{"id":"CVE-2021-23874","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2021-23874"],"related":[],"title":"McAfee McAfee Total Protection (MTP): McAfee Total Protection (MTP) Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability","description":"McAfee Total Protection (MTP) contains an improper privilege management vulnerability that allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and execute code, bypassing MTP self-defense.\n\nCISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.","summary":"McAfee Total Protection (MTP) has an improper privilege management flaw that lets a local user gain elevated privileges and run code. The flaw also bypasses MTP's self-defense, so the security product cannot stop it.","severity":"high","cvss":8.2,"epss":0.01026,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2021-11-03T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"McAfee McAfee Total Protection (MTP)","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["exploited","mcafee-total-protection","vendor","windows"],"not_affected_if":["no-mcafee-total-protection-installed"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Apply the McAfee update for Total Protection per vendor instructions, as CISA requires.","status":"open","published_at":"2021-02-10T11:15:12+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:53+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T21:37:38+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00","category":"vendor","confidence":0.7,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T21:37:38Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Apply the McAfee update for Total Protection per vendor instructions, as CISA requires.","reach":"local","impact":"high","summary":"McAfee Total Protection (MTP) has an improper privilege management flaw that lets a local user gain elevated privileges and run code. The flaw also bypasses MTP's self-defense, so the security product cannot stop it.","category":"vendor","who_cares":["windows","mcafee-total-protection"],"confidence":0.7,"needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user gains elevated privileges and executes arbitrary code","analyst_note":"Find the affected and fixed MTP versions and the McAfee advisory for CVE-2021-23874; the sources here give no version data.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-mcafee-total-protection-installed"],"user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000452,"input_tokens":2864,"output_tokens":332,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":"queued","analyst_note":"Find the affected and fixed MTP versions and the McAfee advisory for CVE-2021-23874; the sources here give no version data.","search":"'-2021':15A,18A '-23874':16A,19A 'action':97C 'allow':79C 'also':55B 'appli':98C 'bypass':56B,90C 'cannot':66B 'cisa':95C 'code':52B,89C 'contain':72C 'cve':14A,17A 'defens':61B,94C 'elev':48B,85C 'execut':88C 'exploit':25B 'flaw':41B,54B 'gain':47B,84C 'improp':10A,38B,74C 'instruct':102C 'let':43B 'local':45B,81C 'manag':12A,40B,76C 'mcafe':1A,2A,6A,27B,32B,68C 'mcafee':20A,21A 'mcafee-total-protect':26B 'mtp':5A,9A,24A,35B,57B,71C,91C 'per':100C 'privileg':11A,39B,49B,75C,86C 'product':65B 'protect':4A,8A,29B,34B,70C 'protection':23A 'requir':96C 'run':51B 'secur':64B 'self':60B,93C 'self-defens':59B,92C 'stop':67B 'total':3A,7A,22A,28B,33B,69C 'updat':99C 'user':46B,82C 'vendor':30B,101C 'vulner':13A,77C 'window':31B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2021-02-10T11:15:12+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2021-11-03","dueDate":"2021-11-17","requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"trellixpsirt@trellix.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2021-23874","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2021-23874","severity":null,"published_at":"2021-11-03T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:53+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T16:39:49+00:00","note":null},{"source":"epss","external_id":"CVE-2021-23874","url":"https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-23874","severity":null,"published_at":null,"modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:13:44+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T19:13:44+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2021-23874","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23874","severity":null,"published_at":"2021-02-10T11:15:12+00:00","modified_at":"2026-06-17T03:38:57+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}