CVE-2021-23893
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 · uneditedPrivilege Escalation vulnerability in a Windows system driver of McAfee Drive Encryption (DE) prior to 7.3.0 could allow a local non-admin user to gain elevated system privileges via exploiting an unutilized memory buffer.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Windows kernel-mode driver of McAfee Drive Encryption. A non-admin local user can exploit an unutilized memory buffer in the driver to elevate privileges to SYSTEM level, bypassing normal permission boundaries.
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< 7.3.0= 7.3.0CVSS 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
- 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 Drive Encryption is installedCheck the system for McAfee Drive Encryption installation. This can be done via the Windows Programs and Features list, McAfee ePO console, or by searching for McAfee Drive Encryption in installed software.Affected if McAfee Drive Encryption is present on the system
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Determine the installed version of McAfee Drive EncryptionRetrieve the installed version number. This can be found in Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, via McAfee ePO, or by checking the program's About/Properties window.Affected if The version returned is less than 7.3.0 or equals exactly 7.3.0
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Confirm the kernel-mode driver component is presentVerify that the McAfee Drive Encryption kernel driver component is loaded or present on the system. The driver is part of the McAfee Drive Encryption installation and handles encryption operations.Affected if The McAfee Drive Encryption driver is installed and loaded on the system
The environment is affected if McAfee Drive Encryption is installed with a version lower than 7.3.0 or exactly 7.3.0, and the kernel driver component is present.
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 · scoped7.3.0
Upgrade McAfee Drive Encryption to version 7.3.0 or later to obtain the vendor patch addressing the improper memory buffer handling in the driver.
McAfee Drive Encryption 7.3.1 or later
- Verify current McAfee Drive Encryption version by opening the McAfee ePO console or checking the local agent
- Locate the McAfee Drive Encryption upgrade package in the McAfee Product Descriptor catalog
- Deploy the upgrade to version 7.3.1 or later through the McAfee ePO server or local installation
- Restart the system as required by the upgrade installation
- Verify the Drive Encryption version is now 7.3.1 or higher and that the driver is running correctly
- Confirm the Windows system driver is properly loaded and there are no errors in the McAfee logs
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-23893 — 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-2021-23893 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