CVE-2021-23888
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 · uneditedUnvalidated client-side URL redirect vulnerability in McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) prior to 5.10 Update 10 could cause an authenticated ePO user to load an untrusted site in an ePO iframe which could steal information from the authenticated user.
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 confidenceMcAfee ePolicy Orchestrator prior to version 5.10 Update 10 contains an unvalidated client-side URL redirect vulnerability where an authenticated user can be redirected to an untrusted site via an iframe within the ePO interface, allowing attackers to steal sensitive information from the authenticated user's session.
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< 5.10.0= 5.10.0CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
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.
-
Confirm ePolicy Orchestrator is installedCheck for ePO installation directories (commonly C:\Program Files\McAfee\ePolicy Orchestrator or /opt/McAfee/ePO) or look for the 'McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator' service running on the system.Affected if ePolicy Orchestrator software is present on the system
-
Locate the ePO version informationAccess the ePO console and navigate to the 'Server Settings' page, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\McAfee\ePolicy Orchestrator\InstalledVersion on Windows systems, or examine the version file in the ePO installation directory.Affected if Unable to retrieve version information indicates potential ePO installation but unverifiable version
-
Compare installed version against affected rangeIf version is found, compare it to the affected versions: any build prior to 5.10.0, or exactly version 5.10.0 (before Update 10). The ePO version format typically appears as x.x.x.x (e.g., 5.10.0.123).Affected if Installed version is less than 5.10.0 (e.g., 5.9.x.x, 5.10.0.0) or equals exactly 5.10.0.0 without Update 10 applied
A user is affected if McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator is installed and the installed version is either any version below 5.10.0 or exactly version 5.10.0 without the Update 10 patch applied.
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 data5.10.0
Apply vendor patch by updating McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator to version 5.10 Update 10 or later to remediate the unvalidated redirect vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,232.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-23888 — 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-2021-23888 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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