CVE-2020-7320 | Protection Mechanism Failure in ENS for Windows

Protection Mechanism Failure vulnerability in McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) for Windows prior to 10.7.0 September 2020 Update allows local administrator to temporarily reduce the detection capability allowing otherwise detected malware to run via stopping certain Microsoft services.

Published: 2020-09-09 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-7320 is rated Low Risk (32.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-7320

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-03-17 0.04% 0.06% +0.01%
2 2023-03-07 0.89% 0.04% -0.84%
3 2022-04-01 0.89%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-7320

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
0.8 5.3 [email protected]
7.3 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
1.5 5.3 [email protected]
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-7320

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-7320

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mcafee endpoint_security < 10.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:mcafee:endpoint_security:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*

References for CVE-2020-7320

cvelogic Threat Intelligence