Vulnerability

CVE-2021-23874

High· 8.2KEVCVSS8.2EPSS1%

.rules3/5

McAfee Total Protection (MTP) Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability

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.

Threat signal

92/100

Severe

Severity

high

CVSS

8.2

EPSS

Active

KEV

CISA KEV — actively exploited

1669d overdue

AffectedMcAfee — McAfee Total Protection (MTP)

Added to KEV

2021-11-03

Federal patch due (BOD 22-01)

2021-11-17

Required action (CISA verbatim)

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Vendor advisory + references

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23874

CISA 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.”

CVSS

v3.1Open in FIRST calculator →

8.2/ 10HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack VectorLocalRequires local access — shell, console, or local app.
Attack ComplexityLowNo special conditions — exploit works reliably.
Privileges RequiredLowStandard user privileges sufficient.
User InteractionRequiredRequires user action (click, file open, etc).
ScopeChangedImpact extends beyond the vulnerable component (e.g. sandbox escape).
Confidentiality ImpactHighTotal disclosure of sensitive data.
Integrity ImpactHighTotal compromise of integrity — full data modification possible.
Availability ImpactHighTotal loss of availability — full DoS possible.

EPSS

Exploit prediction · 30-day horizonFIRST.org →

0.73%

probability of exploitation in next 30 days

p73

higher than 73% of all CVEs

3-day trend↑ 0pp

Low exploitation likelihood — defer if no other signals fire.

Vendor VEX

No VEX statements published for CVE-2021-23874. Vendors publish VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange) to assert per-product whether a CVE is actually exploitable in their distribution.

SSVCAct

Active exploitation with total impact on essential/support systems

exploitation: active
automatable: yes
impact: total
mission: support

Lifecycle

2021-11-03Added to CISA KEVransomware: Unknown
2021-11-03Published
2021-11-17Federal patch due (BOD 22-01)
2026-06-12Last modified1 source

No source-event history recorded yet. New revisions will appear here as ingestors re-fetch this CVE.