
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-23880
- CVE-2021-23881
A stored cross site scripting vulnerability in ePO extension of Endpoint Security (ENS) prior to 10.7.0 February 2021 Update allows an ENS ePO administrator to add a script to a policy event which will trigger the script to be run through a browser block page when a local non-administrator user triggers the policy.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2021-23881
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-23881
- CVE-2021-23882
Improper Access Control vulnerability in Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2021 Update allows local administrators to prevent the installation of some ENS files by placing carefully crafted files where ENS will be installed.
This is only applicable to clean installations of ENS as the Access Control rules will prevent modification prior to up an upgrade.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2021-23882
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-23882
- CVE-2021-23883
A Null Pointer Dereference vulnerability in Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 February 2021 Update allows a local administrator to cause Windows to crash via a specific system call which is not handled correctly. This varies by machine and had partial protection prior to this update.
https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2021-23883
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-23883
To remediate this issue:
- Customers on ENS 10.7.0: Update to ENS 10.7.0 February 2021 Update.
- Customers on ENS 10.6.1: Upgrade to ENS 10.7.0 February 2021 Update, or update to ENS 10.6.1 February 2021 Update.
Product | Version | Type | Release Date |
ENS for Windows | 10.7.0 February 2021 Update 10.6.1 February 2021 Update |
Update | February 9, 2021 |
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 the Installation Guide for instructions on how to install these updates. All documentation is available on the Product Documentation site.
Mitigations
We are providing a mitigation solution for CVE-2021-23880. It is as an alternative for those customers that have ENS 10.7.0/10.6.1 November 2020 Updates or earlier, and can't immediately apply the ENS 10.7.0/10.6.1 February 2021 Updates. The mitigation is to create a custom Expert Rule in ePO that prevents unauthorized uninstallation of the ENS antimalware engine. For instructions, see: KB94133 - REGISTERED - Create an Expert Rule that prevents unauthorized uninstall of the Endpoint Security antimalware engine (CVE-2021-23880).
NOTE: The referenced content is available only to logged in ServicePortal users. To view the content, click the link and log in when prompted.
The other CVEs described in this Security Bulletin can only be addressed by updating to ENS 10.6.1/10.7.0 February 2021 Update.
Acknowledgments
We credit the following for responsibly reporting flaws.
CVE-2021-23878 - Lockheed Martin Red Team
CVE-2021-23883 - Alain Rödel from cirosec GmbH
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I know if my product is vulnerable?
For Endpoint Security on Windows:
Use the following instructions for endpoint or client-based products:
- Right-click the McAfee tray shield icon on the Windows taskbar.
- Select McAfee Endpoint Security.
- In the console, select Action Menu.
- In the Action Menu, select About. The product version displays.
CVSS, or Common Vulnerability Scoring System, 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 judge how critical a vulnerability is and plan accordingly. For more information, visit the CVSS website.
When calculating CVSS scores, we've adopted 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 do not 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?
- CVE-2021-23878: Clear text storage of sensitive Information in ENS
Base Score 7.3 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) Low (L) Privileges Required (PR) Low (L) User Interaction (UI) Required (R) Scope (S) Unchanged (U) Confidentiality (C) High (H) Integrity (I) High (H) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 6.6 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
- CVE-2021-23880: Improper Access Control in the ENS installer
Base Score 6.7 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) Low (L) Privileges Required (PR) High (H) User Interaction (UI) None (N) Scope (S) Unchanged (U) Confidentiality (C) High (H) Integrity (I) High (H) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 6.0 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
- CVE-2021-23881: Stored Cross Site Scripting in ENS
Base Score 4.8 Attack Vector (AV) Network (N) Attack Complexity (AC) Low (L) Privileges Required (PR) High (H) User Interaction (UI) Required (R) Scope (S) Changed (C) Confidentiality (C) Low (L) Integrity (I) Low (L) Availability (A) None (N) Temporal Score (Overall) 4.3 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
- CVE-2021-23882: Improper Access Control in the ENS installer
Base Score 8.2 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) Low (L) Privileges Required (PR) High (H) User Interaction (UI) None (N) Scope (S) Changed (C) Confidentiality (C) High (H) Integrity (I) High (H) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 7.1 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
- CVE-2021-23883:
Base Score 4.0 Attack Vector (AV) Local (L) Attack Complexity (AC) High (H) Privileges Required (PR) High (H) User Interaction (UI) Required (R) Scope (S) Unchanged (U) Confidentiality (C) None (N) Integrity (I) None (N) Availability (A) High (H) Temporal Score (Overall) 3.6 Exploitability (E) Proof-of-Concept (P) Remediation Level (RL) Official Fix (O) Report Confidence (RC) Confirmed (C)
NOTE: The below CVSS version 3.1 vector was used to generate this score.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss/v3-calculator?vector=AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C&version=3.1
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
To contact Technical Support, go to the Create a Service Request page and log on to the ServicePortal.
- If you are a registered user, type your User ID and Password, and then click Log In.
- If you are not a registered user, click Register and complete the fields to have your password and instructions emailed to you.
Disclaimer
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.