Endpoint Security For Linux Threat PreventionOperating system · Mcafee
CVE-2021-23892
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 · uneditedBy exploiting a time of check to time of use (TOCTOU) race condition during the Endpoint Security for Linux Threat Prevention and Firewall (ENSL TP/FW) installation process, a local user can perform a privilege escalation attack to obtain administrator privileges for the purpose of executing arbitrary code through insecure use of predictable temporary file locations.
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 TOCTOU race condition in the ENSL TP/FW installation process allows local users to exploit predictable temporary file locations to escalate privileges to administrator level and execute arbitrary code.
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
Endpoint Security For Linux Threat PreventionOperating system
>= 10.5.0, < 10.7.5CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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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Identify if McAfee Endpoint Security for Linux is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep -i mfe' or check /opt/McAfee/ for installed componentsAffected if No McAfee ENSL components are found on the system
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Retrieve the installed ENSL Threat Prevention versionExecute 'rpm -qi mfeesp' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i 'mfeesp'' to query the package informationAffected if The query returns no package or the package is not McAfee Endpoint Security for Linux Threat Prevention
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Compare installed version against vulnerable rangeIf the package is found, check the Version field. Vulnerable versions are 10.5.0 <= version < 10.7.5Affected if The installed version falls within the range 10.5.0 to 10.7.5 (exclusive)
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Verify if installation or upgrade processes are runningCheck for active McAfee installation scripts: run 'ps aux | grep -i mcafee' and look for installer or update processesAffected if Installation or upgrade processes are active and the system is in the vulnerable version range
The system is affected if McAfee Endpoint Security for Linux Threat Prevention is installed with a version between 10.5.0 and 10.7.5, and an installation or upgrade is in progress or has recently completed.
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 data10.7.5
Implement atomic file operations (e.g., O_EXCL, mkstemp) and secure temporary file handling to eliminate the race window between file existence checks and file creation.
Fix this in Endpoint Security For Linux Threat Prevention
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-23892 — 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-2021-23892 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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- 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
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