CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-26941 — Eset Endpoint Antivirus security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 5.5

A local (authenticated) low-privileged user can exploit a behavior in an ESET installer to achieve arbitrary file overwrite (deletion) of any file via a symlink, due to insecure permissions. The possibility of exploiting this vulnerability is limited and can only take place during the installation phase of ESET products. Furthermore, exploitation can only succeed when Self-Defense is disabled. Affected products are: ESET NOD32 Antivirus, ESET Internet Security, ESET Smart Security, ESET Smart Security Premium versions 13.2 and lower; ESET Endpoint Antivirus, ESET Endpoint Security, ESET NOD32 Antivirus Business Edition, ESET Smart Security Business Edition versions 7.3 and lower; ESET File Security for Microsoft Windows Server, ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server, ESET Mail Security for IBM Domino, ESET Security for Kerio, ESET Security for Microsoft SharePoint Server versions 7.2 and lower.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.5 (3.1)
Published
2021-01-26
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-276

Affected products

  • eset / endpoint_antivirus
  • eset / endpoint_security
  • eset / file_security
  • eset / internet_security
  • eset / internet_security / 1294
  • eset / mail_security

Showing 6 representative product identities from 14 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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