CVE-2015-8987 in McAfee Agent
Summary
by MITRE
Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack vulnerability in non-Mac OS agents in McAfee (now Intel Security) Agent (MA) 4.8.0 patch 2 and earlier allows attackers to make a McAfee Agent talk with another, possibly rogue, ePO server via McAfee Agent migration to another ePO server.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/06/2020
The CVE-2015-8987 vulnerability represents a critical man-in-the-middle attack vector affecting McAfee Agent versions 4.8.0 patch 2 and earlier across non-macOS platforms. This weakness specifically targets the agent migration process that occurs when a McAfee Agent needs to communicate with a different ePO server, creating an opportunity for attackers to intercept and manipulate the communication channel. The vulnerability exploits the lack of proper authentication mechanisms during the migration procedure, allowing malicious actors to position themselves between the agent and the legitimate ePO server.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient cryptographic validation and certificate verification during the agent-server communication handshake process. When McAfee Agents attempt to migrate to a different ePO server, the system fails to properly validate the authenticity of the target server, enabling attackers to present malicious certificates or redirect traffic to rogue servers. This weakness falls under the broader category of insufficient validation of certificate trust, which aligns with CWE-295 - Improper Certificate Validation. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it occurs during a legitimate administrative process, making it difficult to detect through standard network monitoring.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it enables complete compromise of the affected endpoint management infrastructure. Attackers can manipulate the agent's behavior by redirecting it to malicious ePO servers, potentially leading to unauthorized software deployment, configuration changes, or complete loss of endpoint control. This threat vector directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 - Command and Scripting Interpreter and T1071.004 - Application Layer Protocol: DNS, as attackers can leverage the compromised agent to execute malicious commands and exfiltrate data. The vulnerability undermines the fundamental security model of endpoint protection systems, as it allows attackers to bypass traditional network security controls.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including patching to the latest McAfee Agent versions that address the certificate validation issues, deploying network segmentation to isolate ePO server communications, and implementing strict certificate management policies. Additional protective measures include monitoring for unusual agent migration patterns, enforcing network access controls, and conducting regular security assessments of endpoint management infrastructure. The vulnerability highlights the importance of secure communication protocols in enterprise security systems and demonstrates the critical need for proper certificate validation mechanisms in distributed management environments. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level protections such as DNS security extensions and certificate pinning to prevent similar attacks against other management protocols.