CVE-2021-31854
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 · uneditedA command Injection Vulnerability in McAfee Agent (MA) for Windows prior to 5.7.5 allows local users to inject arbitrary shell code into the file cleanup.exe. The malicious clean.exe file is placed into the relevant folder and executed by running the McAfee Agent deployment feature located in the System Tree. An attacker may exploit the vulnerability to obtain a reverse shell which can lead to privilege escalation to obtain root privileges.
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 command injection vulnerability in McAfee Agent for Windows prior to version 5.7.5 allows local users to place a malicious clean.exe file in a specific folder, which gets executed when the McAfee Agent deployment feature in the System Tree is triggered. This enables attackers to achieve code execution, obtain a reverse shell, and potentially escalate privileges.
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< 5.7.5CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Check McAfee Agent versionOpen the McAfee Agent console or run 'masvc -version' from the McAfee installation directory to identify the installed agent versionAffected if The installed version is lower than 5.7.5 (for example, 5.7.0, 5.7.3, 5.6.x, etc.)
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Verify McAfee Agent deployment feature statusCheck if the System Tree deployment feature in McAfee ePO or the agent console is configured or enabledAffected if The deployment feature is active or has been recently triggered in the environment
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Review executable placement permissionsInspect folder permissions on the McAfee Agent directories to determine if standard users can write executable files to themAffected if Non-admin users have write permissions to directories where clean.exe could be placed and executed by the agent
A user is affected if McAfee Agent version is below 5.7.5 and the System Tree deployment feature exists in their environment.
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 · scoped5.7.5
Upgrade McAfee Agent to version 5.7.5 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, restrict folder permissions to prevent unauthorized placement of executable files in the relevant directories.
McAfee Agent 5.7.5 or later
- Obtain McAfee Agent version 5.7.5 or later from the official McAfee download site (kc.mcafee.com)
- Deploy the updated McAfee Agent 5.7.5 to all affected Windows systems using McAfee ePO or standard deployment methods
- Verify the agent version has been successfully updated by checking the agent properties in the System Tree
- Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by ensuring the agent no longer executes arbitrary files from the cleanup.exe location
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- 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-2021-31854 — 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-2021-31854 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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