CVE-2020-10947

Privilege escalation via hardlink-directed log writes

Published Apr 17, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Local privilege escalation in Sophos Mac Endpoint for Central and Home allows local users to execute commands with root privileges. A privileged service follows attacker-created hardlinks and writes crafted log entries to an attacker-chosen file, where macOS launchd periodic can interpret embedded data as commands. The attack requires an authenticated local account with hardlink-creation privileges and affects Central before 9.9.6 and Home before 2.2.6.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability2.02%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Local privilege escalation in Sophos Mac Endpoint for Central and Home allows local users to execute commands with root privileges. A privileged service follows attacker-created hardlinks and writes crafted log entries to an attacker-chosen file, where macOS launchd periodic can interpret embedded data as commands. The attack requires an authenticated local account with hardlink-creation privileges and affects Central before 9.9.6 and Home before 2.2.6.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-10947
Published
Apr 17, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-59, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 17, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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