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Drive EncryptionApplication · Mcafee

CVE-2018-6686

MEDIUM · 6.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-07-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Authentication Bypass vulnerability in TPM autoboot in McAfee Drive Encryption (MDE) 7.1.0 and above allows physically proximate attackers to bypass local security protection via specific set of circumstances.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

McAfee Drive Encryption 7.1.0 and above contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in its TPM autoboot feature, allowing physically proximate attackers to bypass local security protections under specific circumstances.

MitigationApply the vendor patch from McAfee when available, and implement physical access controls as a compensating control until the patch can be deployed.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Drive EncryptionApplication
Affected:>= 7.1.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Physical
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify McAfee Drive Encryption is installed
    Check the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel or use 'Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product' to query installed software for 'McAfee Drive Encryption'
    Affected if McAfee Drive Encryption is not present on the system, the system is not affected
  2. Check the installed version of McAfee Drive Encryption
    Open McAfee Drive Encryption management console or check registry key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\McAfee\DriveEncryption for the version value, then compare against >= 7.1.0
    Affected if Installed version is 7.1.0 or higher
  3. Determine if TPM autoboot feature is configured
    Open McAfee Drive Encryption policy settings or registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\McAfee\DriveEncryption\TPM and look for autoboot or auto-boot related configuration keys
    Affected if TPM autoboot feature is enabled in the Drive Encryption policy settings

The system is affected only if McAfee Drive Encryption version 7.1.0 or higher is installed AND TPM autoboot feature is enabled, allowing a physically proximate attacker to bypass authentication on reboot.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor patch from McAfee when available, and implement physical access controls as a compensating control until the patch can be deployed.

Fix this in Drive Encryption Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-6686 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data