CVE-2021-23874
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 · uneditedArbitrary Process Execution vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection (MTP) prior to 16.0.30 allows a local user to gain elevated privileges and execute arbitrary code bypassing MTP self-defense.
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 · high confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability in McAfee Total Protection allows an attacker with local system access to bypass self-defense mechanisms and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to 16.0.30 and enables a local user to gain full control of the affected system.
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< 16.0.30CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify McAfee Total Protection is installedCheck for McAfee Total Protection in the installed programs list using 'Programs and Features' or the command 'wmic product where "name like '%McAfee%Total%Protection%'" get name,version'Affected if McAfee Total Protection is not found on the system, the CVE does not apply
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Identify the installed version of McAfee Total ProtectionRun 'wmic product where "name like '%McAfee%Total%Protection%'" get version' or right-click the MTP icon and select 'About' to view the version numberAffected if The installed version is any version prior to 16.0.30 (e.g., 16.0.29, 16.0.28, etc.)
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Confirm self-defense or process protection is enabledCheck if McAfee Total Protection's real-time scanning and self-defense features are active by opening the MTP console and viewing the status of 'Real-Time Scanning' and 'Self-Defense' under the settingsAffected if Self-defense mechanisms are enabled and the version is below 16.0.30, making exploitation possible through the vulnerable process protection controls
You are affected if McAfee Total Protection is installed with a version lower than 16.0.30 and the self-defense or process protection features are enabled on the system.
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.
dbcve · scoped16.0.30
Upgrade McAfee Total Protection to version 16.0.30 or later to address the vulnerability. Apply the update through standard enterprise patch management processes.
16.0.30
- Verify the current installed version of McAfee Total Protection
- Ensure you have administrative privileges on the system
- Obtain McAfee Total Protection version 16.0.30 or later from the official McAfee download portal or your enterprise software distribution system
- Run the installer with elevated privileges
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
- Restart the system if prompted
- Verify the installed version is 16.0.30 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,904.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-23874 — 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-2021-23874 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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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.
- 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