CVE-2019-3593
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 · uneditedExploitation of Privilege/Trust vulnerability in Microsoft Windows client in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) Prior to 16.0.R18 allows local users to bypass product self-protection, tamper with policies and product files, and uninstall McAfee software without permission via specially crafted malware.
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 confidenceMcAfee Total Protection prior to version 16.0.R18 contains a privilege trust vulnerability on Windows clients that allows local users to bypass the product's self-protection mechanisms. Attackers can use specially crafted malware to tamper with product policies and files, and uninstall the software without authorization.
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< 16.0.r18CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed McAfee Total Protection versionOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'wmic product get name,version' and filter for 'McAfee Total Protection'. Alternatively, check the product UI Help > About section.Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 16.0.R18 (for example, 16.0.R17, 16.0.R16, etc.)
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Confirm version via command lineOpen an elevated command prompt and navigate to the McAfee installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\McAfee\MSC or C:\Program Files\McAfee\Total Protection). Run 'mpcmdrun.exe -version' or check the version of mcuicon.exe in that folder.Affected if The reported build version begins with a number lower than 16.0.18 or shows a release date prior to the 16.0.R18 release.
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Verify self-protection mechanism statusLaunch McAfee Total Protection and navigate to Settings > General > Security and Firewall. Look for options labeled 'Self Protection' or 'Protect McAfee files and settings from tampering'. Confirm whether the protection is enabled.Affected if Self-protection is disabled or the settings page cannot be accessed due to tampering restrictions failing to trigger.
If McAfee Total Protection version is below 16.0.R18 and self-protection is present but trivially bypassable, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data16.0.r18
Upgrade McAfee Total Protection to version 16.0.R18 or later to resolve the vulnerability. Organizations should deploy the updated version enterprise-wide and verify the self-protection mechanisms are functioning correctly post-update.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-3593 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-3593 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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